Cornerstone Asia -Taking the Tibetan Heights?
The Chinese Government have developed one of the most challenging projects of railway engineering in recent years. On July 1st 2006, it opened the rail link to Lhasa, the highest railway in the world. You can now travel for 49 hours all the way from Lhasa to Chengdu, Sichuan Province, as Romana Chapman points out.(2).
Providing an high-altitude journey for the intrepid train-traveller, the rail route to Lhasa, in the Tibetan Autonomous Region is designed to draw tourists to the area.
What affect will this have on this remote and politically sensitive part of China? The history of Tibet and it's people in the last 50 years or so has been characterised by uneasiness between Tibetan groups and the increasingly present Han Chinese. The decision of the Dalai Lama to leave the region and be based in India reflected this. (See 'Kundun' (1997), Martin Scoresbee's portrayal of the exile of the Dalai Lama. (4).But change and opening up the region could be a catalyst for many other things. Will it simply strengthen the Bejing influence over Lhasa and the remote tribal groups? Will it bring materialism, AIDS, environmental damage and the other unhelpful spin-offs of tourism in Asia?
One nomadic group who live on the Tibetan Plateau are the Drok-pa. About half a million live on the Chang Tang, Tibet's northern plain. Many have put their faith in a favourite Buddhist lama whom they will consult for the important steps of life, auspicious days for weddings, journeys and children's names. Once powerful landlords and monasteries controlled the social order of Tibet, but now the Chinese influence has significantly changed this, many feeling this has been both harsh and destructive.(3).
This presents a huge challenge to Han Chinese Christians and foreign Christians with a heart to reach Tibet. Wisdom and servant-heartedness are needed to demonstrate the mercy, tenderness and grace of Jesus. This is more powerful than the force of cultural invasion, the authority of traditional feudal or religious systems. The Dalai Lama seeks to court the favour of westerners both within and without the Church, but Christians' engagement with Tibet must not exclude the uniqueness of the gospel to set Tibetans free from demonic power or deception.
This does not mean a denial of identity, but much discernment is still needed. What does the Church in Tibet look like? Believers are small in number, but God is at work. Many groups remain almost entirely without the gospel. But small numbers exist amongst for example amongst the Gtsang Tibetans and the Jone Tibetans. (1).
The story of Nyima Chothar, a Tibetan monk who found salvation in Christ, illustrates the journey for someone deeply involved with Tibetan monastic society to come to faith in Jesus. It involved contact with christians over a considerable period of time, and overcoming many cultural barriers.(1).
Identifying with the pain and loss many Tibetans have experienced is essential in reaching them as well as a very real encounter with the reality of God's power, compassion and mercy. In a culture where forgiveness and redemption are strange concepts, and actions merely lead to inevitable karma in the next life, Christianity offers real hope.
There are amazing examples of mission that has been well-received in Tibet in the past. The heart of Sadhu Sundar Singh, the famous early-20th Century Indian evangelist, was towards reaching Tibet.(5). He eventually did get there, and saw some villages very open to the gospel. William Carey had planned to reach Tibet, but ended up never getting there but rather focussed on West Bengal. others too however, have gone to Tibet and sought to spread the gospel, including Chinese believers, despite the great challenges. Evangelists, even within the last twenty years have been martyred there by buddhist lamas. The Chinese House Churches have actually found the intense opposition has drawn interest from the local population - what is it that the Buddhist Lamas are so afraid of that makes Christianity a challenge to them?(1).
The first church in Lhasa, Tibet was built by Jesuits in 1726. A number of people attended and became believers it seems. In April 1742 it was destroyed, the believers punished, but the bell was left. This bell remained in the basement of the Jokhang Temple until 1996.(1).
(Reference: 'A Tibetan Monk's Story' p.317, and other sections on Tibetan peoples: 'Peoples of the Buddhist World' P.Hattaway, Piquant Editions, 2004).
Opposition may have raged against the Church being established, but God has not forgotten the Tibetan peoples.
Providing an high-altitude journey for the intrepid train-traveller, the rail route to Lhasa, in the Tibetan Autonomous Region is designed to draw tourists to the area.
What affect will this have on this remote and politically sensitive part of China? The history of Tibet and it's people in the last 50 years or so has been characterised by uneasiness between Tibetan groups and the increasingly present Han Chinese. The decision of the Dalai Lama to leave the region and be based in India reflected this. (See 'Kundun' (1997), Martin Scoresbee's portrayal of the exile of the Dalai Lama. (4).But change and opening up the region could be a catalyst for many other things. Will it simply strengthen the Bejing influence over Lhasa and the remote tribal groups? Will it bring materialism, AIDS, environmental damage and the other unhelpful spin-offs of tourism in Asia?
One nomadic group who live on the Tibetan Plateau are the Drok-pa. About half a million live on the Chang Tang, Tibet's northern plain. Many have put their faith in a favourite Buddhist lama whom they will consult for the important steps of life, auspicious days for weddings, journeys and children's names. Once powerful landlords and monasteries controlled the social order of Tibet, but now the Chinese influence has significantly changed this, many feeling this has been both harsh and destructive.(3).
This presents a huge challenge to Han Chinese Christians and foreign Christians with a heart to reach Tibet. Wisdom and servant-heartedness are needed to demonstrate the mercy, tenderness and grace of Jesus. This is more powerful than the force of cultural invasion, the authority of traditional feudal or religious systems. The Dalai Lama seeks to court the favour of westerners both within and without the Church, but Christians' engagement with Tibet must not exclude the uniqueness of the gospel to set Tibetans free from demonic power or deception.
This does not mean a denial of identity, but much discernment is still needed. What does the Church in Tibet look like? Believers are small in number, but God is at work. Many groups remain almost entirely without the gospel. But small numbers exist amongst for example amongst the Gtsang Tibetans and the Jone Tibetans. (1).
The story of Nyima Chothar, a Tibetan monk who found salvation in Christ, illustrates the journey for someone deeply involved with Tibetan monastic society to come to faith in Jesus. It involved contact with christians over a considerable period of time, and overcoming many cultural barriers.(1).
Identifying with the pain and loss many Tibetans have experienced is essential in reaching them as well as a very real encounter with the reality of God's power, compassion and mercy. In a culture where forgiveness and redemption are strange concepts, and actions merely lead to inevitable karma in the next life, Christianity offers real hope.
There are amazing examples of mission that has been well-received in Tibet in the past. The heart of Sadhu Sundar Singh, the famous early-20th Century Indian evangelist, was towards reaching Tibet.(5). He eventually did get there, and saw some villages very open to the gospel. William Carey had planned to reach Tibet, but ended up never getting there but rather focussed on West Bengal. others too however, have gone to Tibet and sought to spread the gospel, including Chinese believers, despite the great challenges. Evangelists, even within the last twenty years have been martyred there by buddhist lamas. The Chinese House Churches have actually found the intense opposition has drawn interest from the local population - what is it that the Buddhist Lamas are so afraid of that makes Christianity a challenge to them?(1).
The first church in Lhasa, Tibet was built by Jesuits in 1726. A number of people attended and became believers it seems. In April 1742 it was destroyed, the believers punished, but the bell was left. This bell remained in the basement of the Jokhang Temple until 1996.(1).
(Reference: 'A Tibetan Monk's Story' p.317, and other sections on Tibetan peoples: 'Peoples of the Buddhist World' P.Hattaway, Piquant Editions, 2004).
Opposition may have raged against the Church being established, but God has not forgotten the Tibetan peoples.
Father, we cry out to you for those who come to Mount Kalais in western Tibet, with the hope of being released from the sins of their lifetime in the two lakes nearby.
You only can give us a clean heart and put a new spirit within us (Ezekiel 36:26,27 and Psalm 51). Lord do this for the thousands of followers of Buddhism, Bon, Hinduism and Jainism. what can wash away that sin - 'nothing but the blood of Jesus!' (1)
Reference Material:
I have asterisked (*) those from a Christian perspective - be aware that many sites and interested parties in Tibet are coming from a very different perspective and so I would suggest exercising caution before dialogue or attending events/ tours etc.
(The position of the Dalai Lama and others with Tibetan Buddhist interests may appear in sympathy with Christianity and interested in dialogue and engagement. However, this is not always the experience of Christians or enquirers in the Tibetan Buddhist world, where there can be considerable direct opposition to the gospel).
1.To mention again, I am deeply indebted to Paul Hattaway's work in 'People's of the Buddhist World' (ISBN 1-903689-90-2) and his excellent sources within that volume.*
2.Another excellent visual source is http://www.flickr.com/ if you are seeking pictures from a particular part of the world, and the following pictures from Romana Chapman, are excellent. (Do be aware that though there are other and varied sources of Tibetan photos, they are often more holiday snaps in some cases and mayalso be poor on guessing ethnography of the peoples they came across! Havig said that, there are still excellent photos around).
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rctravel/sets/72157594397230970/show/ - general photos of Tibet
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rctravel/sets/72157594397235756/ - Photos of the new railway (ignore Nov 2007 - presumably 2006!)
http://www.sim.org/PG.asp?pgID=81&fun=1
- summary information on SIM's web pages re Tibetan peoples*
3.'Nomads' Glenn Myers and David Phillips, Briefings - Paternoster Lifestyle, Paternoster Publishing 2001 (ISBN 1-85078-435-3)*
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119485/plotsummaryPlotPlot Summary for Kundun (1997)
4.The Tibetans refer to the Dalai Lama as 'Kundun', which means 'The Presence'. He was forced to escape from his native home, Tibet, when communist China invaded and enforced an oppressive regime upon the peaceful nation of Tibet. The Dalai Lama escaped to India in 1959 and has been living in exile in Dharamsala ever since.
Summary written by Deki
In 1937, in a remote area of Tibet close to the Chinese border, a two year old child is identified as the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama, the compassionate Buddha. Two years later, the child is brought to Lhasa where he is schooled as a monk and as head of state amidst the color and pageantry of Tibetan culture. The film follows him into adulthood: when he is 14, the Chinese invade Tibet and he is forced into a shaky coalition government; he travels to China to meet with a cynical Mao; and, finally, in 1959, ill and under siege, he flees to India. Throughout, he has visions of his people's slaughter under Chinese rule.
5. Sadhu Sundar Singh' Phylis Thompson, OM Publishing 1992 (ISBN 1-85078-099-4) p.120.
