Geneva, 29 June: EU and seven countries – United States of America, Czech Republic, France, Switzerland, Sweden, Canada and Belgium spoke about China’s abuses of human rights in particular Tibet at UN Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva yesterday.

Danish delegate on behalf of the European Union said, “Regarding the rights of persons belonging to minorities, the EU is alarmed by the deterioration of the situation in Tibet and Tibetan-populated areas, especially in the Sichuan Province. The EU is gravely concerned by the news of mass arrests and detentions, following more self-immolations in Lhasa and elsewhere, as well as reports that Tibetan Autonomous Region has been closed to foreigners. The EU calls upon the Chinese authorities to ensure that the human rights of persons belonging to ethnic and religious minorities, notably Tibet and Xinjiang are fully respected, including their right to freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and freedom of religion or belief, as well as their right to enjoy their own culture and use of their own language.”

Source : tibet.net, 29/06/2012

MILAN: His Holiness left his hotel early Thursday morning to have time to undertake the preparatory rituals for the Avalokiteshvara empowerment he was giving this morning. By the time he was ready most people had taken their seats in the stadium that was filled to its 10,000 capacity.

His Holiness began by explaining that there are four classes of Buddhist tantra and that this empowerment of Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion, belongs to the class of Action Tantra. All four classes of tantra involve visualising yourself as a deity and the recitation of mantra and so forth. This is a specific method that combines the practices of calm abiding and special insight. Tantrayana is sometimes referred to as Secret Mantra. It is secret because it is fit for those who have developed the awakening mind of bodhichitta, while mantra literally means mind protector. We all have the potential to attain Buddhahood and visualising ourselves as deities, our speech as mantra and our minds as Dharmakaya is a way of fulfilling it. In this practice we are trying to transform our ordinary experience into a transcendental experience.

Source : tibet.net, 28-06-2012

DHARAMSHALA: An Indian parliamentary delegation, who were on an official trip to Dharamsala, visited the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile in Dharamsala on 26 June.

The members of the delegation, which composed of ten Rajya Sabha (Upper House) MPs, were Maya Singh, Dr Bharat Kumar Raut, Dr K P Ramalingam, Rabinarayan Mohapatra, Bhupender Yadav, Ahmad Saeed Malihabadi, Shantaram Naik, Jesudasu Seelam, Ali Anwar Ansari and Dr Janardhan Waghmare.

Source : tibet.net

Flame of Truth Relay - (6 July to 10 December 2012)

Due to grave and worsening situation in Tibet, the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile (TPiE) has decided to carry out a number of activities as discussed during its closed door meeting held on 22 March 2012. Accordingly on 27 March, the Standing Committee of the Tibetan Parliament-in-exile decided on the Flame of Truth Relay as one of its activities.

Over the last sixty years since the Communist China’s brutal occupation of Tibet, Beijing has never changed its hard-line policies on Tibet. This has resulted in China exploiting not only Tibet’s rich natural resources but also to kill, torture, imprison and harass the Tibetan people continuously. However, we have held onto to our unique culture, spiritual tradition and identity to struggle for the truth.

Source : tibet.net, 24-06-2012

INVERNESS: His Holiness the Dalai Lama has disapproved the Chinese government’s censorship policy as morally wrong, emphasising that  the country’s 1.3 billion people have a right to know the reality of their situation.

“Totalitarian regimes like China’s have for several decades depended far too much on cruelty, so fear and distrust are part of their atmosphere. This is why they try to conceal reality,” His Holiness said in an interview with the International Network of Street Papers (INSP) in Inverness, Scotland, on Saturday. INSP is the publishers of the magazine known in Britain as The Big Issue, but whose material appears in 122 publications, in 40 countries, in 24 languages.

Source : http://bologna.repubblica.it

La visita della guida spirituale tibetana alle zone terremotate: "Dovete essere determinati, solo così riuscirete a costruirvi una nuova casa". Donazione di centomila euro

dall'inviato CATERINA GIUSBERTI

E’ stata una visita-lampo, ma non per questo meno significativa, quella del Dalai Lama a Mirandola. Arrivato in tarda mattinata, accompagnato dal sindaco e dal presidente della Regione Vasco Errani, si è fatto accompagnare per un breve tour delle aree distrutte dal terremoto, attorno a piazza della Costituzione, prima di chiudersi in meditazione.

"Dovete essere determinati, solo questo vi aiuterà a costruire una nuova casa e a tornare a guardare al futuro", ha esortato la guida spirituale tibetana, che ha raccontato come la notte della prima scossa si trovasse a Udine: “In quel momento sapevo di non poter fare altro che pregare – ha detto rivolto agli sfollati – ma appena ho avuto l’occasione sono venuto qui”.

“Vedendo questa distruzione - ha poi aggiunto - ho provato profondo dispiacere. In passato ho visitato altri posti dove ci sono stati disastri naturali e ho sempre convinto le persone a pensare al futuro. Quando muore qualcuno che ci è caro, sappiamo che non potrà tornare. Ma dobbiamo pensare a quel che quella persona desidererebbe per noi, al fatto che vorrebbe vederci reagire. E’ quello che mi è successo quando ho perso i miei maestri: in quel  momento mi sono reso conto che il mio compito era cercare di realizzare quel che loro si aspettavano da me”.