I Don’t Share this Dream

Do you? I hope not!

Thanks to Rod at The Worst Horse for posting it on his site, that’s where I stumbled on it!

300 protest China’s human rights violations

From Boston Globe - A mock Olympic torch relay drew about 300 protesters to Boston Common yesterday to rally against China’s alleged human rights violations as the country prepares to host the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
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The stop was said to be the first in North America for the Human Rights Torch Relay, an international campaign against Chinese human rights abuses that has held similar events in 80 cities worldwide. Organizers said the event was meant to encourage China to embrace the humanitarian spirit of the Olympics.

Singing nun raises money for Nepal

From Reuters - Buddhist nun, Ani Choying Dolma, a 37-year-old Tibetan-Nepali known as Nepal’s “singing nun”, has soared to global fame with her eight albums of Tibetan and Sanskrit meditation songs.

The income from her CD sales has helped Dolma build the Arya Tara School, which has 58 students drawn from poor Nepali families, including some from neighbouring India and Tibet. Dolma wants to set up a kidney transplantation hospital in Kathmandu in the memory of her mother, who died of kidney problems.

With audiences across Europe, Asia and the United States and more concerts planned in Germany this year, Ani might just achieve her dream.

Cartoon: Keep That Olympic Flame Burning?!?

Burmese Buddhist Leader Warns of Deepening Crisis in Burma

From Epoch Times - A renowned Burmese Buddhist leader says the situation in Burma has worsened since September when the military gunned monks down in the streets.

As the world’s eyes are directed towards Tibet, Venerable Sayadaw U Pannya Vasma is appealing for help from the New Zealand government and the international community to help stop years of violence in Burma.

As with the Tibetan situation, the Chinese Communist Party is involved. The regime has been bankrolling Burma’s military junta and providing weapons.

‘Meditation can make brains kinder’

From Channel 4 - People can train their brains to be kinder and more compassionate through meditation, a study of Buddhist Tibetan monks has shown.

Researchers found that meditative training produced specific changes in the brain linked to empathy.

Reports: New protests in Tibet as diplomats end visit

From Associated Press - Radio broadcaster and Tibetan activists have reported that fresh protests broke out in the Tibetan capital Lhasa as foreign diplomats wrapped up a tightly controlled visit organized by Beijing.

Kate Saunders of the Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet said a demonstration began Saturday afternoon at the Ramoche monastery and grew to involve “many people. Citing unnamed witnesses in the city, she said the situation calmed down after a few hours.

Editorial: What About Tibet?

From Boston Phoenix - It is about money. That is why technology giants such as Google, Yahoo!, and Microsoft allow themselves to be co-opted into helping China enforce domestic mind control; why the world averts its gaze from the Darfur genocide China underwrites through its Sudanese oil purchases; and why whatever international protests might materialize in response to China’s violent suppression of Tibetan revolt are likely to be symbolic.

The odds are that talk of an Olympic boycott to express solidarity with Tibet’s plight will remain just that: talk. There is too much cash on the table for conscience to prevail. Public opinion may cry in sympathy with Tibet, but do not expect democratic governments to do anything to wipe away the tears.

New riots reported in Lhasa

From Reuters - Chinese security forces sealed off parts of Lhasa today and Tibet’s government-in-exile said it was investigating reports of fresh protests, weeks after the city was shaken by an anti-government riot.

The reports coincided with a visit by a group of diplomats, who were led on a closely guarded tour of the city that has been at the heart of unrest throughout China’s ethnic Tibetan regions just months before the opening of the Beijing Olympics.

Video: Monks Disrupt China PR tour in Lhasa

China’s PR “tour” thwarted by monks!

From CNN - China’s carefully managed international media tour of Tibet’s capital ran into a public-relations roadblock Thursday — a protest by screaming Buddhist monks at a holy shrine.

Beijing invited about two dozen international journalists to tour Tibet’s capital, Lhasa, to show them the city is calm after recent anti-China protests. The tour marked the first time foreign reporters had been allowed into Tibet since the unrest began two weeks ago.

Tibetans want China to return Panchen Lama

From Straight.com - As the Dalai Lama continues to garner headlines for his concern over the plight of the Tibetan people under Chinese occupation, media are not questioning the whereabouts and safety of the 11th Panchen Lama.

On April 25, the Panchen Lama, or Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, will turn 19. As a young boy in 1995, he was recognized by the current (14th) Dalai Lama as a reincarnation of the previous Panchen Lama. According to Tibetan Buddhist tradition, the Dalai Lamas assist in the search for the reincarnation of the Panchen Lamas, and vice versa. However, the Chinese government kidnapped the Panchen Lama and his family that same year and in the spring of 2007 issued a directive stating that spirits of “living Buddhas” must be approved by the Communist government before they can reincarnate.

Bush ‘concern’ over Tibet as Games boycott list expands

From AFP - US President George W. Bush voiced concern over the crackdown in Tibet as another European leader Thursday vowed to shun the Beijing Olympics, which China says are being scuttled by the Dalai Lama.

A White House statement said Bush telephoned his Chinese counterpart and underscored the needs for talks between Beijing and the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.

China Needs the Dalai Lama

From Washington Post by Robert Thurman - We are at a moment of great significance for humanity, at the beginning of this new century, which could be either a horrendous time of natural and man-made mega-disasters or the greatest century yet of environmental restoration and peaceful global community. Of all world leaders at this time, the Dalai Lama most convincingly provides spiritual, intellectual, and ethical leadership, exemplifying and elucidating the most reasonable path to peace and happiness. This is the secret of his worldwide popularity. His person and teaching really do matter, to the Tibetans, to the Chinese, and to all of us and our future generations.

China takes foreign journalists on Tibet “tour”

From Daily Times - China moved Wednesday to show it had the situation in Tibet under control, escorting foreign journalists on a tour of the region and saying more than 660 people had surrendered over deadly unrest.

The media trip came as Chinese state-run press and online forums ramped up criticism over Western reporting about the unrest, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy warned he might boycott the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics. The small delegation of selected foreign journalists landed in Lhasa on Wednesday for a three-day reporting trip.