Young Tibetan Monk Speaks About "Diluting" of Buddhist Culture by Chinese

August 25, 2004

Source: The Christian Science Monitor

http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0825/p01s04-woap.html?s=hns

On August 25, 2004 The Christian Science Monitor ran a feature article on a young Tibetan Buddhist monk and his views on the political and spiritual situation of Tibetan Buddhists under Chinese rule, "Today, I tell him, officials here said that most Tibetans have abandoned their exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, and the hope that he will return. Is this true? Khenpo is very clear about both the Dalai Lama and what he feels is a major crisis for the future of Tibet. His point confirms what other Tibetans have told journalists: Chinese are diluting traditional Buddhist culture and the monks' role. 'They are coming like a flood,' he says. 'The politics, the jobs, the population - everything is Chinese. My friends can't find a job. Chinese is the only thing you hear on TV or radio. We are losing our culture, and we don't need the Dalai Lama to tell us this. It is what we are experiencing. It is getting to the point that we can't recognize what is Tibetan anymore.' As for the Dalai Lama, Khenpo says, 'We love him.... We can't say so, but it is what we think. We keep him in our hearts. We don't speak his name in public, but we speak of him at home. We will always want him to return.'"