Dharamshala: So is the Dalai Lama losing sleep over the protests in Tibet and the unrest among the Tibetans in exile? Not really, says His Holiness himself.
“My secret is till I sleep there is a lot of anxiety. But then I sleep – sleep, immediately sleep. Unfortunate or fortunate, no disturbance in my sleep – I get eight hours of sleep.
The Dalai Lama jokes that even senior Indian government officials do not fully understand the reality of the Tibetan situation. Some still believe the Dalai Lama stays in Tibet, he says.
“A divisional commissioner in Karnataka told refugees at a camp that the Dalai Lama has come specially from Tibet to see them. Specially come from Tibet!”
On the Chinese claim that the only problem inside Tibet is the Dalai Lama, he says, “I am the longest ever guest of India. I am happy here. No problems.”
And he can't resist taking a dig at his Chinese adversaries either.
“I am not lecturing at you. You see, I am not like the Chinese,” he said with a laugh.
Lectures or not, the Dalai Lama did admit to an ideological alignment with the Chinese.
“I wanted to join the Chinese Communist party and I am still a Buddhist Marxist,” he admitted.
On the post-death question as well, he has a jocular take: “I don't want to die soon!”
His Holiness also spoke of transparency in his own, unique way.
“They can examine documents and also my pulse, urine and stools,” he said, referring to the Chinese authorities.
When the Dalai Lama was asked what his expectations from the international community were and if war could be a solution, this is what he said:
“War with China! What a useless question, what a silly question!” he exclaimed.
Such is the spiritual and political leader of the Tibetans – adding a dash of humour to lighten a seemingly dark chapter in Sino-Tibetan relations.
Comments
0 comment