The news of the world are filled again with anti-Chinese propaganda. I am appalled at how simplistic anti-Chinese bickering is allowed to be, because it hides the real problems and dangers of China, and there are also positive aspects, like that China has done much for secularism and science.
While portraying every unwelcome Middle Eastern movement as extremist religious terrorism, Western double-moral wants to tell us that such issues are absent in China. But self-immolations, just as much as suicide attacks, and attacking other, of suffering capable beings, is not peaceful islam, and most certainly not peaceful Buddhism that desires enlightenment by meditating about loving kindness cross-legged on mountain tops. Not only is there a slight conflict with the “peaceful” part. It is also opposed to everything that Buddhism stands for as far as the famous guy sitting 40 days under the pipal (Bodhi) tree is concerned.
Tenzin Gyatso, also called "Dalai Lama", is according to Western media a nice peace loving guy who has nothing to do with politics. He gets all kinds of politically motivated Prizes, now 1.7 million dollars from Templeton. If Tenzin had a tiny fraction of the loving kindness he pretends to be all about in front of the simpletons who lap it up around the world, he would order his followers to stop doing the kind of crap they are engaging in. Perhaps tape a little video saying “Hi guys, me here, please when burning yourselves, could you stop screaming my name as if I endorse such, thanks.”
But this is not what the Dull Lamo is doing. Mister religious/political leader does not care for peace, because he wants the autonomous region of Xizang (Tibet) back in the Middle Ages, worshipping his feet. Granola munching new age hippies around the world need to understand that Tibetan “Buddhism” is to Zen Buddhism what the catholic church is to poor baby Jesus.
Buddhism is about the realization of fundamental emptiness, about addressing suffering at the source, namely our craving for pleasurable existence. It is a slow path, one that involves doubt and analytic meditation. The original Buddha found his two master’s teachings insufficient. Eventually, he came to so called “enlightenment” all by himself. Buddhism is at the core anti-authoritarian, anti-religious.
The face of enlightened Buddhism: Muho Noelke, German physics and philosophy student turned Japanese Zen Master overseeing Antai-ji, a Buddhist monastery. No kissing of feet here.
Much of Indian Buddhism is a religion for the stupid masses. It is the usual sell-out, the perversion of a wise person’s teachings into bribing priests for a shortcut to heaven. But Tibetan “Buddhism” is perhaps the worst, negating the core of the original message. Tibetan Buddhism distinguishes itself by claiming to have methods for achieving Buddhahood quickly! Alarm bells ringing? They call it the Vajrayāna path. Out the window goes skeptical analytical meditation. Here come ritual and doctrine sold as a shortcut to fortune. Vajrayāna holds utmost sustained effort in guru devotion essential. Bye autonomy and skepticism, welcome mein Fuehrer. And surprise surprise, Tibetan “Buddhism” stresses esotericism. “Tantric practice” is secret practice to avoid “misinformed people from harmfully misusing the practices”. Only problem: Buddhism that deserves to be called Buddhism does not have any practices that could possibly harm anybody!
The recent unrest in the Ganzi Tibetan autonomous prefecture in Sichuan involves mistakes on all sides, but mostly it involves a mix of ethnic racism/nationalism and religious fanaticism that has no place in modern society. It does certainly not reflect the opinions of the Tibetan people, Buddhists in China, or much anything in China, which shines with its relatively peaceful coexistence of 56 different ethnic groups, only two of which have sizable minorities that are strongly infected by religious extremism.
The second World Buddhist Forum was held in Wuxi (Jiangsu Province) in March 2009. The State Administration for Religious Affairs and organizations like the China Religious Culture Communication Association(CRCCA) work to allow for a peaceful coexistence of religions in China, for their cultural exchange, and thus religious freedom. The Buddhist Association of China (BAC) and the China Association for Preservation and Development of Tibetan Culture (APDTC) also work on these issues. Now of course I am not saying that they don't also do a lot of nonsense, as all such institutions do, but the Dull Lamo and his Western backers mainly stir up religious fanaticism and ethnic tensions as their main aim.
As long as Western media supply only nonsense fed to them by anti-China groups mostly based in the US and its little sidekick UK, we are left no choice but go with the account given by those living in the region! The Chinese know most about Tibet, have liberated Xizang from serfdom (slavery), and keep supporting the region with enormous efforts and patience ever since, as most Tibetans can testify.
People in the west of China are thankful for the sustained efforts that help them not resembling their next door neighbors (Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan) which are "helped" by Western and Russian forces, to whom "Liberation" means to smash a place like Iraq, watch how the known ethnic and religious tensions ensure people kill each other, then leave to smash the next place.
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