Tibet and the Self-Immolation of Buddhist Monks

There are some unbelievable protests in and around Tibet going on right now. Of course, Tibet has long been a center of attention and a point of criticism for the growing Chinese Superpower, ever since the invasion over sixty years ago. It remains a source of controversy to this day.

What marks these latest protests are the images of the self-immolation of monks in protest of the Chinese authority and of Chinese domination over Tibet.

Tibet is a land that used to be a Buddhist backwater, as has been described in some famous books and movies (such as "Seven Years in Tibet" and "Kundun", for example).

There are differing accounts of what Tibet was like prior to Chinese invasion (the Chinese call it the "liberation" of Tibet) and occupation. Listen to many Tibetan Buddhists, and it was almost a religious utopia, like a heavenly haven, literally among the clouds, as Tibet is mostly perched atop the Himalaya Mountains, and was the most isolated country on Earth.

The Chinese have another version. They claim that Tibet was a rural backwater lacking progress and the possibility of improving the lives of those inside the country. Michael Parenti wrote an interesting article, "Friendly Feudalism: The Tibet Myth" (see the link below), that delves into the subject of the popular imagination and perceptions of Tibet's mythic past, versus a more sober assessment of the reality, and explained that, in fact, far from being a spiritual utopia as if often portrayed and believed, Tibet was a country of crushing poverty, where religious rulers demanded high taxes from the people, in order to sustain their lives of opulence. The Dalai Lama had even admitted that it had been a backwards place, and that the toll placed upon the regular people was likely too high. He, and the Tibetan dilemma that he personifies in general, have become a cause célèbre for many around the world, and this, often highly idealized. This does not always mesh with reality. The Dalai Lama travels the world, and tries to keep pressure on China for greater Tibetan autonomy, and his government in exile hopes to someday return to a Tibet free of Chinese domination. That may not happen, but the Dalai Lama has come to represent an alternative to the militant and distorted propaganda of a notoriously self-serving Chinese approach, and moreover, a rejection of modern consumer-society values. He has become a much revered figure world wide, and is considered one of the noted elders. Still, all of that deification of the Dalai Lama and the has served to muddy the waters about Tibet's past, which was much less idyllic than many seem to assume.

Be that as it may, China came in with guns blazing against a much smaller, peaceful nation that did not even have a real army. Also, of course, China can hardly be trusted to actually tell the truth in such cases, so systematic is the propaganda machine, and their military takeover can hardly be considered a "liberation" in the strictest sense, since they subjugated what had been an independent nation and essentially annexed it. The native Tibetan population at the time have had to sit by and watch foreigners come and settle their land.

Protests against the Chinese occupation are nothing new, of course. But the protests had not been quite as attention grabbing as these. There is just something about this particular form of attention that grabs the attention of cameras and of headlines the world over.

This is not a new practice, of course. This form of protest became well-known back in the days of the Vietnam War. Yet, the shock value of this particular form of protest is more powerful than probably any other. Just the mere thought of being entirely consumed by flames is too horrifying for most of us to really imagine, yet here are some Buddhist monks willing to do just that! They obviously have to feel strongly enough about it to not only take their own lives in such a public way, but in such a painful way, on top of it! Hard to imagine! 

www.michaelparenti.org/Tibet.html