The Chinese government has enacted new policies that require Tibetan monastics to promote the Communist Party. The Communist Party of China has enacted new policies that require Tibetan monastics to undergo political training, Human Rights Watch (HRW) reports. Under these policies, Tibetan monks and nuns must demonstrate “political reliability,” “moral integrity capable [...]
Lodi Gyari, Dalai Lama’s top diplomat, dead at 69
Lodi Gyari, the former special envoy of the Dalai Lama, died on October 29 in San Francisco, aged 69. Gyari was the Dalai Lama’s chief diplomat in the United States and, later, China. Appointed the special envoy of the Dalai Lama in Washington, DC, in 1990, Gyari garnered widespread support for the Tibet cause in Washington. When he retired in 2012, the US Senate passed a [...]
Heat maps illustrate the sacred routes of Buddhist pilgrims
In Strava's heat maps, the devotional movements of tired pilgrims become blazing symbols of sacred geography. Back in January, the fitness app Strava caused a stir when it released a global heat map of its users' fitness activity. The heat maps, meant to illustrate popular running routes, inadvertently revealed the locations of secret US military bases. But Jennifer Rowe, [...]
How to Help Tibet and the Dalai Lama
Want to support the people of Tibet and their spiritual leader, His Holiness the Dalai Lama? We've gathered information and links for some of the many fine organizations who do just that. Tibet Fund Since 1981, the Tibet Fund has been the primary funding organization for health care, education, refugee rehabilitation, religious and cultural preservation, elder care, and [...]
Fire erupts at Lhasa, Tibet’s famed Jokhang Temple complex
On February 17, reports coming out of Lhasa, Tibet indicated that a fire had broken out at the famed Jokhang Temple, just as tourists were to begin arriving for the Losar, or Tibetan Buddhist New Year, celebrations there. The Central Tibet Agency, however, has since reported that the fire was not at Jokhang Temple proper -- as has been widely reported and believed — "but [...]
Chinese officials taking over administration of Tibetan Buddhist institute Larung Gar
Human Rights Watch says the Chinese government is imposing control and surveillance throughout religious communities, to "micromanage" religious institutions. Chinese officials are taking over the administration of one of the world's largest Tibetan Buddhist monasteries, Larung Gar Buddhist Academy, with a plan to put Communist Party officials in charge of the institute, [...]
Crisis on the Roof of the World
The repression, surveillance, and propaganda are Orwellian. Chinese money, immigrants, and tourists are pouring in. The fight to control religion is heating up. John Demont reports that China’s longterm campaign to assimilate Tibet has entered a critical new stage. There was understandable skepticism last March when Chinese state broadcaster CCTV declared Lhasa “the [...]
Tibetan women’s soccer team becomes first female Tibetan sports team to play in international match
The Tibet Women’s Soccer team became the first female Tibetan team in any sport to play in an international match at the Vancouver International Soccer Festival on July 7. The team was originally meant to reach this milestone at the Dallas Cup in April, but were denied tourist visas to the United States by the US Embassy in New Delhi, as Lion’s Roar previously reported. The [...]
“Silicon Valley” Goes to Tibet
Two characters from Mike Judge's hit HBO comedy visit a Buddhist monastery on a trip that's less about enlightenment, more about entitlement. What happens next? Rod Meade Sperry needs to know. Spoilers and cuss-words ahead. I had the DVR on pause, queued up, as my partner came into the room. “Watch this,” I told her, and pressed play on the closing scene of last night’s [...]
Tibetan PM-in-Exile Says Trump Should Meet With Dalai Lama
Lobsang Sangay, Tibet's prime minister in exile, told a group he was speaking to in Washington that President Trump should meet with the Dalai Lama. "Donald Trump... has been to all three major sacred places of three major traditions," said Sangay, referring to Saudi Arabia, Israel, and the Vatican. "What is left is Buddhism and his holiness the Dalai Lama is the most [...]
