Did Britain Just Sell Tibet?

By ROBERT BARNETT
November 24, 2008

The financial crisis is going to do more than increase unemployment, bankruptcy and homelessness. It is also likely to reshape international alignments, sometimes in ways that we would not expect.

As Western powers struggle with the huge scale of the measures needed to revive their economies, they have turned increasingly to China. Last month, for example, Gordon Brown, the British prime minister, asked China to give money to the International Monetary Fund, in return for which Beijing would expect an increase in its voting share.

Now there is speculation that a trade-off for this arrangement involved a major shift in the British position on Tibet, whose leading representatives in exile this weekend called on their leader, the Dalai Lama, to stop sending envoys to Beijing — bringing the faltering talks between China and the exiles to a standstill.

The exiles’ decision followed an announcement on Oct. 29 by David Miliband, the British foreign secretary, that after almost a century of recognizing Tibet as an autonomous entity, Britain had changed its mind. Mr. Miliband said that Britain had decided to recognize Tibet as part of the People’s Republic of China. He even apologized that Britain had not done so earlier.

Until that day, the British had described Tibet as autonomous, with China having a “special position” there. This formula did not endorse the Tibetan claim to independence. But it meant that in the British view China’s control over Tibet was limited to a condition once known as suzerainty, somewhat similar to administering a protectorate. Britain, alone among major powers, had exchanged official agreements with the Tibetan government before the Chinese takeover in 1951, so it could scarcely have said otherwise unless it was to vitiate those agreements.

After the People’s Republic of China joined the United Nations in 1971, British politicians refrained from referring to their country’s recognition of Tibet’s autonomy to avoid embarrassing Beijing. But that didn’t make it less significant. It remained the silent but enduring legal basis for 30 years of talks between the Dalai Lama and Beijing, in which the Tibetans have called only for autonomy and not independence — a position that a conference of Tibetan exiles in India reaffirmed on Saturday. Read more »

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How To Use Sang: Monica Torres

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China Postpones EU Summit to Protest Dalai Lama Visit

By VOA News, 26 November 2008

China has postponed a summit with the European Union next week to protest plans by EU leaders to meet with Tibet’s political and spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.

A statement from the EU says Chinese authorities made the decision because the Dalai Lama will be visiting several EU countries at the time of the summit.

Chinese officials signaled out plans by French President Nicolas Sarkozy to meet the Dalai Lama next week. Because France currently holds the rotating EU presidency, Mr. Sarkozy was to have hosted the summit with China beginning on December 1.

No date for a future summit has been set.

In its statement, the EU said it regrets China’s decision. The EU stressed, however, that it plans to continue to promote its strategic partnership with Beijing at a time when the world’s financial situation calls for close cooperation.

Earlier this month, China warned Mr. Sarkozy that his plans to meet with the Dalai Lama in Poland in December would hurt relations.

In Poland, the Dalai Lama and Mr. Sarkozy will attend ceremonies to mark the anniversary of the awarding of the Nobel Peace prize to Lech Walesa, the anti-communist activist who later became president.

The Dalai Lama is also scheduled to visit the Czech Republic and Belgium during his European trip. He is expected to visit the European Parliament while in Brussels.

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The Tibetan Incense Shop Review: Sarah Shannon

Just a quick note to say thank you for fantastic service. I have enjoyed shopping on your web site and I am absolutely delighted with the speedy delivery. I also especially would like to mention that your overall attitude and presentation, such as web site information right down to how the product arrives, and also the way the incenses were packed, gave me a positive experience and in some cases made me feel good about myself. One thing left to say - very well done. I assure you I will be back to shop with you again in the near future. I hope you will continue to grow and expand.

Wishing you many more happy customers and with warmest regards,
Sarah Shannon,
Cork, Ireland

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8 Reasons for Burning Incense: Chandra Prakash

It’s generous. It connects you to the elements. It sparks appreciation. It is healthy. It brings you back. It joins heaven and earth. It offers a lesson. It makes you prepare.

Those who never or rarely use incense often think of it as merely an air freshener or an odor eater and are unaware of the many benefits of incense to the mind and body. Even many incense fans who use it regularly may not fully appreciate all its physical and psychological benefits.

The list below will make it clear why just about every religion since the beginning of time has used incense for its spiritual powers, why tribal healers and physicians throughout history have used incense for its healing powers, why monks have used incense for thousands of years for its concentration powers, and why artists use incense to inspire creativity.

1. It’s generous. Ritual is an important part of living, even small rituals that may seem inconsequential. The insignificance of offering a stick of incense is key. It doesn’t move you any closer to stated goals. It doesn’t seem to address your current concerns, whether they are about personal relationships or world hunger. Yet, offering — without expectation of something in return for your gesture — is training in generosity, the act of letting go.

2. It connects you to the elements. Incense has to be lit. It requires fire to ignite and oxygen to burn. We need oxygen to breath and fire to live. It is a truism to say that to survive, we need a relationship to our world, our elemental world, the world of our senses. By striking a match, lighting and sensing a stick of incense, you have reignited a relationship with the world that sustains you.

3. It sparks appreciation. It takes time to find incense that appeals to you. Japanese varieties can be delicate and floral. Tibetan incense evokes a warm, earthy quality. There are many subtle differences and endless varieties. But you will offer incense that pleases you. What do you like? Do you know? Another way of putting this is: what makes you happy? By enjoying incense in the context of practice, you set a positive tone for your session. Practice is about appealing to the part of you that is able to relax, slow down and appreciate. Cultivating appreciation is the ground of discipline.

4. It is healthy. Incense enhances concentration & focus, prevents infections, relieves headaches, fights depression, reduces anxiety & tension, aids insomnia.

5. It brings you back. When you sit down to practice, the smoke from your incense joins you. Some even select the length of their incense stick to time their practice session. You may be lost in thought when, suddenly, you are brought back to the moment by the scent from a plume of incense wafting by. At this moment, you can recall the intention to practice that prompted you at the time you offered the incense and gently return to your discipline.

6. It joins heaven and earth. Smoke moves in space. Space extends everywhere. When you light incense you can invoke space. You can do this by letting the smoke go where it wants. Who would try to tell smoke where to go? At the same time, space is a reminder of earth. Eventually, after enjoying the space of heaven, smoke will settle into dust and land on earth. We can’t forget to enjoy the space of heaven in our practice. Practice takes effort –fire—but it can be lighthearted. It doesn’t have to be so serious. It is natural to enjoy space. It is natural to settle on the earth.

7. It offers a lesson. The incense stick begins at a full length and then grows shorter as it burns. There is no way to repair or retrieve a stick that has burnt. At first the scent is strong, soon the stick is gone and the scent will be faint. Sometimes the ash sits on top of the stick, like a memory of past glories, before toppling off into the incense bowl. The smoke may rise slowly like white ink from the stroke of an invisible brush or may disperse, fanned by hidden currents of air. All experience is fleeting — like the smoke from a stick of incense. This is a true lesson.

8. It makes you prepare. To offer incense, you need incense, matches, a bowl. You need to think about this before your practice session. To practice, you need time, a place, and intention. You have to work to gather what you need for practice. You have to plan and organize your life so you can sustain a practice. Your time and your space have value. They are the very commodities of existence and essential resources for practice. Always in short supply, they can be squandered or not. Prepare well and your practice will go well.

Chandra Prakash, Boulder, CA

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