-Caveat Lector- http://www.independent.co.uk/news/World/Asia_China/china080100.shtml > China left stunned as 'Black Hat' Lama > flies to freedom > > By Peter Popham in Delhi > > 8 January 2000 > > Tibetans at home and in exile are > digesting the most dramatic event in the > struggle against Chinese rule since the © 1999 Independent > flight of the Dalai Lama nearly 41 years Digital (UK) Ltd. > ago. > > "His Holiness the Karmapa", read the > laconic message on the website of the > Kagyu, one of Tibet's four ancient schools > of Buddhism, "has left Tibet and arrived > safely in Dharamsala, India, at 10.30am on > 5 January". > > Urgyen Trinley Dorje is the 17th Karmapa, > as the master of the Kagyu school is > known, and can trace his lineage back more > than 700 years. He is only 14 years old: > in the tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, he > was "discovered" as the school's new > Karmapa while a small child, and is > regarded as the reincarnation of the 16th > Karmapa, who died four years before he was > born. He is from a nomad family in the > village of Bakor in the east of Tibet. > > But this young lama's unique significance > is that for the Chinese authorities in > Lhasa, he was the best symbol of Tibetan > acquiescence in their rule. > > Unlike the present Panchen Lama, another > potent spiritual figurehead who was > selected with Chinese approval but greeted > with a universal thumbs down by Tibetans, > the 17th Karmapa is recognised as the > legitimate head of his school, both by the > Chinese and by the Dalai Lama himself. > > The fact that this holy lama, not much > inferior in spiritual status to the Dalai > Lama, chose to remain at his monastery 30 > miles north-west of the Tibetan capital, > Lhasa, instead of fleeing the country, > gave the Chinese precious legitimacy among > the six million Tibetans who have been > their unwilling and brutalised subjects > since the Chinese invasion of 1950. > > Like other members of Tibet's traditional > élite who stayed in the country, he was > rewarded: he retained control of his > monastery and received money and cars in > return for his compliance. He was also > kept under surveillance. > > But with his dramatic overland flight in > the middle of the Himalayan winter, that > prop of Chinese power has fallen apart. > > "This explodes the myth which is > fundamental to China's operation in > Tibet," says Robbie Barnett, an expert on > Tibet doing research at Columbia > University in the US. "The Chinese claimed > they had done a deal with the Karmapa. > Tibetans always say the Chinese lie, and > this will be taken as a vivid example of > that." > > Mr Barnett calls it an "action replay" of > the flight of the Dalai Lama from Lhasa in > 1959 when in a week he travelled 900 > miles, crossing 16,000ft-high passes, > indisguise on donkeys and carts through a > landscape of frozen mountains. By the time > the Dalai Lama arrived at the Indian > border, he was running a high fever. > > No details have yet emerged about the > Karmapa's journey, but it must have been > even more testing. This has been an > exceptionally harsh winter, and the Lama > and his four attendants travelled through > the worst of it. When they arrived in > Dharamsala, the hill station in Himachal > Pradesh, northern India, that is home to > the Dalai Lama and a community of monks > and other Tibetans, he was exhausted. He > had an audience with the Dalai Lama later > that day. > > The perilous journey seems to have been > prompted by the demands of his spiritual > role. A young lama must have regular > instruction from particular teachers, and > undergo elaborate rites at specified > times. The Karmapa last year urged the > Chinese authorities to give him permission > to visit his guru, Tai Situ Rinpoche, who > lives in exile, but they refused. "There > has always been a belief among the > Tibetans that some day the Karmapa would > go," Mr Barnett said. "The Karmapas have a > tradition of being autocratic and > purposeful, though also pragmatic when > necessary. But to leave like this in the > middle of winter is one of the most > bizarre aspects of the story. He would > only do it if, like the Dalai Lama, he was > really worried about being detained." > > In Dharamsala, a leading figure in the > Tibetan community said: "We didn't know > anything about the Karmapa coming before > he arrived." > > The Karmapa's arrival in India was greeted > with a total news blackout. It is believed > the Indian government may be embarrassed > by the Karmapa's sudden epiphany and > awaits with some trepidation the Chinese > reaction. > > ===== DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. 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