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Kaffeine Buzz
reviews independent and foreign films,
in addition to reporting the latest buzz behind
Colorado's film festivals.
10 Questions For The Dalai
Lama (Rick Ray)
Director Rick Ray is no neophyte
when it comes to traveling the world and reporting
what he sees and experiences in various cultures,
cities and their people. When the opportunity
to film a travel video in India popped up, he
jumped at the chance. Part of the deal was to
have an interview arranged with the Dalai
Lama, but upon his arrival in India he
realized that if he was going to meet with the
master, he’d have to make those arrangements
himself.
To his surprise, this was accomplished through
email, and in just three months he had 45 minutes
to pose 10 questions to the Dalai Lama, so he
had some homework to do. To prepare for this,
he delved into Buddhism by living in an actual
Tibetian monastery in the Nubra Valley, which
lies between Pakistan and China. Within these
Indian Himalayans, the Tibetan culture still exists
as it had for hundreds of years before.
The film gives viewers a chance to do their own
homework on the Dalai Lama’s personal history
and the history of the Tibetian people and their
country. We also get more insight into how the
Chinese Government has annihilated their culture,
beyond just reading headlines or a bumper sticker.
Each Dalai Lama is a reincarnate of Buddha, and
the process for choosing successors relies on
signs from nature, along with the inner voices
and instincts of the high ranking Buddhist priests.
As the black and white footage is presented and
the story unfolds, the anger can’t help
but rise. In 1950, when the Dalai Lama was 15,
he was faced with the Chinsese invasion of Tibet
by the socialist Chinese armies. At first he thought
it could be a beneficial union, but he learned
that this was not the case. Mau let him know that
the Tibetan “religion is poison” and
that China was an enemy of Buddhism.
Turning to America for help, he was shunned,
since the Buddhist religion was negated by the
Christian based politicians citizens and the Tibetan
country had nothing to offer the U.S. in terms
of assets, oil or other channels for monetary
gains.
So the Dalai Lama turned to his neighbors in
India and was welcomed with open arms. Dharamsala
became the Tibetan government in exile, where
the Dalai Lama still calls home.
Over the course of time 1,200,000 Tibetan people
have been killed and approximately 6,000 Buddhist
monasteries destroyed by the Chinese. This includes
all art and anything with religious significance.
It’s heartbreaking to see a lone boy sitting
with a sign reading, “We have no home. Chinese
have taken it.”
When the day finally arrives to meet with the
Dalai Lama, Ray learns that there is still a lot
of hope that someday there will be an answer to
China’s occupation of Tibet. While the Dalai
Lama observes China’s pursuit of economic
power and the adjustments they are making in order
to be accepted into the world economy, he hopes
that this will lead to the integration of democracy
within their government and culture.
The answers to the 10 questions start to unfold,
and it is fascinating to hear and connect with
the Dalai Lama’s words; how he admires the
U.S.’s democracy, spirit and freedom, but
that our greed and lack of discipline account
for the many troubles and issues our government
and citizen’s experience on a daily basis.
“When anything is used in the wrong way,
whether it is politics or religion or both, it
becomes dirty.” A simple statement, but
one that is rarely if ever heard from the lips
of a politician or someone in a religious position,
a minister, priest or otherwise.
He also believes in the power of truth, to having
openness and access to all information. In China,
this is not the case, as the government retains
control over what their people have access to,
using the Internet to spread propaganda and lies.
As a result, Yahoo and Google have succumbed
to filtering search results on each engine in
exchange for profits each company is making by
opening up their services into the Chinese market.
Recently, Yahoo also requested that the US District
Court for Northern California dismiss a lawsuit
brought about by Chinese nonconformists, Wang
Xiaoning and his wife Yu Ling, who alleged that
Yahoo turned over private information (private
email records, email addresses, ID numbers, etc.)
belonging to the couple to Chinese authorities.
This led to the man’s imprisonment, and
in May, another plaintiff was added to the suit;
Chinese journalist Shi Tao.
This film is powerful and is a must see for everyone.
With China’s power in the world economy
increasing, their tactics and traditions for restricting
freedoms and democracy will continue to be exposed
to the world audience. One can't help if Karma
had a play in the toy recall, which put both Mattel
and China in a volatile position, both of whom
are making financial gains worker's receive low
pay and retricted rights.
In the meantime, The Dalai Lama’s words
and sense of humor alone can give one to hundreds
of thousands the hope that there will be a solution
sometime in the future. While it’s easy
to go with the animal instinct of anger and revenge,
it’s much more powerful to look within for
strength, letting the non-violent pursuit of peace
lead the way.
http://thedalailamamovie.com/
Articles on:
“So
Long, Dalai Lama: Google Adapts to China”
Joseph Kahn
“Bush to China: ‘I’ll
Keep Quiet’
September 6th, 2007 | Posted by Lhasa Rising
George Bush, the president who committed his administration
to the promotion of freedom, has agreed to censor
himself when he attends the Beijing Olympics next
year…
http://blog.studentsforafreetibet.org/
Tibet activists target Google censorship
The Daily [Saturday, February 18, 2006 20:36]
by Andrew Sengul
“Google's been cheating on you with the
Chinese government," shouted Kerala Hise,
a member of Students for a Free Tibet (SFT) at
the University of Puget Sound.
http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?article=Tibet+activists+target+Google+censorship&id=11869
Yahoo requests US District Court dismiss
China case
By Giselle Abramovich
August 29th, 2007
http://www.dmnews.com/cms/dm-news/search-marketing/42252.html
-Kim Owens, September 7, 2007
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