YouTube Videos About Tibet (& China)

Fortune Cookie Oracle

Fortune Cookie Oracle part 2

My reaction to the monks at Jokhang Temple

These videos are online at YouTube or can be downloaded here in a number of formats including AVI, QuickTime (MOV), for iPods (MP4), 3gp, and 3g2. 3gp and 3g2 are offered so that people can view and exchange them on cell phones and other devices.

Tibet is no threat to China. The Chinese communists have oppressed Tibetans for years. They drove out the Dalai Lama, destroyed temples, tried to crush Buddhism, and harassed monks as well as private citizens. Beijing's feeble cover up attempts and restricted access for foreign journalists fools no one. It's quite obvious what's going on.

China's violent response to the recent protests in Tibet and other areas within China is deeply unsettling. All eyes are on Beijing with the 2008 Olympics approaching. When legitmate concerns are ignored, when cultural genocide is the national policy, and when neither truth nor justice are in the government's vocabulary, suffering results. An honest and open dialogue with the Dalai Lama is the fastest path to healing this tragedy.

Compassion on the part of Beijing is the appropriate response. A people's government listens to its citizens because it exists to serve the masses. Sitting down with the Dalai Lama can only be viewed as a sign of strength, vision, and progressive leadership.

There are no internal affairs in a global village. The international community is predicated on the free exchange of ideas as well as goods and services, and an abiding respect for diversity and individual expression. The profits of the modern world aren't free of obligations, to oneself or to others.

The sangha of monks and sangha of nuns are one of our jewels. Their welfare is our welfare. One would no sooner disrespect a monk than one's own Mother. We are more alike than different and acting accordingly dispels so many of the world's miseries.

I ask China's leaders including Hu Jintao to pause, sit down, and talk. All will benefit.