This memoir takes the reader on a spiritual journey as Ellen and her partner tutor Tibetan refugees in Dharamsala and travel through the fascinating yet paradoxical country that is India.Buy from:
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Social Justice Category
View from deck of Loseling Guest House
After we put some time and space between us and the town, we forget the dichotomy that is McLeod Ganj. The odd image that came to me yesterday is a paradise on earth hidden in a smelly onion. One must peel down through the layers, past the dirt, dust, noise, reckless drivers, cow shit, nasty monkeys etc., to get to the pearl in the centre.
Adjusting to the mountain air and the high vibration here takes time. It slows us down and gifts us with deeper sleep. I’ve set the intent of letting the healing energy move through me, not holding it in, breathing it in and releasing with my outbreath.
The joy of reconnecting with all our Tibetan friends, combined with knowing it will be for a brief time only, makes the relationships all the more precious. The strong heart connections we have with them, the surrogate parenting with a couple of younger people whose families are in Tibet, they all fill us up emotionally and spiritually.
We’re both experiencing some tension between getting out there and beginning our volunteer work and taking more time for ourselves, but plan to begin this week, Don back at the Tibet Hope Center and myself at the Tibetan Womens’ Assoiation. More about that later.
Many of you belong or participate in Avaaz Petitions, both in Canada and the U.S. Their current project is in support of Tibet, a message to China. Please help; it takes only a moment of your time (10 seconds if you’re signed up already).
Thank you so much.
Ellen
This press report was sent to me by a friend, an exiled Tibetan monk in India. This is what happened recently in his province of Amdo. Women are making a difference in the struggle!
200 Women in Amdo March Demanding Release of Fellow Tibetans
Phayul – Friday, May 11, 2012 02:33
DHARAMSHALA, May 10: In a strong show of defiance against Chinese authorities, around 200 Tibetan women in the Ngaba region of Eastern Tibet marched towards the Chinese district office last week demanding the release of fellow Tibetans arrested in recent times.
“On May 1, about 200 Tibetan women, from different villages of Ngaba County, including Adhue Village and Gyade Tsosum Village, marched to the Ngaba County government office to appeal for the release of Tibetans arrested on April 14 at Adhue Village,” the Dharamshala based rights group, Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy said in a release Thursday.
The women marchers were stopped by armed Chinese security personnel at Tsamrig Village after marching for nearly 7 kilometers,” the release said.
TCHRD, while citing sources, noted that “a big clash” was averted after heads of the local monastery intervened to ease the standoff.
“The standoff almost led to a big clash between the security officers and the Tibetana, as security officers called in additional reinforcements from the County PAP,” TCHRD said. “It was only after the intervention by the heads and respected lamas of Adhue Monastery that the tense standoff was resolved.”
Although the marchers dispersed at the request of the lamas, they continued to press for the release of detained Tibetans by announcing a farming boycott movement.
Tibetan residents of Adhue Thawa Village refused to farm their fields as a sign of solidarity with the Tibetans who self-immolated, to express their pain and disapproval of the crackdown on Tibetan protesters in Adhue village, and their continued detention in official custody.
On April 14, many Tibetans were beaten and arrested for protesting official corruption by security officers in Adhue village. A large number of Tibetans had to be hospitalised although most of them have now been discharged, TCHRD said.
Following the protest march and farming boycott movement, seven Tibetans were released on May 5 after they were made to attend ‘patriotic re-education’ sessions for three days in the township
You can learn more about the Tibet situation by following the Canada Tibet Committee website. It also has details about Project Tibet, whereby 1000 Tibetans currently in exile and at risk in Northern India, will be sponsored and resettled in Canada. We already have 3, possibly 4 groups formed in our community of the Sunshine Coast, part of the Vancouver, BC area.
Help End the Massacre in Tibet
By signing this petition, you will help to put pressure on world governments to step in and stop the decimation of this society. Many Tibetans have self-immolated in the past few months, as the situation worsens.
Reasons to Sign The Pledge:
1. Tibetans in Tibet need to know that we are standing with them
2. Governments worldwide must heed our call to action
3. China must end the crackdown NOW
This is a simple thing to do. Please show them you care.
Thank you.
Ellen
P.S. I wrote to Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada in February & received a reply from John Baird, Minister of Foreign Affairs a few months later. Both men take every opportunity to speak with China about their treatment of Tibetans. This is encouraging. However Canada continues to do a lot of trade with China.
E
Stand Together for Tibet