Dr. Lobsang Sangay in South, Mundgod: A Diary Extract

June 19, 2010.

Dr. Lobsang Sangay’s Talk on The State of The Tibetan Movement

Venue: Drepung Tsokchen, main congregation-hall

Time: 2:00pm

For me an awaited event that I have been anxious to join and hear, learn and observe about him and his sayings. And it’s today. I venture not to indulge in today’s siesta being afraid that I may miss the speech. I join the already gathered audience of more than 300 monks inside in advance of his arriving after some 25 minutes in, unexpectedly, a dark Tibetan Chuba and cream white Tibetan shirt rather than in his Harvard attire. In his rather kowtowed respected bowing he approaches for His Holiness Lion Seat set on the dais before the altar accentuated by the scintillating glossy bronze statue of Lord Buddha in the middle just up behind the seat and offers a long white ceremonial scarf on it before returning to his seat by the hung white screen for projecting the images and texts in Tibetan from the projector attached to his laptop. He makes his speech standing, pressing on his laptop keyboard as to change the displayed images and texts to his speech. Yes, his humours arouse laughter form audience, but it’s rather unexpected for me to find him so.

The most strikingly awareness drawing chord that his collected statistical information on the percentage of per capita taking the right of franchise during the latest poll for the exile Tibetan government, must be members of parliament Chitu, rings is really sadly backward, only 44%, the lowest of all—how we people uphold our government. He stresses taking one’s franchise as the fundamental right to one’s freedom optimized for a better government. Thinking of my past cases, I have the impression that I am either apolitical or not taking such right of mine. I should pay better attention from now on. Thanks for enlightening me so far!

The three prime conditions, as he presents precisely, for a well organized public movement are Unity, Planning and Discipline. And they are formed on the axis of an educated mind in broader sense. So they must be as for the reason of a firm unity can be achieved only through better or broader understanding rather than being backwardly isolated, detached and prejudiced even within the same pattern like of a race, country, culture, etc. The latter two are entirely impossible with a myopic view as a farsighted plan should be optimized by a disciplined stamina. But his succinct but heavy points are too much for us now, who have been seemingly lurching toward a degrading short-cut way of just hoping, waiting and talking half-baked matters emblazoned with rags of distortions.

When questioned by a monk asking for any recommendations for better education for the monks, he is of course at his wit’s end to make a full sensible idea, but goes on with saying the monastic education systems don’t seem to be in need of any reform yet, why not revolution. He has got to say a monk, especially the one in charge of teaching Buddha Dharma in a center abroad, should be familiar with foreign language for the case of such centers being mainly run by Western translators, who are preferred for their being proficient in their own mother-tongue despite the limited background of Dharma education. As the matter of the fact how he can make any comment on such needy reform plus go-ahead modern way for monastic education, as he hasn't got any sort of ground for being able to put forward one amid inevitable odd-sayings.

His firm holding to his late dad’s, a former monk of Drepung, legacy to be spiritually oriented, work for Tibet and his thereby being gratefully wishful to serve our exile government now is somewhat thoughtfully timely. And for the notability of his being Harvard product with Ph.D. degree in Law and specialising in East Asian Law Systems for years are to be especially welcome for the fact of being the first time ever for a Kalon Tripa candidate with such established qualification background. And let us at least move on forward rather than being this static…