It is powerfully positive that Tibet's suffering at the hands of China has made the big news again. The 72 year old Dalai Lama has been an exemplar, if not THE examplar of peaceful power in the face of ruthless state oppression in our time.
The timing is, as a Tibertan might say, auspicious: that Obama's historic speech on race in America which challenges white America to rise-up and push back the Confederacy of Drudges in order to rise back up to the level of our Founding Framers; and the historic, may-not-come-again opportunity for the world to wholeheartedly support the long-suffering Tibetans in their struggle for autonomy (merely!) with a vulnerable China anxious to put a good face on itself for the upcoming Olympiad.
To put it in cosmic, religious-political terms, China is a traditionally Buddhist country; just as underneath the Soviet Union in the 80's, astute observers knew that there was a religious, orthodox Christian soil beneath the edifice of the Soviet government, so there is likewise in China, the soil being Buddhist/Taoist/Confucianist. Newsweek has an excellent interview with the Dalai Lama here:
http://www.newsweek.com/...
As long as I am alive, I am fully committed to amity between Tibetans and Chinese. Otherwise there's no use. More importantly, the Tibetan Buddhist cultural heritage can eventually help bring some deeper values to the millions of Chinese youth who are lost in a [moral] vacuum. After all, China is traditionally a Buddhist country.
The Dalai Lama "gets it" completely--the world cannot afford to let this precious opportunity pass, to being pressure against the government of China to negotiate rather than use force in their dealings with Tibet.
The Chinese government wants me to say that for many centuries Tibet has been part of China. Even if I make that statement, many people would just laugh. And my statement will not change past history. History is history.
So my approach is, don't talk about the past. The past is past, irrespective of whether Tibet was a part of China or not. We are looking to the future. I truly believe that a new reality has emerged. The times are different. Today different ethnic groups and different nations come together due to common sense. Look at the European Union … really great. What is the use of small, small nations fighting each other? Today it's much better for Tibetans to join [China]. That is my firm belief.
No one is more down-to-earth than the spiritual leader of the Tibetans; he totally understands the fire and frustration of the youth of Tibet, who are in fact rioting against the Han Chinese government-supported businesses that have taken over Lhasa, the capital city.
I always like to quote Deng Xiaoping and say, Please seek truth from facts. It is very important. I would urge them to find out what is really going on in Tibetan minds and what is happening on the ground. This I want to tell the prime minister, Wen Jiabao, if he were to come here. Of course, I have great respect for both, particularly Wen Jiabao. He seems very gentle. I would also ask him, "Please prove your recent accusations [that the Dalai Lama instigated the unrest in Tibet.]" [Laughs]
Nancy Pelosi has courageously called out the government of China; if more voices join hers, particularly in the U.S. (we are not holding our breath for the cowardly Bush State Department to do anything REALLY substantive), a viable, intact Tibet could be the catalyst that might temper the giant materialist monster that is the unloosed China in the 21st century.
So the uniqueness of the "Obama moment" and the "Tibet moment" I would say are paralells, suggesting that the time has never been riper to ACT, NOW, for paradigm-shifting change.
http://www.tibet.com/
http://www.savetibet.org/
http://www.freetibet.org
http://www.phayul.com