Written by Katie Cunningham
Machik Program Intern & Rising Senior at Sidwell Friends School After greeting Khabda-goers at the door of Machik headquarters in Washington DC, I was eager to sit and watch Khashem Gyal’s Valley of the Heroes, despite having already seen it a week prior. The second time around I was even more grateful for Khashem’s extreme bravery in highlighting two major contemporary changes-- language loss and Islamic practice in Tibet -- in one documentary. I explained my fascination with the color-coded subtitles differentiating between languages within communities and even families with the group, which consisted of Tibetans and non-Tibetans alike. We discussed topics ranging from how language is a part of one’s identity and what this change means for the future of Tibet, but the conversation was dominated by the exploration of the dangers behind a singular narrative. Young Tibetan men and women shared their childhood beliefs that Tibet was mountains and yaks and prayer flags, but Khashem’s film brilliantly shattered those stereotypes by redefining Tibet as a culturally and religiously diverse region. While the Tibetan Muslim community may only account for 0.4% of the population, it is important to recognize their existence and importance. I was inspired by Machik’s third Khabda and its attendees, and cannot wait to see what Khabda 4 holds!
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Written by Khando Langri
Machik Program Intern & Senior at McGill University Machik’s third Khabda showcasing Tibetan filmmaker Khashem Gyal’s documentary Valley of the Heroes was the first event I have ever attended which curated content in a way that fosters global discussions about Tibet. Valley of the Heroes is an intimate portrait which explores memory, language and place by filming everyday life in a Tibetan Muslim community in Hualong County. In interviewing people from different generations, from elders all the way to children, Khashem shows us the radical transformation of the way of life of the people of the community. Language is the axis of the film, site of both trauma and resilience. Khashem exposes us to the complex relationship community members have to both Tibetan and Chinese, the former taught in makeshift schools by volunteers in an attempt to preserve culture and the latter acting as the language of upward social mobility. This film allowed us to have a better understanding of Tibet’s contemporary languagescape and discuss it as a group in a respectful and nuanced way. What moved me the most was seeing a Tibetan mosque and more broadly how Islam shapes Tibetan landscapes. This urged me to interrogate my own understandings of Tibetanness and reconsider who I think about when I think about Tibetans inside Tibet. I am beginning to realize that Tibetan identity is vibrant and diverse. Having a space that allows Tibetans and allies to explore the multiplicity of Tibetan experience and identity such as Machik Khabda is truly exciting and I look forward to future discussions! Written by MK East Rutherford Host
Overall, our first Machik Khabda in East Rutherford, NJ was very successful. Before we watched the movie, one of our participants, who also happened to be a Tibetan teacher, gave us a little briefing about Tibet since we had non-Tibetans in the room. Then, I went through my PowerPoint and talked a bit about what Machik is and all the different programs within it. During the discussion portion, everyone was very engaged and had a lot to say. I asked the questions directly from the discussion guide that was provided. There was one scene which seems to have caught the attention of most people. It was the part where one of the volunteer teachers took out a written letter from his student and how her parents were not allowing her to go to learn Tibetan because her Chinese was getting worse. In the letter she was asking him to forgive her for missing class and that if he could continue to support her in learning Tibetan even though her parents wouldn’t allow it. Right from the beginning, we talked about the language and how us students being that we are living in a country with great resources, unlike the kids from Hualong, are taking it for granted and that in some ways we are more privileged than most, yet many of us Tibetan students fail to utilize these resources. However, nowadays, more Tibetan youths are becoming aware and are doing the best they can to preserve every aspect of what it means to be Tibetan. We also talked about the different dialects within Tibet. Many of us or the majority of the Tibetan who are born and raised in India, only speak U-key. Not understanding these different dialects creates an invisible barrier amongst us Tibetans. Even though it is a different dialect, it is still a Tibetan language and if we learn and make the effort to educate ourselves on all the different dialects within Tibet, it could allow us to grow as a community. As for the religion, we talked a bit about the Tibetan Muslims and the estimated population of Tibetan Muslims. We also watched a little documentary on YouTube about the history of Tibetan Muslims. It was very interesting because I didn’t realize the quantity of our Tibetan Muslim community within Tibet and in exile. Our older participants who have resided in Tibet also mentioned that in Tibet, there is a large population of “Lhasa Muslim” and how everyone there is very respectful of each other’s religion. That there is mutual respect between Buddhists and Muslims. We concluded that it is more than possible to coexist with different religions and that our Tibetan youth should be taught or be more exposed about the different communities within our Tibetan population, being that it's only 6 million. Since it was my first-time hosting Khabda, I thought that the discussion guide was very helpful and it not only helped me to engage with younger students but also with non-Tibetans who can relate to our situation. I learned so much and was able to connect with the people around me. I am sure the participants have learned and enjoyed just as much as I did. Everything went smoothly and thank you for this opportunity! ☺ Written by Quinn Lehrman
Machik Program Intern & Rising Senior at Sidwell Friends School Khabda was my first work experience at Machik. It was an introduction to the six weeks I planned to spend drafting letters, writing blog posts (like this one!), and fostering discussions about Tibetan culture. As a white American living in a western bubble, there wasn't much I could tell you about Tibet coming into Khabda. I hoped that Saturday's Khabda discussion might shed some light on Tibet. I realize now that I was initially looking for a way to generalize Tibetans. I wanted to develop a description of the "model Tibetan" that I could give to curious friends and family members such as, "Tibetans are Buddhist herding people who spend their lives on mountains and river valleys." This is the sort of stereotype that I expected to have by the credits of "Valley of the Heroes" by Khashem Gyal. I ended up with a better understanding of Tibet's diversity and realized that even some Tibetans are new to some of this cultural variety. "Valley of the Heroes" focuses on a community in Hualong County, in Amdo, eastern Qinghai Province. Being a majority Muslim area, its people defy the stereotype that Tibet is an entirely Buddhist nation. Having very few preconceived notions about the Tibetan people, this diversity wasn't nearly as surprising to me as to the Tibetans in the room. After the film concluded and the discussion began, one of our visitors commented on the shock she felt upon seeing a Tibetan Muslim for the first time. She described the portrait of Tibet that her immigrant parents had painted for her since she was a child. She pictured a valley of Yaks and happy Chuba-wearing people sipping water from snow capped mountaintop streams. A Tibetan wearing a Taqiyya was a sight that didn't fit this image. Even Tibetans that had been previously quiet in the discussion shared that they identified with her sense of surprise. These people were infinitely more knowledgeable about Tibet than I, yet they had just discovered a completely new side of their people. An explanation for this confusion was quickly proposed. Tibet is spread out, both geographically and population-wise. Communities are often many hundreds of miles apart, and it's through this geographic isolation that new dialects and differing religious practices may form. I walked into Machik Khabda searching for an answer to the question "who exactly are Tibetans?” and Khabda instead left me with no simple answer to that question. To do justice to the cultural diversity of Tibet, it is necessary to have an evolving understanding of Tibet and its people. I hope that I can use valuable discussions like Khabda to develop a deeper and more complex view of Tibet. Written by Tenzin Dickyi
Machik Program Intern & Rising Senior at Colgate University This past weekend I attended my first Machik Khabda, both as a Program Intern with Machik and as a curious mind. The idea of Khabda is something that I am familiar with in an academic context. Reading, viewing, or experiencing a work of art, something someone has created and then going on to discuss it with peers is usually something that I look forward to, but also creates a lot of anxiety for me. I’m not the biggest fan of speaking in big groups, but this experience was different. I was talking about a film about Tibetans in Tibet, made by a Tibetan, talking with people who are Tibetan or who care about Tibet. Although nervous to speak up in this group, I had many thoughts and questions stirring in my mind as I watched The Valley of the Heroes by Khashem Gyal. I had high expectations for this film because of what I heard from people about Khashem and his work. While these expectations were fulfilled, I thought the film would speak more to Islam in Tibet. Just the sheer fact that Kashem Gyal was able to create a film about both language and religion is incredible. Both are sensitive subjects, but Kashem still went on to document them. The idea of language loss is something that I think about often because I do not know how to read or write in Tibetan either. It was inspiring to see the community in the film step up to address a problem they see in their society. When I was young I did not care to learn how to read or write in Tibetan because of the pressure I felt to speak English and do well in school. As I got older and began to reconnect more with my Tibetan-ness, I started to blame my lack of knowledge on my surroundings and not needing to learn. However, this film showed how important the preservation of language, and in turn culture, is for Tibet and Tibetans. I thought it was incredible how Kashem used different colors for subtitles to distinguish the Chinese from Tibetan languages. While I could not understand most of the Tibetan in the first place, it was nice to know when Tibetan was being spoken and when Chinese was being spoken. The different colored subtitled also showed how the two languages, in certain parts of Tibet, are interchangeable in conversation due to the bilingualism of the people. It depicted how often, in this area, Chinese is used in Tibetan households and exactly how prominent the language loss is. There were some people born just a few decades apart and their first language was completely different. As someone at the Khabda highlighted, it was crazy to see how fast the local language switched from Tibetan to Chinese. In addition, seeing Tibetan Muslims was really interesting to me. A year ago, I had no idea that Tibetan Muslims existed, let alone the fact there are mosques in Tibet. Seeing Tibetans who practice a religion other than Buddhism was eye-opening to the fact that not all of Tibet is Buddhist, as people often believe. My family has painted a picture of Tibet that depicts it as mountainous and green with yaks roaming around. However, Tibet has many different people living there. David G. Atwill speaks to the exclusion of Muslims in Tibet’s narrative in his book Islamic Shangri-La. Atwill highlights how, after a few generations of Muslims presence in Tibet, Tibetans in Tibet viewed them as Tibetan. However, visitors to Tibet consistently labelled them as non-Tibetan. Khashem’s film opened up conversation about deconstructing an homogenized idea of Tibetans and what what Tibetans do in Tibet. Written by Viviana LaBarca
Machik Program Intern & Rising Senior at Montgomery Blair High School As a new Program Intern at Machik, I was both excited and a little nervous for the third Khabda on June 22nd. I had an understanding of the event but lacked the experience regarding the conversational aspect of Khabda. I am so grateful to share my first experience participating in Machik Khabda, and I hope my perspective does justice to the intellectual, cultural, and social value of the event. After helping to set up Khabda DC space, I was eager to sit down and enjoy a film. The fourth floor of Eaton House is a great space for the screening of a 2013 Tibetan documentary: Valley of the Heroes. If Khabda were a street, it would be a two-lane road with surprising views at every turn. Not only was Valley of the Heroes an insightful and entertaining film, but the people with whom I watched the movie added new perspectives I would not have encountered otherwise. As I am not Tibetan, I had an outsider viewpoint and lacked the cultural context that others were able to provide in the after-film discussion. For two hours, we shared and listened to each others’ views. I cannot emphasize my appreciation for Khabda enough. Knowing that people at other Machik Khabdas around the world were also watching and discussing Valley of the Heroes only added to the magic of my first Khabda. I hope to celebrate many more Khabdas in the future and engage with new people every time. Written by Dawa Ghoso, MK Ottawa Host
This was my first time reading a contemporary Tibetan story written in Tibetan. Although it does point to the lack of readily available stories of such genre, it does point to my own ignorance and lack of effort in locating such stories written in journals such as “Sbrang Char” from which this one is extracted. Thanks to Machik’s Khabda, I “discovered” Pema Tseden, the writer as I had only known him as a filmmaker. This short story touched on various themes that a Tibetan encounters on a daily basis more so for Tibetans living in a Tibetan cultural milieu. However, the main topic seems to be Tibetan religiosity as acted out on a daily mundane basis. In an unassuming way, he manages to “poke” at the longstanding and uniquely Tibetan institution of “Tulku”. Growing up in India and Nepal, I had some similar experiences as the protagonist. One of my cousin brothers was recognized as a Tulku much later in his life than usual when he was in high school. There were abrupt changes as that fact was known. Although we had the same upbringing, being born in the same remote village and coming out of Tibet at the same time leaving our families behind, this new fact changed everything. He was taken to his monastery in South India and installed as the reincarnation of a lama. Before he left, many people came to get his blessings and I was left with lot of questions such as whether I can still call him “chocho” as he was my favourite cousin brother. I learnt only after he was recognized as a Tulku that he used to visit the “Tsam-palas” (meditators) who used to live in the hills above our Upper T.C.V. schools to offer food. This short story depicts the religiosity of a young Tibetan in contemporary Tibet. It shows the negotiation of religiosity as experienced by a Tibetan youth in relation to the phenomenon of Tulkuhood. This is most starkly demonstrated by the three instances of the main character meeting Orgyan after his recognition. In the first meeting, he was forced to prostate before Orgyan against his will by his parents. At the second meeting, although he didn’t prostrate before Orgyan, he offered “khata” (offering scarfs) twice exhibiting a sense of respect towards the other person and recognizing Orgyan as a reincarnate or a being superior to him. The final meeting was a deliberate meeting where the protagonist went to see Orgyan to seek help as he was not having much luck in his life. He mentions, “…unlike before, I felt a sense of spontaneous sense of faith in him arise within me.” He also prostrated to Orgyan despite the latter’s insistence on not doing it. This eventual shift in attitude towards Orgyan as a Tulku is further cemented by his assertion that, “…I am able to call Orgyan’s separating from this world of humans as “passing into nirvana…”. Despite the eventual arising of faith for Orgyan as the tulku, the main character still shows hesitation in his religiosity as shown by this casual remark, “Following the completion of the stupa, many religious pilgrims, and even I, got accustomed to going there regularly.” The ending of the story seems to summarize the attitude of many young Tibetans towards religious practices, because although he circumambulates the memorial stupa for Orgyan out of faith and habit, he also knows that his own teeth is in there too which creates some kind of absurdity for the devotees including himself. Whether knowingly or accidently, I feel that Pema Tseden touched on a very important subject matter that is hardly discussed and examined in our society and left to be status quo out of reverence for cultural heritage. Tibetans are very proud of our Tibetan Buddhist heritage and rightly so, however, the institution of Tulku is something that many younger generations might be ambivalent about. As young Tibetans get educated in different educational systems, different philosophies, sciences, different cultural milieus etc., the concept of Tulkuhood will get harder to reconcile with what one has learnt and experienced in their current socio-cultural settings. In addition to tackling pertinent socio-cultural issues, Pema Tseden managed to put Tibetan literature among the world literatures. As a young child growing up in India and reading world literature in English, I always wished there to be a Tibetan story that can open the Tibetan world to readers around the world as the other writers did for me. Like Camus, this short story employs simple language yet saturated with potent themes. Pema Tseden is among the very few Tibetan writers published in English who has managed to open the window to Tibetan experiences to a much wider audience. བོད་རྒྱལ་ལོ་༢༡༤༦། སྤྱི་ལོ་༢༠༡༩་ལོའི་ཟླ་༣་པའི་ཚེས་༢། རྒྱ་གར་ལྷོ་ཕྱོགས་རྒྱ་མཚོའི་མཐའ་ཡི་ཅན་ནེ་(Chennai)གྲོང་ཁྱེར་དུ། དགོང་མོ་དུས་ཚོད་དགུ་དང་ཕྱེད་ཀ་ཙམ་དུ་ཟླ་བའི་བསིལ་ཟེར་གྱི་འོག། གསེར་མཐའི་བརྒྱན་པའི་མ་ནི་འཁོར་ལོ་ཟུང་གི་འགྲམ་དུ་གཞོན་ཤ་དོད་པའི་བོད་ཀྱི་མཐོ་རིམ་སློབ་མ་བཅུ་གྲངས་ཤིག་འཛོམས་ཤིང་། ནང་ལོགས་སུ་བཀྲ་ཤིས་རྟགས་བརྒྱད་ཀྱི་གཡང་གིས་ཕྱུག་པའི་ཟ་ཁང་ཆུང་ཆུང་ཞིག་འདུག་སྟེ།སྒོ་བྱང་དུ་༼MOMOSaKhang༽ཞེས་དབྱིན་ཡིག་གིས་ཆེན་པོར་བྲིས་འདུག་ལ།དེའི་འོག་ཏུ་གསེར་ཡིག་གིས་བྲིས་པའི་དབུ་མེད་ཀྱིས་༼མོག་མོག་ཟ་ཁང་༽ཞེས་བཀོད་འདུག་པའི་སྟེང་དུ་གློག་འོད་ཆེམ་ཆེམ་དུ་འཕྲོ།འདི་ནི་ཐེངས་དང་པོར་༼མ་གཅིག༽་གིས་ས་ཕྱོགས་གང་སར་སྤེལ་བཞིན་པའི་ཟླ་རེའི་༼ཁ་བརྡ༽་ལ་བསུ་མ་བྱེད་སྟངས་ཤིག་ཡིན་པ་གདོན་མི་ཟ། ཐེངས་འདིར་མ་གཅིག་གི་༼ཁ་བརྡ༽་དང་པོའི་ཐོག་ཅན་ནེ་རུ་ཡོད་པའི་བོད་རིགས་མཐོ་རིམ་སློབ་མ་དང་ལས་ཞུགས་པ་བཅས་ཁྱོན་མི་གྲངས་༡༤་འཛོམས་འདུག། དེ་རུ་ས་གནས་གོ་སྒྲིག་པས་ཐོག་མར་༼མ་གཅིག༽་གི་སྐོར་མདོར་བསྡུས་ཤིག་ངོ་སྤྲོད་བྱས་ཤིང་། ལྷག་པར་དུ་མ་གཅིག་གིས་བོད་ནང་ལོགས་གཙོར་བཟུང་ནས་སྤྱི་ཚོགས་དྲ་རྒྱའི་བརྒྱུད་ལམ་ནས་སྤྱི་ཚོགས་དང་ཤེས་ཡོན་ལས་འགུལ་འདྲ་མིན་སྤེལ་བཞིན་པ། དེའི་ནང་ནས་གཅིག་ནི་དེ་རིང་གི་ཟླ་རེའི་༼ཁ་བརྡ༽་ཡིན་པ་བཅས་བཤད།དེ་ནས་བརྗོད་གཞི་གཙོ་བོ་༼བསླུ་བྲིད༽་དང་འབྲེལ་ནས་པད་མ་ཚེ་བརྟན་གྱི་སྒྲུང་ཐུང་༼ཨོ་རྒྱན་གྱི་སོ༽་བརྒྱུད་ནས་བོད་ནང་གི་དངོས་ཡོད་འཚོ་བ་གླེང་སློང་བྱས་ཤིང། དེ་ནས་བོད་ཀྱི་སྒྱུ་རྩལ་ལས་རིགས་ཀྱིས་བོད་དེ་རྒྱལ་སྤྱིའི་སྟེང་འཁྱེར་ཡོང་བའི་ནུས་པ།གཞན་ཡང་སོ་སོའི་སེམས་ནང་དུ་བོད་ཅེས་པ་ཇི་འདྲ་ཞིག་ཡིན་མིན་སོགས་ཀྱིས་བོད་ཀྱི་སྐོར་སྐད་ཆ་བཤད་འགོ་བརྩམས། དང་པོ། ༼ཨོ་རྒྱན་གྱི་སོ༽འི་སྒྲུང་ཐུང་དེ་བཀླགས་པའི་སྐོར་ནས་བཤད་དོན།སྤྱིར་ཀློག་པ་པོ་ཁོ་རང་གིས་པད་མ་ཚེ་བརྟན་གྱི་སྒྲུང་ཐུང་༼གྲོང་ཁྱེར་གྱི་འཚོ་བ༽་སོགས་གཞན་འགའ་བཀླགས་མྱོང་བ་དང། ལྷག་པར་དུ་པད་མ་ཚེ་བརྟན་གྱི་༼ཁྱི་རྒན༽་དང་༼ཐར་ལོ༽་སོགས་གློག་བརྙན་རིགས་ལ་བལྟས་པས། ཁོང་གིས་དེ་དག་ལས་པད་མ་ཚེ་བརྟན་རང་གི་ཕ་ཡུལ་ལ་དུང་ཞེན་ཆེ་བ།ལྷག་པར་དུ་ཕ་ཡུལ་གྱི་འཚོ་བ་དང་དེའི་ཁྲོད་ནས་བོད་མི་ཚོའི་མི་ཤིགས་པའི་དད་པ།འདོོད་ཆུང་གི་འཚོ་བ།བྱམས་སེམས་ཆེ་བ།སྙིང་རྗེ་ལྡན་པ་སོགས་ནི་གླེང་རིན་ལྡན་པ།བཤད་སྙིང་ཡོད་པའི་བརྗོད་བྱ་རྐྱང་རྐྱང་ཡིན་པ་ཁོ་རང་གི་སྒྲུང་ཐུང་དང་གློག་བརྙན་ནས་གསལ་བོར་བསྟན་འདུག་ཟེར། དཔེར་ན་༼ཨོ་རྒྱན་སོ༽འི་ནང་གི་ཨོ་རྒྱན་སྤྲུལ་སྐུར་ངོས་བཟུང་བའི་སྔ་རྗེས་གཉིས་ཀྱི་ཁྱད་པར་ལས་མི་རྣམས་ཀྱིས་ཁོང་ལ་བརྩི་འཇོག་བྱེད་སྟངས་མི་འདྲ་བ། མཐའ་ན་ཁོང་གི་ཨང་རྩིས་དགེ་རྒན་དེ་ཤེས་ཡོན་ཅན་ཞིག་ཡིན་ཡང་ད་དུང་ཨང་རྩིས་མི་ཤེས་པའིི་སྤྲུལ་སྐུ་ཨོ་རྒྱན་མདུན་དུ་སྐྱབས་འཇུག་ཞུ་རུ་ཡོང་བ་མ་ཟད།མི་གཅིག་ལ་སོ་སུམ་ཅུ་ཡས་མས་ལས་མེད་ནའང་ཨོ་རྒྱན་ལ་སོ་ལྔ་བཞི་ཡོད་པར་སྣང་ནས་དེ་གཟུངས་གཞུག་ཏུ་བཞག་ནས་མཆོད་རྟེན་བཞེངས་པ་བཅས་ནས་བོད་མི་ཚོའི་དད་པའི་སྟོབས་ཤུགས་ཤིག་མངོན་ཡོད་པ་སོགས་གསུངས། གཞན་པ་གཅིག་གིས་སོ་སོའི་མྱོང་ཚོར་ལྟར་ན།པད་མ་ཚེ་བརྟན་གྱིས་བོད་ཀྱི་འཚོ་བ་དངོས་དང་འབྲེལ་ནས་བོད་མིའི་སྤྱི་ཚོགས་དེ་ད་དུང་རྗེས་ལུས་ཀྱི་རྣམ་པ་ཡིན་པ་བཤད་ཀྱི་འདུག་ཟེར། དེང་དུས་ཀྱི་འཚོ་བ་ལ་ཁ་ཐག་རིང་བའི་བོད་མིི་ཚོ་གཉིད་ལས་སད་དུ་བཅུག་ནས་བོད་ཀྱི་སྤྱི་ཚོགས་འཚོ་བ་ཡར་རྒྱས་སུ་འགྲོ་དགོས་པར་སྐུལ་མ་གཏོང་བཞིན་ཡོད་རེད་ཅེས་བཤད། ཡང་གཞན་པ་གཅིག་གིས་པད་མ་ཚེ་བརྟན་གྱིས་རང་གི་སྒྲུང་ཐུང་དང་གློག་བརྙན་བརྒྱུད་ནས་རྒྱལ་སྤྱིའི་སྟེང་བོད་ཀྱི་འཚོ་བ་དངོས་ག་འདྲ་ཞིག་ཡིན་མིན་སྟོན་གྱི་ཡོད་པ་དང་དེ་ནི་བོད་ངོ་སྤྲོད་བྱེད་སྟངས་ཤིག་རེད་ཟེར། གཉིས་པ། འཛུལ་ཞུགས་པ་གཅིག་གིས་རང་ཉིད་རྒྱ་གར་དུ་སྐྱེས་པ་ཞིག་ཡིན་ཡང་ལྷ་སར་ཐེངས་གཅིག་འགྲོ་ཐུབ་ནས་དེར་ཟླ་བ་གཅིག་ཙམ་བསྡད་པའི་སྐབས་ཀྱི་མྱོང་ཚོར་བཤད་དོན།ཐོག་མར་ལྷ་སའི་གནམ་ཐང་དུ་འབྱོར་དུས་བོད་མི་ཞིག་ཡིན་ཕྱིན་ལོགས་སུ་དབྱེ་བ་བཀར་ནས་ཡིག་ཆ་སོགས་ལ་བརྟག་དཔྱད་དང་འདྲི་གཅོད་བྱས་ནས་དུས་ཚོད་གཉིས་མ་ཟིན་ཙམ་ཞིག་བཀག་བྱུང་བས་སེམས་ཁྲལ་དང་སྐྱོ་སྣང་ཞིག་སླེབས་བྱུང་ཟེར། ཡིན་ཡང་ལྷ་སར་སླེབས་དུས་རང་ཉིད་ཀྱིས་སེམས་ནང་བསམ་པ་ལས་ལྷག་པ་ཞིག་རེད། དེ་ལ་ཡོད་པའི་རི་མཐོ་བོ་དེ་དག་གི་མགོར་གངས་ཀྱིས་ཁེབས་ཤིང་དེའི་ཁྲོད་ན་ཕོ་བྲང་པོ་ཏཱ་ལ་གཟི་བརྗིད་ལྡན་པའི་ངང་ཡོད་པ་མཐོང་དུས་བཤད་མི་ཤེས་པའི་ཚོར་བ་ཞིག་སྤྲད་སོང་བར་བཤད། དེ་ནས་སེ་འབྲས་དགའ་གསུམ་དུ་མཇལ་སྐོར་དུ་ཕྱིན་སྐབས་ཀྱང་བོད་མི་ཚོ་ཕན་ཚུན་ལ་དགའ་སྣང་ཆེ་བ་དང་རོགས་རམ་སོགས་གནང་བྱུང་བས། བོད་པ་ཟེར་བ་དེ་ངོ་མ་བྱམས་སྙིང་རྗེ་ཆེ་བ་ཞིག་ཡིན་པ་ཚོར་སོང། ཁོང་ལ་དེ་ལས་ཀྱང་བག་ཆགས་ཟབ་པ་ནི་ལྷ་སའི་ཟ་ཁང་ནང་དུ་སོང་ན་བོད་ཇ་ཚ་པོ་ཇ་དེམ་གང་དང་པོར་སྤྲད་ཀྱི་འདུག་ལ་དེ་ནི་སྣེ་ལེན་བྱེད་སྟངས་མི་འདྲ་བ་ཞིག་མཐོང་བྱུང་ཟེར། མཐའ་ན་ལྷ་སའི་བོད་མོ་དེ་ཚོའང་སྙིང་རྗེ་མོ་ཞེ་དྲག་འདུག་ཟེར་ནས་འཛུལ་ཞུགས་པ་ཚང་མ་དགོད་སྒྲས་ཁེངས་སོང། གསུམ་པ། འཛུལ་ཞུགས་པ་གཞན་འགས་བོད་དེ་རྒྱལ་སྤྱིའི་སྟེང་མཉམ་དུ་འགྲོ་ཐུབ་པར་ཚོང་ལས་དཔལ་འབྱོར་གྱི་ཐད་ནས་ནུས་ཤུགས་འདོན་དགོས་ཚུལ་དང་། དེའང་གཅིག་གིས་ཁོ་རང་རྒྱ་གར་དུ་དགུན་ཚོང་བྱེད་དུ་འགྲོ་མྱོང་ཡོད་ལ་དེ་རུ་བོད་མི་ཚོང་བ་ཚོས་རྡོག་རྩ་གཅིག་སྒྲིལ་ངང་ཚོང་ལས་གཉེར་སྟངས་དེས་སེམས་ཤུགས་འཕར་མ་ཞིག་གནང་སོང་ཟེར།དེར་ཡོད་ཚོང་བ་ཚང་མས་རྒྱ་ནག་གི་ཅ་དངོས་གཅིག་ཀྱང་མི་བཙོང་བར་བོད་མི་རང་ངོས་ནས་བཟོས་པའི་ཅ་ལག་བཙོང་གི་འདུག། གལ་ཏེ་བོད་མིས་བཟོས་པའི་ཅ་དངོས་འདི་དག་ཚོང་རྭ་ཆེན་པོ་དེ་འདྲ་རུ་འགྲོ་ཐུབ་ན་ཁོང་ཚོའི་ཚོང་ལས་དཔལ་འབྱོར་ཡར་རྒྱས་དང་བོད་མི་ཚོང་གཉེར་བ་དང་ཁེ་ལས་པ་མང་པོ་ཐོན་ཐུབ་རྒྱུ་རེད་གསུངས།
བཞི་པ། འཛུལ་ཞུགས་པ་གཅིག་གིས་རང་ཉིད་གློག་ཀླད་དང་འཕྲུལ་ཆས་ཚན་རིག་ཐོག་སློབ་གཉེར་བྱེད་པའི་བརྒྱུད་རིམ་ཁྲོད་ནས་བོད་ཀྱི་དེང་དུས་འཕྲུལ་རིག་གི་སྐོར་ལ། ཐོག་མར་བོད་ཀྱི་སྐད་ཡིག་དང་རིག་གཞུང་སོགས་གལ་ཆེན་པོ་ཡིན་པ་དང་དེ་དག་སྲུང་སྐྱོབ་བྱེད་རྒྱུ་ནི་དེ་ལས་ཀྱང་གཙིགས་ཆེན་རེད། ཡིན་ཡང་དེ་ཚོ་དུས་རབས་དང་མཐུན་པར་འགྲོ་མ་ཐུབ་ན་ནམ་ཞིག་ཉམས་རྒུད་དུ་འགྲོ་རྒྱུ་ཡིན་པ་ཉག་གཅིག་རེད་ཟེར། བོད་ཕྱི་ནང་གང་ཡིན་ཡང་ད་ལྟའི་ཆར་དེང་དུས་འཕྲུལ་རིག་ཤེས་བྱའི་སྐོར་ནས་ད་དུང་རྗེས་ལུས་ཡིན་པ་དང་། འདིའི་སྐོར་ནས་བོད་མི་གཞོན་སྐྱེས་མང་པོ་སྐྱེད་སྲིང་བྱ་རྒྱུ་གནད་འགག་ཡིན་པར་གསུངས།གལ་ཏེ་དེང་དུས་ཀྱི་འཕྲུལ་ཆས་དང་དྲ་རྒྱའི་དུས་རབས་འདིར་བོད་ཀྱི་སྐད་ཡིག་བེད་སྤྱོད་ཀྱིས་སྤྱོད་སྒོ་ཆེ་རུ་སོང་ན་སྐད་ཡིག་སྲུང་སྐྱོབ་བྱེད་སྟངས་ཤིག་ཡིན་པ། དྲ་རྒྱའི་བརྒྱུད་ལམ་ཁག་ནས་གཞོན་སྐྱེས་ཚོས་བོད་ཡིག་དང་སྐད་ཡིག་གཞན་མཉམ་དུ་བེད་སྤྱོད་བྱེད་དགོས་པ་གལ་ཆེན་པོ་ཡིན་ཚུལ་སོགས་ཚོར་ཤུགས་ཆེན་པོས་བརྗོད་སོང་། ལྔ་པ། འཛུལ་ཞུགས་པ་གཅིག་གིས་ཁ་བརྡ་འདི་བརྒྱུད་ནས་ང་ཚོ་ཚང་མས་ཕ་ཡུལ་བོད་ལ་རྒྱུས་ལོན་མང་དུ་བྱེད་དགོས་པ། བོད་ཕྱི་ནང་གཉིས་ཀྱི་གནས་སྟངས་དང་བོད་མིའི་འཚོ་བ།གཞོན་སྐྱེས་ཚོས་བོད་ཀྱི་རྩ་དོན་ཐད་ནུས་པ་མཉམ་སྤུངས་དགོས་པ། དེ་ཡང་ཡིན་གཅིག་ཆབ་སྲིད་གཅིག་པུ་ཡིན་པའི་ངེས་པ་མེད་པར།༼མ་གཅིག༽་ནང་བཞིན་བོད་ཕྱི་ནང་གང་ཡིན་རུང་ལས་དོན་འདྲ་མིན་ཐོག་ནུས་པ་འདོན་རྒྱུ་འདུག་ཏེ། ཤེས་ཡོན་ཡར་རྒྱས། སྤྱི་ཚོགས་ཡར་རྒྱས། དཔལ་འབྱོར་ཡར་རྒྱས། རིག་གཞུང་རྒྱུན་འཛིན། སྐད་ཡིག་སྲུང་སྐྱོབ་སོགས་རང་རང་སོ་སོས་ནུས་པ་གང་ལྕོགས་ཀྱིས་འགན་འཁུར་ལེན་རྒྱུ་བྱུང་ན། བོད་ནང་དང་རྒྱལ་སྤྱིའི་ཐོག་ཏུ་བོད་ཀྱི་ངོ་བོ་འཛིན་ཐུབ་པ་དང་བོད་མི་རིགས་ཀྱི་ཆིག་སྒྲིལ་ལའང་ཕན་ཐོགས་ཆེན་པོ་ཡོད་ཚུལ་བརྗོད། དྲུག་པ། འཛུལ་ཞུགས་པ་རེ་འགས་བོད་ཀྱི་གླུ་གཞས་སྒྱུ་རྩལ་གྱི་སྐོར་ནས་བཤད་དོན།ཁོ་མོ་ནི་རྒྱ་གར་དུ་སྐྱེས་པ་ཞིག་ཡིན་མོད་བོད་ནང་གི་གླུ་གཞས་ལ་ཤིན་ཏུ་དགའ་ཞིང་གཞས་མ་ཚེ་དབང་ལྷ་མོའི་གླུ་སྐད་ཀྱིས་ཕ་ཡུལ་བོད་དང་སེམས་ཐག་ཉེ་རུ་ཡོང་བའི་ཚོར་སྣང་སླེབས་ཀྱི་འདུག་ཟེར། དེར་བརྟེན་ནས་བོད་ནང་ལོག་གི་བོད་མི་རྣམས་མི་རིགས་ཀྱི་ལ་རྒྱ་ཆེ་བ་དང་མི་རིགས་ཀྱི་འདུ་ཤེས་ཟབ་པ་ཤེས་པས། རང་ཉིད་ཡིན་ཡང་ནམ་རྒྱུན་བོད་སྐད་གཙང་མ་བཤད་ཅི་ཐུབ་དང་བོད་གཞས་ལ་ཉན་གྱི་ཡོད་ལ་དེ་འདྲ་བྱེད་ཐུབ་ན་ཡག་པོ་མཐོང་སོང། ལྷག་པར་དུ་ནུབ་ཕྱོགས་སུ་ཡོད་པའི་བོད་མི་ན་ཆུང་དང་གཞོན་སྐྱེས་ཚོས་འདིའི་ཕྱོགས་ནས་དོ་སྣང་བྱེད་ཐུབ་ན། བོད་ཀྱི་གླུ་གཞས་སྒྱུ་རྩལ་ཁྲོད་ནས་ང་ཚོ་ཚང་མ་བོད་པ་གཅིག་ཡིན་པའི་འདུ་ཤེས་བསྐྲུན་ཐུབ་པར་ཕན་ནུས་ལྡན་པར་གསུངས། མཐའ་མཇུག་ཏུ། ས་གནས་གོ་སྒྲིག་པས་ཁ་བརྡ་བ་ཚང་མར་མཉམ་འཛོམས་བྱུང་བར་བཀའ་དྲིན་ཆེ་ཞུ་བ་དང་སྦྲགས་རང་ཉིད་ཆུང་དུས་སུ་བོད་དུ་སློབ་གྲྭར་སོང་མྱོང་ཡང་བོད་ཀྱི་གནས་སྟངས་དང་༧རྒྱལ་བ་རིན་པོ་ཆེ་སྐོར་སོགས་ཅི་ཡང་ཤེས་ཀྱི་མེད་པ་དེར་ཕྱིར་འདང་ཞིག་རྒྱག་བཞིན། རྒྱ་ནག་གིས་བོད་དུ་བཟུང་བའི་སྐད་ཡིག་རྩ་མེད་བཟོ་བའི་སྲིད་ཇུས་ལག་བསྟར་བྱས་པ་དེ་སྔོན་མ་ནས་ཡོད་པ་གཞི་ནས་ཚོར་བ་དང་། བོད་ནང་གི་སློབ་གྲྭ་ཁག་ཏུ་༠༨་ལོའི་ཞི་རྒོལ་ཆེན་མོའི་རྗེས་སུ་སྲིད་ཇུས་ངན་པ་དེ་ཤུགས་ཆེན་སྤེལ་བར་བལྟས་ན།ད་ལྟ་ཕྱི་ལོགས་སུ་ཡོད་པའི་ང་ཚོ་བོད་པའི་གཞོན་སྐྱེས་ཚོས་བོད་ཀྱི་སྐད་ཡིག་མི་ཉམས་རྒྱུན་འཛིན་བྱེད་དགོས་པ། དེའང་ཉིན་རེའི་དྲ་ཐོག་གི་འཚོ་བའི་ནང་པར་གཅིག་བཞག་རུང་འོག་ཏུ་བོད་ཡིག་གི་མཆན་འབྲི་བ་ནས་འགོ་བཙུགས་ནས་ཉིན་རེའི་ཟིན་བྲིས་ཐན་ཐུན་བོད་ཡིག་ནང་འབྲི་བ་སོགས་ནས་བོད་ཡིག་བེད་སྤྱོད་བྱེད་ན་འགྲིག་ལ། དེ་ལས་ཀྱང་བཟང་ན་བོད་ཀྱི་སྐད་ཡིག་ཡར་རྒྱས་དར་སྤེལ་གཏོང་ཐུབ་རྒྱུ་དེ་རེད། བོད་ཀྱི་སྐད་ཡིག་དང་རིག་གཞུང་ལ་སློབ་གཉེར་བྱས་ནས་དེང་དུས་ཀྱི་སྤྱི་ཚོགས་དང་མཐུན་པའི་ངང་བོད་ཀྱི་ཐ་སྙད་གསར་པ་བཟོ་བ་ནས་བོད་ཀྱི་རྩོམ་རིག་སོགས་ནུབ་ཕྱོགས་སྤྱི་ཚོགས་སུ་ངོ་སྤྲོད་བྱེད་པ་སོགས་ལས་དོན་འདྲ་མིན་བརྒྱུད་ནས་བོད་ཀྱི་རིག་གནས་སྲུང་སྐྱོབ་བྱེད་རྒྱུ་དེ་གལ་ཆེན་ནང་གི་དོན་ཆེན་ཞིག་ཡིན་པ་བཤད་ནས་ཁ་བརྡ་ཐེངས་དང་པོ་ལེགས་འགྲུབ་ངང་མཇུག་བསྡུས་སོ། ས་གནས་གོ་སྒྲིག་པ། ཀུན་ཚེ་ནས་སྤེལ་བ་དགེའོ Written by MK Kathmandu Host The venue of our gathering was at SIT Study Abroad Nepal: Tibetan and Himalayan people, which surprised most of us since it was a lovely location still in touch with nature and old Himalayan architecture styles, smack in the middle of bustling Boudha in Kathmandu. Our Khabda started with conversations and introductions, which was followed by a brief overlook on Pekar’s works and the reading that described her journey so far. While in the process of the brief introduction on her struggles of fitting in the society in Dharamshala after coming from Tibet, we were all able to relate on some level of the inclusions and exclusions that take place within the Tibetan society in exile. This opened a really long and complicated discussion on Tibetan identity. An important point made that was highlighted in the discussion was the derogatory name that is used even today in exile societies to call Tibetans coming from Tibet. Used with the intention of making them feel unwelcomed, and different. Not realizing that when one leaves Tibet due to desperate measures, in search for a better life, hope and a new home. They are very vulnerable. Many leave families behind, and journey alone with no one to rely on and no one to console them in a country they have never set foot on until now. Although maybe there are good facilities and systems now to help them re-settle, a lot of times in such programs we do not discuss about their mental health. In the case of Pekar’s story, we can see how society can make a person who is confident come to a breaking point, the conversation on mental health, depression and such related topics even today are hardly talked about in the society. It was sad to see the society hound Pekar and call her a ‘madwoman’ instead of supporting her and encouraging her in her fragile state of mind. There are so many things we need to improve on, I know there is no perfect society but there needs to be progress in the right direction. We as a society need to discuss such issues, learn from them and evolve our mindsets, to see how we can practice more of the compassion we always talk about in our day to day lives. The heavy discussion on the inclusion and exclusion in terms on Tibetan Identity, we talked more in depth about being comfortable with being Tibetan, as much as Nepali, or Indian, or American or German, etc... Not criticizing each other but accepting and respecting every individual's journey, and giving them a supportive environment or space to explore it. One interesting personal experience someone shared with us was about how difficult it is to travel with an RC or the Tibetan Refugee identity, the person is young but with the identification he had, travelling was hard and many times personally very uncomfortable in terms of how he was received or treated by officials at checkpoints. He recently got a Nepali passport, and he described this feeling of being empowered, to be able to go anywhere, to be able to ride a plane, to be able to just travel. This did not change how he felt, he did not become less of a Tibetan. The idea being that we decide who we are and take the steps to empowering ourselves. Then came a really interesting discussion on how many cultures in Nepal, identify themselves as Nepali but speak Tibetan. We had a lovely person share her experience openly about her mixed heritage, she being Gurung and Tibetan. Feeling very comfortable in both, but many a times there is quite a big population that maybe speaking in Tibetan, but feel Nepali, like the Mustangs, Gurungs, Dolpo, etc… and why so. This maybe an interesting discussion in the future to have as well. But, in many ways even within the people who very much identify themselves as Tibetan we do need to acknowledge that we too have our comfort zones. Like Tibetans who went to TCV, or who went abroad, Europe or USA, or Nepal, within that being U-tsang, or Kham or Amdo and speaking in that dialect or a regional dialect. All of it, we do have these different experiences but what unites us is being Tibetan, feeling Tibetan, identifying as one. But we do not give that space or are exclusive many times about the space we give when we are a certain kind of majority to the minority. Something to think about in general. In the end, we went back to Pekar’s experience and words from Fading Dreams that really stood out to many of us:
How beautifully expressed are the words of Pekar, it was brought up how Buddhism played an important role in her experience to becoming who she is. The idea of practicing Buddhism in order to find peace and liberation is something to rethink and look more deeply into. Every journey is different, but in Pekar’s maybe practising buddhism and compassion in a society that traumatized her resulted possibly in her breaking down. Practicing Buddhism has brought many to the point of breaking down, it isn't all peace but an inner battle. How do you practice compassion in an environment so negative. While doing so, we many a times neglect being compassionate to ourselves, we don't take care of ourselves. Maybe that was her journey to her liberation. Being compassionate, is deeper than we think and many times it breaks us apart, so we can rebuild ourselves. Just like a white lotus that grows out of the muddy water. Today Pekar, is an inspiration to so many women out there, We personally draw so much strength from her work. We find parts of ourselves scattered in her artwork, in the story she tells and it gives us courage to be true to ourselves. It is time women are appreciated for their work and their contribution to society, for women to explore their potential, for women to be equal to their male counterparts and for women to have safe spaces within the Tibetan society.
Also, at the end we must acknowledge and respect the people who supported her and helped give her the environment to build herself up. We need more spaces like Amnye Machen Institute and people like Gyen Tashi Tsering, Jamyang Norbu, Lhasang Tsering and Pema Bhum. They provided a safe space to many and are a great role model on what kind of spaces we need to create and the mindset we need to incorporate in our society today. Two weeks ago, we had our second Machik Khabda program take place in 22 different locations around the globe. We welcomed ten new local hosts into this program from places such as Calgary, Minneapolis, Helsinki, Dharamsala, and Bengaluru. The usual protocol for Khabda is that once a gathering takes place, we ask local hosts to share with us some updates on how their conversations went. Quite often, people write brief notes and we're thankful for that as it takes extra time and energy to organize, host, and then share feedback about Khabda. However, when people do share longer reflections, we're extremely grateful for that as this allows us to better understand the evolving mechanics of Khabda and see what we can do to improve and elevate this experience for those interested in organizing and joining along. Below, we have selected four quotes that speak on the general atmosphere of the following Khabda gatherings and what discussion points got highlighted during their respective chats. We hope these words offer a glimpse into the ground reality of Khabda - an experience facilitated by Machik but in the end, shaped by people like yourselves. To write for the Khbada Blog, do get in touch with us at info@machik.org. |