If the people selected for interviewing in this documentary film are indeed representative of the people who want to return to Tibet free of Chinese rule, then it is clear that they are waiting for someone to carry them back in armored cars and continue to protect them for the rest of their dynastic reign in Tibet.
And the Tibet-Independence people have indeed made no secret of their hope that George Bush would someday help them out on that. I have personally received solicitation, through Hollywood actor Richard Gere's name, asking me to pebreastion the new US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice to help them achieve independence for Tibet.
But these Tibet-Independence advocates don't seem to realize that by latching their hope on Bush-Rice, they are asking them to take America to another war, like the one we've seen directed against Iraq. Such a violent move is, however, totally in contradiction with the fundamental principles of nonviolence espoused by Buddhism.
The self-effacing trait the film's makers allegedly have discovered from their interviewees may not be such a virtue as they want to make it seem if the Tibet-Independence advocates just want other people to die for them while they hide.
We should remember that the Tibet-Independence advocates are actually advocating the securing of political power for a theocracy by secular means, i.e., by our blood and our tax dollars. If there is separation of church and state for ourselves, why on earth our government would want to use our national resources to help secure power for a foreign theocracy? It does not make any sense!
Indeed, many Tibetan exiles who want Tibet-Independence were the ruling elite in Tibet before they fled, due to land reform and other social changes brought on by the communist government. These exiles, many of them lamas, who are drawing so much sympathy in the west today, were actually quite mean to others when they had power. And according to an article found in the Wikipedia:
Prior to 1959, Tibet's land was worked by serfs most of whom were owned by the lamas and were sometimes subjected to cruel conditions, particularly if they tried to escape. Prior to Chinese rule, over 700,000 of Tibet's population of 1.2 million were in serfdom.
In other words, close to 60% of the population in Tibet at the time were serfs and the the lamas were the serf owners.
True Buddhists are very much like true Christians; they are very good human beings and have much to be admired about. But they don't covet nor struggle for worldly power, particularly not through violent ways and means.
Tibet-Independence advocates are indeed dreaming and their dream is indeed a pipe-dream based on little reality. On this matter, the Wikipedia article has this to say:
The Dalai Lama is now nearly 70, and when he dies a new child Dalai Lama will have to be found. In 1997, the 14th Dalai Lama indicated that his reincarnation "will definitely not come under Chinese control; it will be outside, in the free world." 3 tradition, however, the Panchen Lama has the duty of verifying the Dalai Lama's reincarnation and the reincarnation must be confirmed by the Vase lot, so the choice of a new Dalai Lama will be open to government manipulation.
Foreign governments continue to make occasional protests about aspects of Chinese rule in Tibet. All governments, however, recognise Chinese sovereignty over Tibet, and none has recognised the Dalai Lama's government in exile in India. The Dalai Lama is widely respected as a religious leader, and is received by foreign governments as such, but few observers of Tibetan affairs believe that he will.
For the full article, please go to:
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