Thomas Laird - The Story Of Tibet : Conversations With The Dalai Lama

THE STORY OF TIBET

Conversations with the Dalai Lama

Also by Thomas Laird

Into Tibet: The CIAs First Atomic Spy and His Secret
Expedition to Lhasa

The Dalai Lamas Secret Temple: Tantric Wall Paintings from Tibet
(with Ian Baker)

East of Lo Monthang: In the Land of Mustang
(with Peter Matthiessen)

Conversations with the Dalai Lama

THOMAS LAIRD

Copyright 2006 by Thomas Laird, except quotations from His Holiness the Dalai Lama 2006 His Holiness the Dalai Lama

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, or the facilitation thereof, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review. Any members of educational institutions wishing to photocopy part or all of the work for classroom use, or publishers who would like to obtain permission to include the work in an anthology, should send their inquiries to Grove/Atlantic, Inc., 841 Broadway, New York, NY 10003.

Published simultaneously in Canada
Printed in the United States of America

FIRST EDITION

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Laird, Thomas, 1953
The story of Tibet: conversations with His Holiness the Dalai Lama/by Thomas Laird.
p. cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-1-5558-4672-5
1. Tibet (China)History. 2. Bstan-dzin-rgya-mtsho, Dalai Lama XIV, 1935- Interviews.
I. Bstan-dzin-rgya-mtsho, Dalai Lama XIV, 1935- . II. Title.
DS786.L25 2006
951.5dc22 2006041700

Grove Press
an imprint of Grove/Atlantic, Inc.
841 Broadway
New York, NY 10003

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www.groveatlantic.com

If it is reasonable action which is by nature beneficial to
truth and justice, then by abandoning procrastination and
discouragement the more you encounter obstruction the more
you should strengthen your courage and make effort. That is
the conduct of a wise and good person.

Tibetan Shakya Bhikshu
Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso

To Tenzin Gyatso, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama of Tibet
For the people of China and Tibet

The First Tibetans

The First Tibetan Emperor, 600650

The Tibetan Empire and the Spread of Buddhism in Tibet, 650820

Lang Darma: Decline, Revolt, and a Period of Chaos, 797977

The Dharma Returns, and Buddhist Orders Are Born, 9781204

Mongol Overlords and the Seeds of a Problem, 12071368

A Master Plan: The First to the Fourth Dalai Lamas, 13571617

The Fifth Dalai Lama and the Rise of the Manchu, 16171720

The Sixth to the Twelfth Dalai Lamas, 17051900

The Thirteenth Dalai Lama, 18761933

The Early Life of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, 19351950

Life Under Chinese Occupation, 19511959

Since 1959

Epilogue

Maps drawn by Haisam Hussein (www.haisam.com). The borders for all maps, with the exception of the modern maps, should not be considered definitive.

INSERT ONE

p. 1. Left, mural, Drepung Monastery. Top right, mural, Bhutan. Bottom right, rock painting, shores of Lake Namtso. All photographs Thomas Laird.

p. 2. Top and bottom left, mural, Norbulingka, Lhasa, circa 1956. Bottom right, statue in collection of Tenzin Gyatso, Fourteenth Dalai Lama of Tibet, Dharamsala, India. All photographs Thomas Laird.

p. 3. Top right, the Jo, in the Jokhang, Lhasa. Top left, Ramoche Buddha, in Ramoche Temple, Lhasa. Left middle, mural fragment, second floor, Jokhang, Lhasa. Left bottom, wooden carving, ground floor, near the Jo, in the Jokhang, Lhasa. All photographs Thomas Laird.

p. 4. Photograph of armored Tibetan cavalryman 2006, Metropolitan Museum of Art. Bequest of George C. Stone, 1935; Bequest of Joseph V. McMullan, 1973; Gift of Mrs. Fae J. Joyce, 1970. Objects are Tibetan, and possibly Bhutanese and Nepalese, eighteenth-nineteenth century, iron, gold, silver, copper allow, wood, leather, and textile.

p. 5. Top left, The Dalai Lamas favorite image of the Buddha, now in the Lahore National Museum, Pakistan. Carved in the Kingdom of Ghandara. Parts of the territory of this kingdom are now within the modern borders of both India and Pakistan. Statue is circa 200 A.D. Top right, mural of the Buddha from Drathang, Tibet, circa eleventh century. The style for this mural of the Buddha originated in India (drawing on Greek influences absorbed by the Ghandaran craftspeople), was transmitted through the Buddhist kingdoms of Inner Asia to China and then ultimately artists inspired by Chinese models painted these murals in Tibet. While most murals in Tibet show clear Indian and Nepalese influence, those at Drathang show influence from China. Bottom, left, mural of the Buddha, in Mustang, Luri Cave Monasery, Nepal, circa 1500. Shows clear Newar influence, from Kathmandu valley, and this style was one of the primary influences on the development of Tibetan art. Bottom, right, mural in the Chensalingka, Norbulingka, Lhasa. This mural painted in the time of the Thirteenth Dalai Lama shows the classic Tibetan Buddha image, which emerged after centuries of development in Tibetdrawing on influences from all of Tibets neighbors. All photographs Thomas Laird.

p. 6. Top, detail of mural in the Norbulingka, Lhasa, depicts murder of Lang Darma by Lhalung Palgyi Dorje. Mural circa 1956. Photograph Thomas Laird. Bottom, Sakya Pandita and his nephew Phagpa, detail from thangkha, circa 1550. Collection of Shelly and Donald Rubin, www.himalayanart.org.

p. 7. Top left, Padmasambhava, mural in the Lukhang, Lhasa, circa 1600, photograph Thomas Laird. Top right, detail from a thangkha of Atisa, circa 1750: Collection of Shelly and Donald Rubin, www.himalayanart.org Bottom left, Milarepa, thangka, circa 1800, Lhasa, Tibet. Photograph Thomas Laird. Bottom right, stone carving of Tsongkhapa at Ganden Monastery, Tibet. Photograph Thomas Laird.

p. 8. Thangkha of Dusum Kyenpa, the First Karmapa, and the first teacher to establish a reincarnated lineage; thangkha circa 1750. Collection of Shelly and Donald Rubin, www.himalayanart.org.

p. 9. Top, Tsongkhapa, mural in the Norbulingka, Lhasa, circa 1956. Photograph Thomas Laird. Middle, statue of the Great Fifth Dalai Lama. Collection of Rubin Museum of Art. Bottom, mural of Gushri Khan and the Great Fifth, Jokhang, Lhasa. Photograph Thomas Laird.

p. 10. Top, Great Fifth Dalai Lama and Emperor Shunzhi in Beijing, 1653, detail from a mural in the Norbulingka, Lhasa, 1956. Bottom left, statue in monastery, Gyantse, Tibet, circa 1700. Bottom right, Nyingma Yogi (Mahasiddha) with consort: mural in prayer wheel chapel, Chiwong, Solu Khumu, Nepal. All photographs Thomas Laird.

p. 11. Top left, photograph of Nagpa, with dreadlocks in cotton robe, thighbone horn, skull cup, bell, and dorje; Tibet: Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford.