JOIN USI thought of going out of India for a holiday. But go where? Even the travel agent admitted, “There are risks everywhere.” Indeed, peace can only be found within.
However, His Holiness the Dalai Lama wants it without as well.
He noted, “I see Tibet’s role (in an Asian Community committed towards working together) as what I have previously called a “Zone of Peace”: a neutral, demilitarized sanctuary where weapons are forbidden and the people live in harmony with nature. This is not merely a dream—it is precisely the way Tibetans tried to live for over a thousand years before our country was invaded.”
China, under Mao Tse Tung, invaded Tibet in the 1950s and slaughtered millions of people, destroyed monasteries, schools, ancient artifacts, and scriptures as well. He did this in the name of progress, he claimed; and to get access to the rich natural resources of a then relatively unknown place—at the top of the world.
Instead, years of pain and suffering began not just for Tibetans, but for Chinese as well. The Tibetan Diaspora continues as people risk their lives daily to try to escape from their oppressors. By the Grace of the Buddha, Tibetans were given refuge in India and His Holiness was one of the first to arrive.
Peace zones would certainly be my points of destination. I would enjoy living in harmony with nature without the fear of being mugged, robbed, raped—or bombed out of my accommodations by militants. Is it really possible, though?
The Living Buddha noted, “As everybody knows, in Tibet all forms of wildlife were strictly protected in accordance with Buddhist principles. Also, for at least the last three hundred years, we had no proper army. Tibet gave up the waging of war as an instrument of national policy in the sixth and seventh centuries, after the reign of our three great religious kings.”
The embodiment of the compassion of Avilokiteswara explained, “Zones of peace within regional communities would serve as oases of stability. While paying their fare share of the costs of any collective force created by the community as a whole, these zones of peace would be the forerunners and beacons of an entirely peaceful world and would be exempt from engaging in any conflict.”
How truly tragic it is that I, for one, can’t travel to Tibet without being spied on, or worse. When you write about the teachings of His Holiness, you incur the wrath of those who wish to silence him. The Chinese government today still regards the Dalai Lama and his supporters as troublemakers for their insistence that Tibet be given back to Tibetans so that they might live freely in their own country.
Refusing to give up, His Holiness continues to encourage, “If regional communities do develop in Asia, South America and Africa and disarmament progresses so that an international force from all regions is created, these zones of peace will be able to expand, spreading tranquility as they grow.”