October 1–8, 1998
pretzel logic
The Middle Way
Brotherly differences in the family of the Dalai Lama.
|
Professor Norbu, for instance, is particularly unhappy with the People's Republic of China, which he refers to, in anger and disgust, as The Communists.
Remembering what it was like seeing his homeland occupied, Norbu says The Communists have to leave Tibet.
Now.
Norbu's younger brother, 64-year-old Tenzin Gyatso, has a different take on the matter.
Gyatso wants the Chinese out, too. Unlike Norbu, Gyatso believes this can happen through cooperation between the PRC and Tibetan officials.
But there is only so much Norbu can do to convince his younger brother.
Because, unlike any other big brothers, professor Norbu's younger sibling is the Dalai Lama. Which makes disagreeing with a younger sibling kind of a moot point.
"My brother takes the Middle Way," says Norbu with a heavy air of resignation. "He is a kind person. Compassionate. He wants what is good for everyone in the world. World peace. I think that the Tibetans are better than anyone else and that Tibet belongs to Tibetans. We have a right to do what we want to do."
Norbu left Tibet in such haste that he is not sure whether he is 75 or 76.
He left because The Communists ordered him either to convince his younger brother to leave Tibet, or kill him.
Norbu refused and fled.
He didn't cooperate with The Communists then and he wouldn't now.
"It is impossible to cooperate with The Communists," he says. "How can I kill my brother? How can I cooperate with The Communists? They are not human beings."
Professor Norbu believes strongly in Tibetan freedom. In sovereignty.
Does the little brother listen?
"We talk, we exchange ideas," says Norbu, a retired Indiana University professor of Tibetan culture. "We are not going to argue. The Dalai Lama is the leader of our country."
Like all little brothers, 52-year-old Tendzin Choegyal has been in awe of an older sibling.
When Choegyal was 8, he visited China. On this trip, he came to a pond where he saw goldfish swimming around.
Choegyal reached into the pond with a badminton racquet and pulled out a goldfish.
His older brother, who was 20, yelled at him.
Choegyal says he was properly rebuked. But not because his older brother was the Dalai Lama.
It was because his older brother was his older brother, the guy who used to teach him how to draw cars and buildings and mountains with colored pencils. The guy that taught him how electricity works.
The guy who "did all the things an older brother does to a younger brother," says Choegyal.
Like getting into fights. And having differences.
Choegyal will be the guest of honor at a Tibet Fund fundraiser Friday in St. Stephen's Alley Episcopal Church at 19 S. 10th St. There he will talk about Buddhism and the current situation in Tibet. As a Tibetan exile.
Unlike Norbu, the eldest of the surviving siblings (16 were born, seven lived to be adults and a sister and brother have since died), Tendzin Choegyal agrees with His Holiness that there can be cooperation with the Chinese.
"In dealing with this situation, we have to be practical," says Choegyal, from Seattle, where he is visiting his 24-year-old son. "China has its own interests, the Tibetans have their own interests. Both interests have to be talked about. We have to approach this from a position of mutual understanding."
But will the Chinese ever leave Tibet in a spirit of mutual understanding?
And what of oldest brother Norbu's concerns?
"It is not only my eldest brother Norbu," says Choegyal, like his brothers, a Lama (a holy man) in his own right. "Many people are frustrated. There are also many people who cannot understand or don't see a way out of this situation. It all depends on what mental disposition you have."
A rational disposition is best, says Choegyal.
"If people are very emotional about it, we won't achieve our objective properly," he says. "It is very important to realize what the Tibetan issue is all about. We are not Chinese. What we are not happy about is the forceful occupation of our country and the new masters telling us what to do and how to live and not treating Tibetans as equals, but as subhumans."
The main problem, says Choegyal, is that the Chinese leaders "do not understand the Tibetan situation. It is born out of misunderstanding. If you look at Chinese history, they tend to view China as the center. Therefore, the problem lies, I am afraid again, in that the Chinese believe in isms. If they enlighten themselves, I am sure a solution will be found."
There is hope, Choegyal says, that the Chinese may be changing their position and that a solution may be found.
The loudest sound of change, says Choegyal, is silence: the words not being said by Chinese President Jiang Zemin.
"Many of the derogative comments about Tibet were missing" when Zemin has spoken about Tibet of late, says Choegyal. "Usually, he equated Dalai Lamaism with feudalism. The last time he spoke, during a televised news conference, those adjectives were noticeably missing."
Choegyal, who admits he has no first-hand information that the Chinese are changing their tune, says he agrees with His Holiness about the Middle Way.
"I don't think there should be any use of force," says Choegyal. "It would be suicidal."
The Middle Way, he says, is the only way.
"Violence only brings more violence and there will be no end," he says.
Even if Choegyal disagreed with the His Holiness about the situation in their occupied homeland, he wouldn't bend his brother's ear about the matter.
On that, he agrees with his eldest brother Norbu.
It is, after all, the Dalai Lama they are talking about.
"I don't give advice to him," says Choegyal.
"He is the leader," says Norbu. "Both religiously and politically. He wants to do what He wants to do."
