The truth about Tibet
Tibet
Tibet. Western propaganda has driven into the head a strange cliche "occupation of Tibet." The West gently forgot that for almost a thousand years before 1959, Tibet was part of China, and only a few decades of Japanese occupation and civil war was outside the jurisdiction of the central Chinese government.
In short, in 1959, China did not have a special need for "occupation". The need arose when the United States realized that a medium-range rocket, placed at high mountains on 4-5 thousand meters above sea level, turns into a rocket of a very high range .. [more]
And as soon as this discovery was made, Tibet revolted against the central government. Strange, by the way - how can you revolt against someone you disobey? So that you then "occupied"?
However, the "occupation" occurred. But questions remained.
Why did a highland country in which a plain inhabitant suffocated without even physical effort could not resist?
Why did the country of the monasteries not rested in defensive battles for each gorge?
Why for centuries the most powerful fortifications built have not offered any resistance to put it mildly, poorly armed and not very well fed Chinese PLA?
Yes, because there was no one to defend the theocratic regime. A third of the population of Tibet in 1959 were slaves. Third - serfs. Moreover, both slaves and serfs were not cardboard - but the real ones.
The slave was the property. Cattle A slave could and should have been tortured, humiliated, starved and tortured. It was possible to cripple - in Tibet, the lamas were very fond of charms of severed human hands, hands and feet. Worn on the belt. Some specimens were covered with human flesh in several layers.
The serf was no different in legal status. His duty was one - to pay.
When there was nothing to pay, he was turned into a slave.
The debts of the fortress to the monastery were indexed - sometimes under 50-80% per annum (our banks loudly swallowed saliva and licked) and were transferred to children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. The interest debt was taken by human flesh — family members were turned into monastic slaves.
This is not the middle ages. These are the 50 years of the 20 century.
Tibetan lamas were theocratic rulers of a mountainous country. In the millionth of Tibet - 200 thousands of people were monks. The rest are slaves and serfs.
The monks, by the way, were not the highest caste either. Most were powerless and were in the position of practically the same slaves.
Each monastery had its own battle squad, whose task was to maintain the submission of subjects on the monastic land. As you understand, you cannot make a fighter from a punisher - therefore, such an army could not even resist the “occupation”.
Here, in fact, here lies the answer - why the people of Tibet did not stand up to protect their native land from the bloody invaders. It was not their land. It was the land of llamas.
Well, propaganda - yes, she drew a piece of paradise from Shambhala with noble monks, wise rulers and infinitely hard-working faithful people. Who enslaved the bloody conquerors. After all, nobody cares about how it really is when all the knowledge is taken from Jackie Chan films and journal articles about “Buddhist” Steven Seagal.
This "beautiful and mysterious" Tibet ...
Once there was talk about Tibet during the reign of the Dalai Lama and someone was surprised by the story that in the 20 of the last century, trying to find money for war with its neighbors, the spiritual ruler of Tibet, the Dalai Lama, introduced a tax on the ears.
Those. those who wanted his ears to remain with the owner had to pay the tax, otherwise they were cut off. I was exclaimed, "And this is the very free Tibet that the Chinese oppress?"
Well, let's look at how Tibet was before 1959, when slavery was abolished on the "bayonets of the National Liberation Army of China" in Tibet, the last of all the states of the Earth. Those who worry about the Dalai Lama in exile will never publish these photos about Tibetan paradise. See them yourself:
Upper row from left to right: Crafts of Tibetan llamas from the skulls of executed slaves - Wards from severed hands (they should have been worn at the waist) - A slave is dragged on the back of another slave who has his legs cut off for disobeying the master.
Bottom row from left to right: Slave and dog: one bedding for two - Slave in the shoe - Woman slave with severed foot
Left: a slave to whom the master for faults expelled his eyes. Right: Slave Punishment Instruments
Places of residence of slaves. In the distance you can see the white palace complex
Slave holding his hand chopped off by the master
So did the slaves. Left belongings, right family itself
Old dying slave
Slave girl holding her husband's hand, severed before being buried alive
Now a little about what a slave could have been punished for.
There is a case in which the master sent a slave to a remote village with an assignment. He did not have time to return before dark and spent the night in the field. The field turned out to belong to some local landowner and he demanded money from the slave for the night. Naturally, he did not have any money, and then, in punishment, his arm was cut off.
When he weakened returned to his master, he, angry that a healthy, good slave had become an invalid, ordered to cut off his second arm.
Is it not true that this wonderful fairy-tale country deserves all approval from human rights organizations?
Here are more testimonies of people who visited Tibet and about the rules that prevailed there.
French traveler Alexandra David Neel in the book “Old Tibet before the New China” noted: “In Tibet, all the peasants are life-long serfs, among whom you can hardly find someone who managed to get rid of their debts”.
And David MacDonald, who in the 20 of the twentieth century worked as a UK trade representative in Tibet, wrote the following lines in his book “True Tibet”:
“The heaviest punishment in Tibet is the death penalty. Sentenced to death is sewn into a leather bag and thrown into the river. At first such a bag floats to the surface of the river, and after five minutes it sinks under the water. If the person in the bag does not die, then the bag is once again thrown into the river. If he is already dead, he is taken out of the bag, dismembered corpse and thrown into the water. In addition to the death penalty, there is a mass of cruel punishments: breaking hands and feet, poking out eyes, pouring hot oil or boiling water into the eyes, which deprives of sight, etc. After that, even with the preservation of life, the serf becomes an invalid. Criminals and suspects are kept in wet, dark and dirty dungeons until the end of their days. ”
However, not only slaves were bullied. Famous journalist Vsevolod Ochinnikov, who visited Tibet in 50's, recalls:
“It was explained to me that the Red Cap sect has long been developing the ability for telepathic contacts in young lamas. To improve the "roaming" of such a connection, a cruel custom was once used. Under the cornerstone of each new monastic building lay a teenage lama. The young man was introduced to the state of "samadhi", similar to a lethargic sleep, and without his knowledge, the sleeping man was covered forever with a stone slab.
They say that, just as a horse senses the grave of the owner, who was buried several years ago, the corpses of young lamas gave out radiation, which made it easier for telepaths to reach the desired object. In 1990, I talked in Lhasa with a professor of theology at the University of Tibet. Passed as a child to the Ganden Monastery, he was chosen for this sad fate. But he escaped, warned by a mentor who took pity on his student. ”
But maybe this is the agents of Chinese propaganda and brazenly slandering defenseless and kind lamas? Referring to the documents.
Melvin Goldstein, in his book The Snow Lion and the Dragon: China, Tibet, and the Dalai Lama (University of California Press, 1995), writes:
“A few centuries later, the army of the Chinese emperor was sent to Tibet in order to support the Supreme Lama - an ambitious man 25 years old, who later gave himself the title of Dalai (ocean) Lama, the ruler of all Tibet.
His two previous “incarnations” as a lama were retroactively recognized by his predecessors, thus turning the first Dalai Lama into the third Dalai Lama.
This first (or third) Dalai Lama seized monasteries that did not belong to his sect, and also destroyed Buddhist writings that expressed disagreement with his claims of holiness.
The Dalai Lama, who came to replace him, sybaritic, had many mistresses, arranged lush festivities in the company of friends, and in general, behaved in an unbecoming manner for his dignity. For this he was killed by his priests. During the 170 years, despite its recognized sacred status, five Dalai Lamas were killed by members of the clergy or their courtiers. ”
In 1660, a rebellion broke out in the province of Tsang, the stronghold of the rival Kagu sect, led by a supreme lama named Karmapa, during the fifth Dalai Lama. The Fifth Dalai Lama called for decisive action against the rebels, sending the Mongolian army to destroy men, women and children "like eggs breaking on stones ... In short, wipe out all their tracks, even their names."
In 1792, many Kagu monasteries were confiscated, and their monks were forcibly turned into the Gelug sect (Dalai Lama sect). The Gelug School, also known as “Yellow Hats,” did not want to be tolerant of other Buddhist sects.
The traditional sect prayers contained the following words:
“Blessed be you, oh, cruel god of the Yellow Hat teachings, turning into dust the great beings, high dignitaries and ordinary people who pollute and spoil the Gelug doctrine.”
The memoirs of a Tibetan general who lived in the 18th century contain descriptions of the struggle between Buddhist sects — as bloody and merciless as all other religious conflicts. This grim story remains unnoticed by today's followers of Tibetan Buddhism in the West.
Michael Parenti writes in his work "Friendly feudalism - the myth of Tibet" (the passage is large, but we give it in full, due to its clarity):
"One 22-year-old woman, herself a runaway serf, reported:
“Pretty serf girls were usually taken by the landlord as domestic servants and used according to the master’s whim. They were just slaves without any rights. ”
To go anywhere, serfs needed permission. Landowners had the legal right to catch those who tried to escape.
One 24 year-old fugitive hailed the Chinese invasion as a “liberation.” He testified that under serfdom he was subjected to continuous harassment, cold and hungry. After the third failed attempt to escape, he was mercilessly beaten up by the landowner’s people, until his nose and mouth were bleeding. Then they poured alcohol and soda on his wounds in order to increase the pain.
The serfs were taxed on marriage, on the birth of every child and on every death of a family member. They paid a tax on planting a tree in their yard and on the maintenance of animals.
There were taxes on religious holidays, public dances and playing the drums; even imprisonment and release from it were taxed.
Those who could not find work paid a tax for being unemployed, and if they went to another village in search of work, they paid a tax on travel. If people could not pay, monasteries lent them money under 20-50%. Sometimes debts were passed on from father to son, from grandfather to grandson. Debtors who were unable to repay their obligations risked being sold into slavery.
Theocratic religious teachings relied on the class order. It was suggested to the poor and oppressed that they themselves brought upon their own misfortunes, because they had sinned in previous lives. Therefore, they had to put up with their bitter lot in present life and accept it as karmic retribution, living the hope of improving their fate in future incarnations. The rich and powerful considered their fortunate fate as a reward for their merits in past and present life.
Tibetan serfs did not always want to put up with the role of karmic victims guilty of their oppressed position. As we have seen, some fled; others resisted openly, often subjected to harsh punishments.
In feudal Tibet, torture and mutilation — including eye poking, tearing out the tongue, tearing off the limbs — were the favorite types of punishment applied to thieves and runaway or obstinate serfs.
Traveling through Tibet in the 1960s, Stewart and Roma Herder interviewed the former serf, Tseref Wang Tuey, who had stolen two sheep belonging to the monastery. For this offense, both eyes were pulled out to him and they disfigured his hand so that he could not use it anymore.
He explained that he had ceased to be a Buddhist: “When the holy Lama ordered them to blind me, I thought that there was nothing good in religion.” Since the deprivation of life was contrary to the Buddhist teachings, some criminals were severely scourged, and then “left to God” to freeze overnight until death. “The striking similarities between Tibet and medieval Europe are striking,” concludes Tom Grünfeld in his book on Tibet.
In 1959, Anna Louise Strong visited an exhibition of torture equipment used by Tibetan rulers.
There were handcuffs of all sizes, including tiny ones for children, tools for cutting noses and ears, breaking hands, and cutting leg tendons.
There were hot stamping devices, whips and special gutting devices.
The exhibition presented photographs and evidence of victims who were blinded, maimed or deprived of limbs for theft.
One shepherd's owner had to pay compensation in yuan and wheat, but refused to pay. Then the shepherd took the cow from the owner. For this he cut off his hands. Another herdsman who resisted having his wife taken away from him and given her to a landlord was broke his hands. Were presented photos of communist activists with cut off noses and torn lips, as well as women who were first raped and then cut off her nose.
As much as we would like to believe the opposite, but feudal-theocratic Tibet was infinitely far from the romanticized Shangri-La, which Western proselytes of Buddhism enthusiastically admire. ”
Impressive evidence for a peaceful and kind religion and its chapter, is it not?
By the way, there is another myth (by the Dalai Lama himself, but also invented) - that the Dalai Lama is the head of all Buddhists. In fact, he is the head of all the Lamaists - the religion of the Tibetan lamas, who incorporated into their practice the terrible savagery - the traditional Tibetan Bon religion and the like.
We give once again the words of M. Parenti:
“For the wealthy lamas and landowners, the communist intervention was a terrible misfortune. Most of them immigrated abroad, including the Dalai Lama himself, who was helped by the CIA to flee.
Some, to their great horror, have discovered that they will have to earn their living by themselves.
Many, however, managed to avoid this sad fate. During the 1960s, the Tibetan emigrant community received $ 1.7 million per year from the CIA, according to documents published by the State Department in 1998 year. After the publication of this fact, the Dalai Lama’s organization itself admitted that it received millions of dollars from the CIA in the 1960 of the year to send armed units to Tibet to undermine the Maoist revolution.
The Dalai Lama received $ 186000 annually. Indian intelligence also financed him and other Tibetan exiles. The Dalai Lama refused to answer whether he and his brothers worked for the CIA or not. The CIA also did not comment on these facts. ”
Such a completely unflattering picture for the Tibetan lamas emerges if judgments are made about Lama theocracy, not on the reports of Western television channels, Hollywood films and the writings of Ms. Blavatsky, Roerich and other theosophists.
It may be objected that, say, the positively mysteriously sacred image of Tibet took shape long before Tibet was annexed to the PRC and the people there who were there did not mention anything like that.
To do this, just look at what the Europeans knew about Tibet in the XIX century, when these myths began to emerge. Yes, nothing, in fact, did not know.
There was a certain mysterious country, high in the mountains, in which, it was said, the wise men lived. In principle, this matrix is quite enough to form a series of pseudo-religious speculations on it (as is well known, the more mysterious the information and the less you give it, the more it delays).
Most of those who formed myths about Tibet either have never been there, or were there after they had formed their very definite opinion about it, and such people cannot be persuaded, even if the lamas began before their very eyes. to cook babies. They would find their sacred meaning in this too.
It is a pity that the theme of Tibet for many years was given at the mercy of various kinds of fraudsters and rogues of near-religious sense, which resulted in the formation of a kind of flaw of inaccessibility and mysteriousness around it.
Let's be objective - Tibetan Buddhism is no better or more sacred than Indian or Chinese, and Tibetan civilization in the 50 of the 20th century is not a “distinctive and unique education” at all, but a relic of the Middle Ages in the modern world, therefore all claims of lamas and their supporters of a certain exclusivity and the destruction of the unique civilization by the barbarians have about the same right to exist as the claims of neo-Nazis that the Bolshevik hordes destroyed the unique civilization of the Third Reich. Between them, by the way, a lot in common. No wonder the Nazi bosses so tenderly treated Tibet. We felt soul mates.
A characteristic moment, surrounded by the Dalai Lama, is still demanding that China return “what it was,” and we already know very well what it was. I do not think that the descendants of those 4 thousands of slaves who belonged personally to the Dalai Lama, will be terribly overjoyed at the prospect of returning to their ancestral condition. And they themselves talk about it. Yes, the Dalai Lama is still revered there as a spiritual leader, it is indisputable, but no more. It is noteworthy that the Chinese authorities have repeatedly proposed to the Dalai Lama to return to Tibet, as a spiritual ruler, under the current administration, from which he strongly discourages. He needs “everything to be as it was then,” and this is obviously impossible.
So let's recap. Tibet in 1959 is not at all the heavenly Shangri-La, but backward feudal theocracy, whose religious component was no more "sacral" than other currents of Buddhism, and the numerous facts of Tibetan lamas participation in torture and executions of people clearly contradict Buddhist canons. All this splendor was ruled by a handful of lamas and landowners, dazzling with their own permissiveness and impunity.
Two slaves bound together
Dying slave child
Slave, with a hand chopped off by the master
Tibetan slaves at work
Slaves for food (they ate once a day)
This slave is just 35 years old
Slaves begging for food
Slave boy and dog: one bowl of food at all
Blinded by his master slave
Boss chopped off his leg, in punishment for a crime
Dalai Lama's birthday gifts: dried human stomach, 2 heads, human blood, tanned human skin
Dried human skin
Dried baby skin
... So much for Tibet!
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