If you'd like to read more about Tibet's struggle for freedom, click on the Title, "Golden Words..." above and visit "Free Tibet"
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This blog is in honor of my friend, Pema, whom I had the honor of meeting while he was living out on Key Peninsula. Pema is a Tibetan monk who walked from Tibet to Nepal to retain his life, freedom, and beliefs. . . the ilk of what is him. I think he was 66 when I met him 7 years ago. March 10,2009 marked the anniversary of 50 years of resistance from China's repressive rule. While walking down his driveway, he had signs posted regarding his plight..."Free Tibet!" and the Tibetan flag (which is now banned under Chinese rule). Pema helped me get in touch with his landlady, Rivka, who owned a 39 acre piece of land that had a log cabin on it that I was interested in living in. I received some bad directions to get to his cabin and though I started at 10:00am, I didn't find his cabin till about 6:00 or 7:00(I didn't have a watch on, however the sun was getting ready to set when I finally asked for some kind of sign to find his cabin. I had walked up every driveway and trail way back into the woods looking for a log cabin with a Tibetan monk residing in it. Suddenly I noticed what looked like copper rocks which I followed and led me to his driveway. Well, I was able to skip a few driveways and it seemed the copper rocks were becoming fewer so I decided to check this one last driveway. After walking way back into the woods, I came upon a clearing and my hopes began to rise. But then I saw a bunch of lumber packages. . .guess someone was building a new house here...the path went a bit past it, so I walked further hoping that maybe his cabin might be snuggled back in the woods away from this new dwelling going up. After it began to look like there wouldn't be a cabin back there, I turned back and a pickup truck pulled into the clearing. It speeded up after they saw me. After it pulled to a stop, a man leaned out of the drivers window and asked what I was doing out here. I said "hi. . .this is going to sound crazy, but I'm looking for a log cabin that has a Tibetan monk living in it, you wouldn't happen to know which driveway is his, would you?" Then the blonde lady that was with him skeptically snapped back, "Oh, sure!" Then the man looked at her and said, "Now, wait a minute. . ." She shot a contemptous glare at him. Then he looked back at me and continued, "I think he's right up the next driveway down." I said, "Thank You, I've been looking for him since this morning. This was going to be my last shot, it's going to be dark soon." Then I started heading back up the driveway to the main road and 20 feet further into the next driveway. Oh, yeah, there was still an occasional copper rock in my path. . .I should have noticed the copper rocks didn't go into the clearing I was just in. Maybe it was the way the sun was setting or something, I don't really know, but it wasn't till I "prayed" that I noticed the copper rocks. I do know that nothing is coincidence. After getting well into his driveway, I started noticing wooden, hand painted signs posted up in the trees every 10 or 15 feet, almost like warning signs. I wondered if he would welcome my visit or consider it an intrusion. I finally came to an entryway to a garden with a two story log cabin nestled in the center of the groomed clearing. On the path to the cabin, there was a statue of Buddha sitting on a pedistal. There were four 6" rocks that had been placed around the base. On the trail of the copper rocks, I had picked up and pocketed three that looked like they wanted to come with me, so I reached in my pocket and pulled out the largest, about 3 1/2" and placed it at the base among the other larger rocks and bowed my head for a moment of respect for Buddha and thanks for reaching the destination. Now, it was time to confront the closed door of the cabin. I knocked, and heard a voice call out "Just a minute," and heard some shuffling around., "is it the blonde American lady from the newspaper?" "No," I called out. Then a slim, tanned man with short cropped hair opened the door. So I lowered the volume of my voice and said, " I'm the Japanese lady looking for a Tibetan monk." He said, "Oh, I'm expecting a lady from the newspaper was coming out here to write an article." I appoligized that I wasn't her and explained my presence. He came out and gave me a brief tour of the gardens and introduced me to his outhouse after I asked if he had someplace I could releive myself. While I was in there, he continued telling me about his vegetable garden on the other side of the cabin. When I came out, he showed me that garden and walked back to toward the entry way I came into. I explained the rock I placed at the base of Buddha. He nodded approval and invited into his cabin. After talking for a while, he offered a cup of tea as he put a pot of water on the stove. I graciously accepted, then he asked if I like to stay for dinner and I thankfully accepted his invitation, welcoming the rest after my long walk. We talked. He showed me his paintings, all done on hand woven hemp canvas. His clothes were also hand woven of hemp. I was pretty impressed that he could speak fluent Japanese. He told me he had earned his monk hood four (4) times. Each time, he left for a woman. He laughed, each time he returned to the solace the discipline and wisdom Buddha offered. I laughed. I receive emails from Beliefnet ~ Buddhism and they had a spiel on quotes from The Dalai Lama, so I thought I'd read them and gain some inspiration. Then I decided to check out the website for Free Tibet...I remembered those words on the signs sporting the Tibetan flag posted along Pema's driveway. I decided to share a piece of my blog noting Pema and the plight of the Peoples of Tibet and the Dalai Lama. The peoples of Tibet would only like to be able to say they're Tibetan and pursue their choice of spiritual belief. China would have them adopt the Chinese nationality and supportingly, follow the state. Basically that's what The Resistance boils down to. For that, thousands of monks and Tibetan citizens lost their lives to China's governing stronghold. After realizing the killing and oppression wasn't going to stop, many, including Pema and the Dalai Lama set flight on foot to leave their homeland, Tibet, that, through them, their cause will continue to live. TIBETAN DO AND WILL EXIST, and will not be denounced!
"Brute force, no matter how strongly applied, can never subdue the basic human desire for freedom and dignity. It is not enough, as communist systems have assumed, merely to provide people with food, shelter and clothing. Human nature needs to breathe the precious air of liberty. " The Dalai Lama
The Dalai Lama is the head of state of Tibet. He currently has taken refuge and lives in India. India has granted him political asylum. If you'd like to read more about the Dalai Lama, I've provided a link, you can click anywhere on this sentence and it should get you there (right click and click on open in a new tab, then you can still read this).
If you'd like to read more about "Free Tibet", you can click on the card above.
50 Years of Resistance 1959 ~ 2009
To live in suppression is to live in depression.
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