Above is the giant Leshan Buddha built during the Tang Dynasty around the seventh century.  It is carved where the Minjiang, Dadu and Qingyi rivers in the southern part of the Sichuan province of China meet. The giant stone Buddha faces toward Mount Eimi and the rivers flow below his feet. It is the largest stone Buddha carving on the planet.

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Tibetan Buddhism is considered as the guardian of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, a paradise for diverse species, with its rigorous doctrines.

“The Tibetan Buddhism stresses the harmony between humans and the nature. Despite harsh natural conditions, however, Tibet has done a good job in environmental protection. This has much to do with the Tibetan Buddhist dogmas requiring quietness during self-cultivation in order to better merge oneself with the nature,” said Cao Ziqiang, 75, former vice president of the High-Level Tibetan Buddhism College of China.

The plateau has offered this religion an ideal environment for its expansion. There, all lamaseries have luxuriant woods, vast pastures and fertile land.

“To cherish the land has naturally become a mission for those Buddhist followers,” Cao said, adding: “Meanwhile, some Buddhist disciplines and taboos have helped protect the ecological environment as well. For example, the precept of no killing is actually regarded as a respect to life and conducive to the protection of both animals and plants.”

Tibetans have internalized these disciplines into self-awareness and have been pursuing them to the letter in their daily life. “Tibet’s weak ecosystem has been protected to the utmost this way,” he said.

According to China Meteorological Administration, the growth rate of temperatures in Tibet is four times the national average. Consequently, Tibet has become a big victim of climatic changes. Its Buddhism, closely tied up with the nature, has no choice but to accept this reality.

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From the Times Online UK

China has sentenced a revered Tibetan living Buddha to eight-and-a-half years in jail on charges of illegally occupying government land and possession of weapons.

The court in the western town of Kangding handed down the conviction more than eight months after Phurbu Tsering Rinpoche’s trial. It marked the first time a Tibetan arrested following last year’s riots had been allowed to select his own defence lawyers.

He had faced a maximum of 15 years in prison on the two charges and it is possible that the presence of his lawyers persuaded the judges from imposing an even longer term. The judges may also have been wary of handing down a lengthier sentence for fear of renewed outbreaks of anti-Chinese unrest among supporters in the mainly ethnically Tibetan region that is his home. He commands thousands of disciples in Tibet as well as in other areas of China.

Read More

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Dharamsala, Dec 28: Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama Monday urged the Chinese government to release writer Liu Xiaobo and other political prisoners.

“I am saddened by the Chinese government sentencing Liu Xiaobo, a well-known Chinese writer, to an 11-year jail term,” the Dalai Lama said, according to a statement.

“By forcefully sentencing Liu Xiaobo, and others like him, who use freedom of expression to publicly articulate their opinions, the Chinese authorities have not only violated the binding principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights but also the freedom of expression mentioned in the constitution of the People’s Republic of China.

“I urge the Chinese government to release as soon as possible Liu Xiaobo and other political prisoners who were jailed because of exercising freedom of expression,” he said.

The Dalai Lama, along with many of his supporters, fled Tibet and took refuge in this Himachal Pradesh hill town in 1959. His government-in-exile is not recognised by any country in the world.

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Nepal’s Communist prime minister will visit the Tibetan capital of Lhasa during his upcoming trip to China, as China tries to forge closer ties with its southern neighbor to control a restive minority.

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United News of India Gulbarga, Dec 20: Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama today said rulers of China have no faith in Buddhism despite China being a Buddhist country.

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Victorian Premier John Brumby, it seems, is too busy to meet the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.

The latter addressed Victorian politicians at a reception at parliament house on Wednesday, but Brumby was noticeably absent, reports The Australian.

The Dalai Lama spoke to over 100 people on Wednesday in a private address organised by the informal group, Victorian MPs for Tibet.

In a speech that lasted more than 30 minutes, the Dalai Lama promoted peace, harmony and secularism and urged Australian MPs to visit Tibet to test Chinese claims about Buddhist practices.

It was the Tibetan leader’s only address at an Australian parliament during this visit. He spoke in a committee room and did not address the chamber.

Afterwards he was introduced to Opposition Leader Ted Baillieu, saying he always sides with the “minority”, to which Mr Baillieu replied: “We are the strongest but we are the minority”

Brumby joins Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in declining to meet with the Dalai Lama.

The Dalai later told the media he was not fazed.

“No, no. No concern,” he said, adding “My visit (is) non political.”

Mr Brumby was in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs announcing the redevelopment of the Box Hill hospital during the Dalai’s address.

He blamed a clash of schedules for not meeting with His Holiness and said it had nothing to do with damaging relations with China.

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Shimla, Dec 05 : Exiled Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama is still hopeful of returning to Tibet in this lifetime and hopes to be reborn many times after his death, according to a book published recently published…

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