A Tibetan Book of Spells

By earlyTibet.com

Can monks do magic? Should they? We often picture monks (or at least the ideal of the monk) firmly in the setting of the monastery, either seeking enlightenment through study and meditation, or carrying out in the affairs of the monastery. But magic? Well, it seems that throughout most of the history of Buddhism the answer to the first question has been yes, and to the second usually why not? In fact, the  Buddhist canon contains enough spells to rival the repertoire of Merlin, Saruman and Harry Potter put together.

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Buy Stomachs, Win Hearts

By Thubten Samphel

The Chinese government has convinced itself that it has “liberated” Tibet. To drive home this conviction to the rest of the world it has bought advertisements in newspapers from Malawi to India to declare the happy news of Tibet’s serf liberation day. In Tibet, the authorities tried outright bribery so that the “liberated” serfs willingly join in the celebration. How successful the authorities were in this effort is captured by The Economist’s headline on this event: “Damn You, Rejoice.”

Unlike the rest of the world which is going through a period of belt-tightening because of the ongoing financial tsunami, China is awash in cash. Like any nouveau riche, China throws its weight around the world and in the neighbourhood block. In Arunachal Pradesh, China stops a $60 million development project to be financed by the Asian Development Bank. In New Delhi it buys a four-page spread in The Hindustan Times to say that the “serfs” on the other side consider themselves “liberated.” Like America from a different era, China thinks any problem will solve itself by withdrawing or throwing money at it.

‘Letters from my Great Great Uncle Cecil Mainprise’

Captain Cecil Mainprise

Here’s a really interesting blog that was sent to me from the great grandnephew of Captain Cecil Mainprise. The author has published the letters of Captain Cecil Mainprise who accompanied General Sir Francis Younghusband’s expedition to Tibet in 1903.

The letters give a very good first hand account of the British military encounters with the Tibetans and I look forward to reading the future postings of Captain Mainprise’s letters.

Mainprise was a captain in the Royal Army Medical Corps, commanding a Field Hospital on General Sir Francis Younghusband’s expedition to Tibet.

On his return from the expedition, he served in India and in France during the First World War. Thereafter he served in Salonika, Bulgaria and Afghanistan before returning to England to take over as Commandant of the Royal Army Medical College from 1924 to 1926.

In total Captain Mainprise wrote 50 letters home which traced the expedition’s progress into Tibet. Read this insider’s account on the day they were written some 105 years later. Final post is 18 November 2009.

See Site Here: Field Force to Lhasa 1903-04