The preservation of Tibetan culture & traditions
“Today Tibet, with its unique cultural heritage which incorporates Buddhist spirituality, is truly facing the threat of extinction. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, some kind of cultural genocide is taking place. Time is running out.”
~ His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama
The new millennium is a turning point in the situation of Tibetans in exile. Amongst the 111,000 Tibetans who sought refuge in India in the late fifties and early sixties were some of the last and most authentic holders of a wisdom tradition thousands of years old unparalleled in the modern world. As there are now so few of the “elders” left, it is vital to provide them with the means to pass their remarkable inheritance on to the younger generation of Tibetans and to the rest of the world.
Tibetan elderly monk with young apprentice
Due to the foresight of several great lamas, or sages, many Tibetan Buddhist masters were able to escape the Chinese communist invasion, bringing with them precious texts, sacred thangka paintings, treasured statues, and ceremonial instruments. However, to successfully preserve Tibet’s traditions, it is not sufficient to conserve and display statues and paintings in museums. The emphasis must be placed on helping to pass down the knowledge, such as a master thangka painter bestowing the elaborate art of thangka painting to a disciple, along with the correct understanding of its complex symbolic meaning.
Many young refugees born outside Tibet have an earnest desire to maintain their traditions, but are confronted with the need to find jobs and to integrate with modern civilization. They need training opportunities that correspond to the economic conditions of their host country, but also the chance to choose a training in their own traditions if they so desire. To guarantee the continuity of Tibetan culture it is vital that members of the younger generation absorb this knowledge. When the risks involved are not too great, a few refugees are already returning to Tibet, taking with them, along with their new knowledge, the traditions that years of oppression have attempted to erase.
The rapid spread of Tibetan Buddhism in the West, propelled by the keen interest of Western students searching for spiritual understanding, has greatly contributed to the magnitude of the preservation work now taking place. As Tibetan Buddhism is naturally adapted to the Western culture and mindset, the next step to guaranteeing its preservation is to protect this ancient spiritual tradition in its authenticity, and to thereby safeguard over a thousand years of knowledge and spiritual tradition.
Helpful links: