[English Story]蒙报:天然盟友--蒙古和西藏

时间：2008-10-10 01:47 | 分类：个人日记 - news

本文观点虽然不值一驳,但包含大量MBA核心词汇
Mongolia and the Tibetan government-in-exile
By Javier Delgado Rivera
On the occasion of His Holiness Dalai Lama's most recent visit to our country, The UB Post went to Dharamsala, a North Indian town where in 1959 the Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru permited His Holiness and his followers to establish a "government-in-exile". Last September 6th, we had the exceptional opportunity to interview three high-profile officials from Central Tibetan Secretary: Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche, Chairman of the Kashag (Tibetan Cabinet) and the facto exile prime minister; Mr. Thubten Samphel, Secretary for Information; and Mr. Karma Chophel, Chairman of the Tibetan Parliament in exile. The relations between Tibet and Mongolia commenced in the early part of the 13th century when Chinggis Khan conquered Tibet. Centuries later, Sonam Gyatso was officially recognized as the third Dalai Lama in 1578 by the Mongol emperor Kublai Khan, who gave this teacher the name Dalai Lama, a combination of the Mongolian Dalai meaning "ocean" and the Tibetan honorific Lama, "teacher".

The following interviews give an overall overview of the last century and current health of the religious and political links between Mongolia and Tibet from a variety of angles.

One of the leading western specialists on Tibet, Robbie Barnett have said that perhaps one of the most important developments for Tibet in recent years is that Mongolia is an independent country again. Do you agree with this statement?
Mr. Thubten Samphel: It has helped in terms of preserving the purity and integrity of the Tibetan culture since Mongolians and Tibetans share the same spiritual heritage. The introduction of democracy has largely facilitated Mongolia’s revival of Buddhism. It is good for Tibetan civilization as a whole.

As far as you can see, is the Tibetan Government in Exile receiving some kind of assistance from Ulaanbaatar?
Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche: We do cooperate in many ways like sending our students to Mongolian universities, particularly on medical studies. Apart for that and since Ulaanbaatar has a relatively new government and not a particularly wealthy one, we do not expect any financial assistance. More importantly to us, they offer a strong moral support.

How would you define Dharamsala's links with Mongolia?
Mr. Karma Chophel: I believe that Mongolia must still to be very careful in its relationship with neighboring China. Even though Mongolia became independent -- and I apologize if I am incorrect - the government that rules Mongolia still happens to have a communist background. Therefore it seems to me there is still a little reluctance to upset the "old friend".

As mentioned earlier, Mongolia has a significant dependency of China in several fields. Therefore and regrettably, Ulaanbaatar must keep an eye on Beijing. Since the Mongolian authorities did not hinder Gandantegchenlin monastery’s invitation to His Holiness, does it not prove that Mongolia is in a compromising relationship with Tibet?
Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche: For instance, Russia has not been able to grant a visa to His Holiness in spite of the requests of its own people in Kalmyks, Tuvas and other regions. All of them demanded that Putin should allow the Dalai Lama to visit their regions but he succumbed to pressure from China. Yet, even though Mongolia depends much more on China than the Russian Federation does, it never restricted His Holiness to travel through Mongolia.

During the 90s, Kushok Bakula, Indian ambassador to Mongolia and a Buddhist leader, once said about Mongols, "If you are not Buddhist, then what are you? You lose your identity. How different are you then from the Chinese or the Russians?" Do you agree with this comment?
Mr. Thubten Samphel: With all respect, I disagree because a society may have a culture and an identity which does not necessarily need to be based on spiritual beliefs. Mongolia's conversion to Buddhism in terms of history is fairly recent. Before that, Mongolians had their own religious beliefs based on Shamanism. In any case, the fact that Mongolia adopted Buddhism as their main religion has certainly enriched Mongolian culture.
The UB Post is widely read by the foreign community residing in Mongolia. Some foreigners may be confused after hearing that Mongolian Buddhism is not the same as Tibetan Buddhism. Would you briefly explain the main differences?
Mr. Thubten Samphel: Actually, there is no Tibetan or Mongolian Buddhism, there is just pure and simple Buddhism. The content of both is the same and taught by one Buddha. The only differences are superficial such as the practice of certain rituals or the color of the ropes of monks. Mongolian and Tibetan Buddhism philosophy, meditation techniques as well as patterns of the teachings of Buddha are exactly the same.

Due to the long years of religion prohibitions, Buddhism is in its revival facing a reality where some monks who are not correctly trained. What role does Dharamsala play in the teaching of young Mongolian monks?
Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche: Over the last 24 years, quite a few number of Mongolian monks and nuns have been coming to India. Just like in the past, when our countries were free and they could travel to Tibet to study Buddhism. Nowadays, about 150 Mongolians are studying in Buddhist centers around India. Dharamsala is trying to assist them by providing scholarships in order to play a similar role to that of Tibet in the 13th century. We are more than pleased to assume this responsibility.

The Communist ideology claimed to be the world's savior from imperialist influences. Both in Mongolia and Tibet, Communism attained to eradicate the national languages, mainly the script in Mongolia. Is this not a powerful weapon of cultural imperialism?
Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche: I could not agree more. To destroy something that probably represents the clearest pillar of identity and culture of any nation is the worse kind of Imperialism. If Tibetans are forced to communicate in Chinese, then they will become Chinese.

During more than 70 years of communist rule, Mongolia was isolated from nearly all other influences but that of the Soviet Union. Before the first Chinese soldiers entered Tibet, it has been claimed that there were only seven foreigners in the country. Could this lack of foreign alliances have played a role in the 1950s Chinese occupation?
Mr. Karma Chophel: I still regret and blame the Tibetan leaders who were in charge during the time of political isolation. They believed it was best for Tibet to remain isolated and without direct links to neighboring countries. This belief came from the widespread assumption that if such relations were established, culture and religion may be lost. The lack of external allies was one of the key reasons for the easy occupation of our land. We did not even join the United Nations!!