A Prophecy and a Woman from Lhasa by

Tendor
Phayul [Thursday, January 26, 2012 09:10]
By Tenzin Dorjee (Tendor)

The Mayan prophecy that the world will end

in 2012 has spawned hundreds of books,
films, plays and satires.

Although the public fascination with

apocalyptic stories does not necessarily
translate into real belief, I admit to secretly
subscribing to an alternative vision of a
2012 apocalypse - one where the world is
cleansed of tyranny, colonialism, and
totalitarianism.

If the watershed events of the past year

were any indication, we have reason to
believe that in 2012 dictatorships
everywhere will have a harder time
withstanding the wave of resistance that is
brewing in the streets, on the web, in the
tea houses, and in people's minds.
Barely three weeks into the year, we're
seeing ground-breaking change in Burma,
where hundreds of political prisoners have
been released and Aung San Suu Kyi has

gone from being a prisoner of the state to

the nation's most esteemed stateswoman.

As the structures of oppression fall whether in neighboring Burma or in distant

Tunisia - the democratic pressure on China
intensifies.

Tibetans are at the forefront of this

revolutionary wave.

In the last 11 months, 16 Tibetans have set

fire to themselves in protest of Chinese
rule, laying bare the colossal failure of
China's colonial project in Tibet.

The self-immolations - as overwhelming as

they are underreported - are a flashpoint for
the growing resistance movement in Tibet.

Beijing is quickly learning that it can

imprison Tibetans, but not their ideas, their
words, or their dreams.

In spite of China's pitch-black oppression,

Tibetans are charging forward, armed with
their nonviolent weaponry of political
protest, economic non-cooperation, civil
disobedience, cultural renaissance and
social innovation.

And while we have been devastated by

each incident of self-immolation, we have
also been inspired by the unparalleled
courage and sacrifice that motivated these
acts.

It was with a similar courage that a hundred

years ago, on March 26, 1912, Tibetans
formally declared war against Imperial
China, effectively ending the Manchu
invasion of Tibet.

In 1913, the 13th Dalai Lama formally

declared Tibetan independence.

2012 marks a century since the collapse of

the Manchu empire.

My vision of apocalyptic change in China

does not seem out of place at a time when
people across the Chinese empire are
restless for freedom from corruption,
inequality, pollution, poverty and
repression.

The message from Tibet is clear: there is

no turning back.
I believe Tibetans will once again be ready
to seize the moment and restore Tibet's

independence, taking our rightful place in

the global community of sovereign nations.
My belief in this future is reaffirmed every
day, not only by the tectonic political shifts
that are changing the world beneath our
feet, but also by my personal interactions
with friends and strangers - sometimes at
the most unexpected moments.

A few days ago at the Kalachakra in Bodh

Gaya, India, I saw a middle-aged woman
with a familiar face walking past me.

I caught her attention with a respectful nod

and asked, "Achala, have we met before?"

She smiled and replied in impeccable

Lhasa dialect, "Not sure... but where are
you from?"

Answering that I was from New York but

previously from Dharamsala, I asked where
she was from.

"Well, I'm from Lhasa," she replied

courteously.

With a Lhasa accent that strong, I thought

to myself, it was almost unnecessary to

name the place.

"Oh, really?" I couldn't conceal my

excitement at meeting someone from Tibet.
"I must have seen you in Lhasa then; I was
there in 2007 for a few days. I must have
seen you in Bharkor Square."

"Ah, that explains it," her eyes twinkled. I

could tell that she felt extremely fortunate to
be one of the few thousand Tibetans to cut
through China's nightmarish political
restrictions to attend the Kalachakra in
India.

As we parted, she held my hand tightly in a

way older Tibetans do when saying farewell
to close relatives. With a calm yet intense
gaze, she said:
"We will meet again. I think we will all meet
again, very soon, back home."
We both knew what she meant. I said, yes,
we absolutely will.
The author is the Executive Director,
Students for a Free Tibet.

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