NOTE: Recently this article got some negative attention at a certain online forum. On the basis of what is stated bellow I was accused of spreading culture-revolution pro-chinese comunist party propaganda :) So, just to make sure (and this is also said in the article itself), this is not a comprehensive report on the current situation in Tibet. It is based on my personal experience in one part of Tibet. Main purpose of this article is to share information about some positive developments in China and Tibet, especialy the positive attitude of common Chinese people towards Tibet and Tibetans. In the West we rearely hear about this. Personaly, I feel greately encouraged by this and beleive it to be an important factor in finding at last a peaceful and constructive solution to the issue of Tibet.

After five months of prostration and mandala retreats I now had six days of transportation retreat, doing god knows how many thousands of kilometers. First from Tsar Tsar to the nearest real town Karze. Road is not very good and there is no public transport, except trucks that sometimes drive on this relation. Some people cram in the cabin while the rest sit outside on the fresh air enjoying the wonderful view and experiencing various temporal weather conditions like freezing cold, rain and snow. Once or twice it is fun, after that you begin to appreciate the warmth and comfort of the driver’s cabin. This journey took around ten hours, including the time needed to wake up the driver and sitting in his house while he had his morning tea and tsampa. On half the way our truck broke down and I was lucky to quickly find another one.

I was in Karze five months ago. This time I only went to cybercaffe to check my email, eat dinner and slept in the dormitory at the bus station. Next morning I took the bus to Kanding. I sent one post from there six months ago. At that time a neighborhood child stole my watch from my room in the small guesthouse where I was staying. When I noticed it was to late to do anything. Well, the guest house manager, a young friendly Chinese man, went through effort of going to the child’s home and got my watch back. Until now it was patiently waiting for me. Kanding as a city is nothing special yet I like to come there because of his cozy guest house and yak burgers and pizzas cooked in their kitchen.

From kanding to Chengdu is only six hours by bus. Six years ago the journey took two days across the dangerous mountain pass. Road was so narrow and bad that one day traffic went up and the next day down. Well, then they made a tunnel through the mountain simply under-driving all those troubles and dangers.

Chengdu is a big modern city with eight million people, the capital of Sichuan province. I didn’t do any sightseeing, though I had to stay there for one day because I didn’t get the train ticket for the same day. I stayed with two friends from Shechen - one Tibetan monk and one young Chinese Tibetan monk. He became a monk in Shechen while I was there.

They were in Chengdu waiting for Gangshar Rinpoche to go together to Beijing. Rinpoche will work there on the project of building a private school for orphans in the proximity of Shechen. School will provide comprehensive care and education for orphans of the region. Rinpoche said that he was thinking for long time about what would be most effective thing to do for his people and at the end decided for such a school instead of a new temple or a monastery. He will try to raise funds from his Chinese friends and students.

Most of the projects going on in the part of Tibet I visited are financed from the same source. And there are many of them. Almost in every monastery they are building, renovating or enlarging something. 20 years ago they rebuilt destroyed monasteries in an improvised way without many resources and good materials. Now came the time to renovate them or construct in a more solid way. Local people don’t have a lot of money and can only contribute in a small part. Most of the money comes from other parts of China, some from abroad.

After one day and a half I boarded the train and laid two days in my bunk bed, until reaching Guangzhou, the capital of southern province of Guangdong. I was there before - maybe you remember The Night in Guanzhou? I didn’t have the wish to repeat this experience and went straight on to the beach resort of Hong Kong. Again I am amongst expensive cars and girls with make-up. Maybe I even get a low altitude sickness from descending so quickly from 4000 meters to sea level.

At this occasion I wish to share some general impressions with you, on the basis of what I experienced, saw and felt in this past six months. I didn’t go to Tibet to look for bad things, but as well to see the good ones and to get the firsthand experience of the Chinese side of the Tibetan story.

Regardless of the history, it is obvious fact that Tibet is now part of China and there is no chance that this could change in the next decades or even centuries. At the same time this is not something to despair about or to struggle in vain for something that can not be reached but can only cause more problems and suffering. It is much more constructive to accept the situation as it is and try to use its potential for the good of oneself and others.

In these six months I met many Tibetans - from rinpoches, musicians, businessmen to common people - who were doing exactly that. And they are successful in it. In some places, monasteries are functioning, schools are being built, free clinics help people, all of it in larger part with the help of Chinese people. There is no way to deny that Tibetan people - especially young ones - appreciate the chance of modern life offered to them by China. They study in Chinese schools, universities, make business and travel throughout China… Nowadays it is very simple; you just get on a bus and in few hours or days you are in Chengdu or anywhere else in China having all that civilization has to offer at your disposal. And Tibetan people like it.

Chinese people have special attitude towards Tibetans. Faith and trust in Tibetan Buddhism and Tibetan lamas is for centuries a part of their culture. Father of a friend I meat was a governor of one of larger Chinese cities in 1957 when His Holiness the Dalaj Lama passed through on his way to Beijing. They had dinner together and His Holiness held blessing ceremony for the people - Chinese people. So many people attended that his stretch hand, under which people walked to receive his blessing, had to be fixed with a string; otherwise he could not held it extended for such a long time.

Chinese people - not only Buddhists but also others - adopted Tibet. They enjoy watching documentary movies about Tibet on TV in the same way we enjoy to watch them. For them Tibet is as well something exotic and interesting. Average Chinese doesn’t know much about Tibet and Tibetan culture; except that people in Tibet are poor, eat strange food and are very open and kind. Same is probably true for us, western people.

Slowly people get to know Tibet from up close, mostly through efforts of many Tibetan masters traveling and meeting people all over China - for the mutual benefit.

On the train I met a young Chinese guy. His English was not very good; he was going to Guangzhou to repair some kind of big electric device. He was a worker in an electronic components factory, earning 250$ a month and working 12 hours a day without weekend or holidays. When I asked him for the time he showed me the clock on his mobile phone. And what picture did he have for background? The Potala palace. When we said goodbye he said Tashi Delek!

Don’t take my words for something absolute and say: “Oh, Matjaz went to Tibet and saw everything is perfect there!” My words are only one part of the story. I only wish to describe some factors we in the west rarely hear about; I wish to transmit to you a feeling that the situation as it is holds great potential for good things. Under all the layers of politics and problems we are all human beings, with the same heart wishing to be happy and to live in peace. When we see things through this perspective; when we communicate with fellow human beings on this level - with Chinese, Tibetans and all others - the whole situation becomes more soft, open and flexible. The idea of what is possible expands.

The question of whether Tibet will be free or not becomes very abstract, almost unimportant. All that matters is a question that we face in each and every moment of our lives: How can I think and act in this moment, in this circumstances, whatever they might be, to make my actions not the cause of further suffering but something constructive and beneficial, for myself and others?

At the end I can say from my heart that I care for this land - China - and its people; that I wish them success; that I wish that they might perhaps find their own way, different and more successful then ours; that the wisdom and compassion of Tibet will provide them with support and guidance in this; that the people of Tibet and China will live in true harmony and friendship together with all of us.