Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
The Chinese occupation of Tibet
The Chinese occupation of Tibet
The Chinese occupation of Tibet
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: The Chinese occupation of Tibet
The 1990’s was coined the “Tibet Moment” in Hollywood. Countless celebrities were
attending Dharma centers around the country, Steven Seagal was recognized as the reincarnation
of an ancient Lama and three big-budget Hollywood films with Tibetan themes were released.
One of these films was Jean Jacques Annaud’s epic Seven Years in Tibet, starring Brad Pitt,
which tells the true story of the friendship between the Dalai Lama and Austrian mountain
climber Heinrich Harrer in the last years of the country’s independence.
In this essay I will first provide background of how the Dalai Lama and Tibetan culture
became popular in America in the 1990’s. I will then explain how the film Seven Years in
Tibet reveals the spiritual transformation of Heinrich and promotes awareness of the Chinese
occupation of Tibet to a large western audience.
The Dalai Lama is the spiritual leader of Tibet and is considered the reincarnation of the
bodhisattva of compassion. The 14th Dalai Lama became known worldwide following his exile
from Tibet in 1959, due to the Chinese takeover of the state. When the Dalai Lama fled Tibet,
he was “met at the Indian border by a crowd of international journalists eager to get a glimpse of
the mysterious "god king" from the land of snows.” Although accounts of his escape appeared in
newspapers, the issue did not gain a lot of press and was not on the United Nation's agenda. As
both a spiritual and political leader, the Dalai Lama knew that he had to take a public stance, in
order to fight for the freedom of Tibet. Between 1979-1989 the Tibet issue was transformed into
an international campaign. Demonstrations took place in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, that were
“violently repressed by ...
... middle of paper ...
...ia Worlds: Anthropology on New Terrain. Berkeley: University of California, 2002. Print.
"Tibet House US." Tibet House US.
Gere, Richard. "Frontline: Dreams of Tibet." PBS.
Solder, Steven. "Beastie Boys, Smashing Pumpkins Headline Tibetan Freedom Concert."Rolling Stone. N.p., 8 Aug. 1996.
Lopez, Donald S. Prisoners of Shangri-La: Tibetan Buddhism and the West. Chicago: University of Chicago, 1998. 1. Print.
Rawson, Philip S. Sacred Tibet: Imagination, Magic and Myth. London: Thames & Hudson, 2012.
Johnston, Becky. "Tricycle | Awake in the World." Between the Image and the Reality.
Lopez, Donald S. Prisoners of Shangri-La: Tibetan Buddhism and the West. Chicago: University of Chicago, 1998. Print.
Abramson, Marc. "Mountains, Monks and Mandalas: 'Kundun' and 'Seven Years In Tibet.'"Mountains, Monks and Mandalas: 'Kundun' and 'Seven Years InTibet.' Cineaste, 1998.
Xinran looked at Tibet through a lens of sanctity and love. Ma Jian took his experiences and his imagination to form five short stories dealing with different topics. Both authors use the title of their book to give readers a hint of what the book is about and see how the title intertwines with the text. Each book gives you a different perspective and helps you form your own lens on Tibetan culture.
Yu, Han. “Memorial on Buddhism”. Making of the Modern World 12: Classical & Medieval Tradition. Trans. Richard F. Burton. Ed. Janet Smarr. La Jolla: University Readers, 2012. 111-112. Print.
Walking into the Hall of the Buddhas, there was a sense of peace and guidance lingering inside me. The seated Bodhisattva, of the Northern Wei dynasty (386-534), CA.480, from the Yungang, Cave xv, Shani Province, made of sandstone, guarded the entrance. At first, I thought it was a time to be disciplined, but the transcending smile from the statue was a delicate fixed gesture that offered a feeling of welcome. It was not a place to confess your wrongdoings; neither was it a place for me to say, “Buddha I have sinned.” It was a room to purify the mind, the mind that we take for granted without giving it harmony. There was a large mural decorating the main wall called “The Paradise of Bhaishajyaguru”(916-1125). I sat down wandering if the artist of the portrait knew that his work would one day be shared on this side of the world, in my time. Much like Jesus Christ and his followers, the mural is a painting of healers and saviors. It was a large figure of the Buddha of medicine, (Bhaishajyaquru) surrounded by followers of Bodhisattvas, Avalokiteshvara, and Mahosthamaprapta with twelve guardian generals who have pledged to disseminate the Buddha’s teaching (Tradition of Liao 916-1125, Metropolitan Museum wall plaque).
24 Amore, Roy C. and Julia Ching. The Buddhist Tradition. In Willard G. Oxtoby, Ed. World Religions: Eastern Traditions. P. 221
1 Geoff Childs Tibetan Diary From Birth to Death and Beyond in a Himalayan Valley of Nepal (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2004) 41.
Tung, R. J. (1980). A portrait of lost Tibet. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
The Dalai Lama expresses the importance of publicity that has first been generated by the Tibetan Freedom Concert. Not only did it create awareness for the Chinese as the Dalai Lama suggested; it also created awareness around the world, especially in North America. Ask any North American teenager,"What they feel towards the idea of Tibetan oppression from the Chinese?", just ask him "Where Tibet is?" three years ago and he would probably look confused and answer by asking "Would you like fries with that?".<THIS MADE VERY LITTLE SENSE.> Ask that same teenager now, and he would likely give an educated response. The Tibetan Freedom Concert is just an example of how powerful modern media is if it can be used properly.
Buddhism and Buddhist philosophy can have a substantial amount of unfamiliar terminology and specific meanings for words we think we know the definition to. In order to ensure comprehension and clarity a few terms need to be defined. Buddhism as a spiritual movement is the following of the teachings of a fifth century B.C. E. Indian spiritual leader named known as Siddhartha Gautama, Shakyamuni, or --in the case of this essay-- the Buddha. Tibetan Buddhism will be defined in a similar manner. Tibetan Buddhism is in the course of this essay will focus on one of the six schools of thought in the Tibetan Buddhist cannon. The “Oral Tradition” or the Kagyu School is the monastic linage that arrives in Kauai in the twentieth century.
Rinpoche, Samdhong. Uncompromising Truth for a Compromised World: Tibetan Buddhism in Today’s World; forward by 14th Dalai Lama. (Tibet: World Wisdom, 2006), 264.
Many of the influences of Tibetan Buddhism came from India thousands of years ago. There were four phases leading up to the Tantric practice that is known today. 560 B.C.E. to 480 B.C.E. marked the first stage, the life of Siddharta Gautama, who Tibetans believe to be the original Buddha. The legend of the Buddha is that he was conceived in ...
Terrence, Clifford. Diamo Healing: The Buddhist Medicine and Medical Psychiatry of Tibet. Motilal Banarsidass. 2003.
Rinpoche, Sogyal. The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying. New York, NY, USA: Harper Collins Publishers, Inc., 1993
Xuanzang was a highly educated Buddhist monk from China, who in 629 C.E. made the long and treacherous journey along the Silk Road to India. His main objectives in his sixteen years away from home were fundamentally religious; he only wanted to study more complete scriptures to answer questions he had, which he deemed unsolvable in his own country. It is important to understand Xuanzang’s own position within the Chinese society and the type of situation it was in: Chinese Buddhists had many disagreements
Lama, Dalai, XIV. Toward a True Kinship of Faiths: How the World's Religions Can Come
The Web. The Web. 18 Mar. 2014. The 'Standard' of the 'Standard'. " The Buddhist World: Lay Buddhist's Guide to the Monk's Rules. "