Ups and Downs for Tibet

Three Tibet-related news stories worth a read:

• Tim Johnson, McClatchy Newspapers, "Meet a living Buddha: Young, handsome, with an old soul"

Johnson begins his profile of Ogyen Trinley Dorje, the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa, this way:

Give the magnetic personality and hunky good looks of a rock star to a Tibetan Buddhist monk, and the result might be Gyalwang Karmapa, the third-highest lama in the Tibetan religious firmament.

Cool. Don't be surprised if His Holiness the 17th Karmapa becomes the new icon of Tibetan Buddhism when His Holiness the Dalai Lama is gone.

Here's another McClathy Newspapers article from Tim Johnson:

• "At Tibetan exiles forum, it's debate by day, party by night"

Johnson writes of the just-ended Tibetan exiles forum:

By day, they gather in intense sessions, devising strategies to challenge China over its firm grip on the Tibetan Plateau, the scene of unprecedented rioting earlier this year. By night, they flock to coffee shops, restaurants and bars, greeting old friends from afar and new acquaintances, singing Tibetan songs, quaffing Kingfisher beer and making merry.

Oh, to have been there ... On a more discouraging note,

• Robert Burnett, the New York Times, "Did Britain Just Sell Tibet?"

Barnett writes that it appears Britain changed its position on Tibetan autonomy in exchange for China's contribution to the International Monetary Fund. Shortly after China agreed to the contribution, David Miliband, the British foreign secretary, announced ...

... after almost a century of recognizing Tibet as an autonomous entity, Britain had changed its mind. Mr. Miliband said that Britain had decided to recognize Tibet as part of the People’s Republic of China. He even apologized that Britain had not done so earlier.

Money talks, folks. And life is dukkha.