Next day I went into the Potala and the Norbulingka, the Jewel Park, the summer palace of His Holiness The Dalai Lama.

Founded by King Songtsen Gampo in 637AD, the Potala was the foremost residence of The Dalai Lamas as well as the seat of the old Tibetan government. Within the Potala are some of the oldest Tibetan chapels dating back to 7th Century and a great many sacred objects, including the tombs of past Dalai Lamas. The Potala represents one of the greatest Tibetan artistic and architectural achievements; hence it is one of the major pilgrimage and tourist destinations. Currently it receives an average of 1500 visitors daily and there is some concern about the risks of this causing structural damage to the building.

As a Tibetan I found myself amazingly privileged to be able to just walk into the Potala, my feeling of happiness was mixed with sadness. I was happy because to me, walking into the Potala was not only a part of spiritual journey, but also like going back to the Tibet of the past. I was sad because the Potala has been transformed into a mere museum, another clear indication of the Chinese occupation of Tibet. I also felt like an intruder because the Potala is really the true residence of His Holiness The Dalai Lama, even though [he] resides in India as a spiritual and temporal head of the Tibetan government in exile. The Chinese government really has no right to allow all these tourists into the Potala. I noticed that most of the travel guides and translators were Chinese. Their knowledge of Tibetan history, culture and Buddhism was so obviously poor that I found them very amusing rather than informative.

Yaks, Yellow Hats and the Unfortunate Truth

Norbulingka, the Jewel Park, was not what I expected. The zoo within the park was probably one of the worst zoos I have ever visited. The animals, of which there were not many varieties, looked underfed and were kept like in jail. My favourite was a yak although it gave me an unwelcome look and even chased me when I took a photo of it. A large part of the park seemed to be inaccessible, with some sort of work in progress. However, the new palace called Tagten Migyur Phodang and built during the lifetime of the current Dalai Lama, was well maintained and a centre of tourist attraction within the park.

Over the following few days I went to see the four greatest monasteries of the Yellow Hat tradition of Tibetan Buddhism: Ganden, Drepung, Sera and Tashi Lhunpo. I also took a number of walks around the Barkor, where the Jokhang is situated and the population is mainly Tibetan. In order to gather spiritual merits and purify negativities, Tibetan devotees circumambulate the Jokhang, offering incense and butter lamps. They do this practice especially on any special lunar calendar day, such as full moon days, and in heavy traffic. I joined them on numerous occasions and felt a deep sense of connection with those Tibetans. We are pursuing the same spiritual path, but I had to remain very vigilant not to become distracted by the alluring shops along both the sides of the path.

My first impression on visiting all these great ancient monasteries, which once housed tens and thousands of monks and produced a great many prominent Buddhist masters, was that they were now reduced to battered deserted towns. I had no impression of those monasteries existing now as living centres for undertaking Buddhist studies and meditation. Personally however, I found an immense sense of inspiration and spiritual upliftment in visiting these monasteries, which are indeed a legacy and testimony to the accomplishment of old Tibet. At the same time I thought that had old Tibet developed politically and economically in alignment with the contemporary world, alongside this magnificent advancement of the spiritual tradition, then we would not have lost our country and Tibet might not be the backward nation it was at the time of the Chinese invasion in 1950.

I not only had the opportunity to visit some important historical and religious sites but also during my stay in Tibet I mingled with and talked to as many Tibetans as possible in order to get an overall feeling of what it was like living in Tibet under the Communist government of the PRC.

Unfortunately, what I learned from them and my observations during the trip very much affirms what I already knew before.

It is true to say that in Tibet today:

• Tibetans are a minority and second class citizens in their own home land
• Tibetans are marginalised demographically & economically by Chinese migrants
• Repression of Tibetan language, culture and religion is now worse
• Both in urban and rural areas Tibetan lands and homes are taken away by the Chinese government, and Tibetans are left homeless and penniless
• Tibetans do not have the freedom of religion and speech
• Tibetans do not have the freedom of mobility in their own country
• Most Tibetan children have no access to school or their parents cannot afford schooling & further education
• Tibet’s natural resources and mineral are being exploited at accelerated rates
• Most rural Tibetans do not have access to basic health care
• Chinese is the official language and mandatory for employment
• Chinese migrants are the primary recipient of recent developments and booming tourist industries
• Chinese migrants are taking over most jobs and business opportunities from Tibetans
• All developments in form of the new railway station, large apartments, roads, airport etc, which the PRC promotes and boasts of to the outside world as evidence of the “developing Western region” are turning out to be the ultimate weapon in wiping Tibetan civilization from the face of the earth

It was a short journey, but the most rewarding I have ever taken in my life. Even though what the Communist Chinese government has done and is doing to Tibet is unforgivable, I must say that I found the ordinary Chinese people I interacted with in China, Tibet or anywhere else, to be most friendly and many were even sympathetic to the cause of Tibet.

I would strongly suggest that Tibetans in exile visit our homeland themselves to discover the past, present and future of Tibet. No doubt Tibet today is facing the darkest period in its history of over two thousand years, but there is still hope for the spirit of Tibet will never die.

Further Reading

Tibet: Key Issues

Human and Economic Rights in Tibet