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Panchen Lama says reincarnation must follow Chinese laws, be endorsed by Beijing (www.scmp.com)

submitted 15 hours ago by FTonsilStones@programming.dev to c/nottheonion@lemmy.world

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Second-highest figure in Tibetan Buddhism makes apparent reference to succession of exiled spiritual leader Dalai Lama

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[–] aMockTie@piefed.world 40 points 14 hours ago (13 children)

Archive link.

This apparently isn't even the "real" Panchen Lama, but is the one chosen by China to replace the one that was kidnapped and was chosen by the Dalai Lama.

[+] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world -10 points 13 hours ago (3 children)

This apparently isn’t even the “real” Panchen Lama

Sort of the joke of religious doctrine. These people aren't actually reincarnated Buddhist Wizards who can magically divine the destiny of their successors.

This Panchen Lama is as much "real" as the current Dalai Lama is "real".

These are humans, they can be educated and influenced as easily as anyone, and their politics/religion is a consequence of their upbringing rather than some magical pre-birth spiritual intuition. And they can also grow up, realize their position in the world, and regret their decisions in hindsight.

In 1999, the Dalai Lama suggested that the CIA Tibetan program had been harmful to Tibet because it primarily served American interests, claiming "once the American policy toward China changed, they stopped their help ... The Americans had a different agenda from the Tibetans."

Gyalo Thondup, the Dalai Lama's elder brother, also expressed frustration with the role of the CIA in Tibetan affairs. In a 2009 interview, he stated "I never asked for CIA military assistance. I asked for political help. I wanted to publicize the Tibet situation, to make a little noise. The Americans promised to help make Tibet an independent country. All those promises were broken." He continues, claiming that America "didn't want to help Tibet. It just wanted to make trouble for China. It had no far-sighted policy for Tibet. I wasn't trained for this (clandestine operations). We didn't know about power politics."

During the Tibetan program's period of activity, some of its largest contributions to the CIA's interests in the region came in the form of keeping the Chinese occupied with resistance, never actually producing a mass uprising establishing independence for Tibet from Beijing. The program also produced a trove of army documents that Tibetan insurgents seized from the Chinese and turned over to the CIA in 1961 in what has been referred to as "one of the greatest intelligence successes of the Cold War".

[–] aMockTie@piefed.world 2 points 4 hours ago (2 children)

I don't follow religious doctrine either, but as long as the adherents aren't acting in ways that are harmful to others, I personally try not to insult or belittle them or their beliefs.

The information regarding the CIA is interesting though. The fact that the US reneged on their promises and only used Tibet to extract information about China is depressing, but not surprising.

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 0 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

as the adherents aren’t acting in ways that are harmful to others

The Buddhist successors to the Mongolian/Qing Dynasty were plenty harmful to others. That's what sparked the student revolts responsible for their leadership's removal.

You can blame the icky yicky communists for polarizing and galvanizing upwardly mobile tibetan youth into an insurgency. But falling back on CIA agitprop to justify what was effectively a US military operation intended to destabilize a border region isn't proof of your humanitarianism. Even the Dalai Lama himself regrets letting the CIA militarize Tibet.

The fact that the US reneged on their promises and only used Tibet to extract information about China is depressing, but not surprising.

It's the story of the Cold War told over and over again. The goal of these operations is to spark civil war, not to liberate or liberalize any population.

[–] aMockTie@piefed.world 1 points 3 hours ago

The Buddhist successors to the Mongolian/Qing Dynasty were plenty harmful to others. That's what sparked the student revolts responsible for their leadership's removal.

It's my understanding that those harms were political and not religious in nature.

You can blame the icky yicky communists

Why the disparaging adjectives? I feel like I'm missing the point.

falling back on CIA agitprop to justify what was effectively a US military operation intended to destabilize a border region isn't proof of your humanitarianism. Even the Dalai Lama himself regrets letting the CIA militarize Tibet.

I don't think there is any justification. It was selfish and self serving from the beginning. If the CIA had followed through on their promises, that would be a different story. But they clearly never intended to do so.

It's the story of the Cold War told over and over again. The goal of these operations is to spark civil war, not to liberate or liberalize any population.

Amen.

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