Reflection

I wasn’t feeling well today, I have a diarrhea and it made me feel so uneasy and weak. I intend to read my law books but I could hardly rationalize the complicated legal concepts with my situation. I just lay on my bed trying to relax and gain my strength after taking some medications. As hours went by, I started to feel bored. I opened my TV but I found no interesting channel to watch. It was then that I remember, I have some DVD’s I took with me when I attended the meeting in Dharamsala. I played one, which is about the self-immolation in Tibet. The other DVD was about the planned March of Tibetans in India back to Tibet.

As I lay there watching, with my stomach and now the whole of my body quite aching, unknowingly, my tears have started to flow. I tried to stop the tears but it just wont. I locked, my room’s door cause I don’t want my family to see me crying for reasons they may not understand quickly. I thought I have understood very well the Tibetan cause, but I am mistaken. I have looked into it so much in the political and legal aspect, but never before in the very human aspect of it.

My heart was really broken with the sight of the sufferings of the Tibetan people inside Tibet, and how such wonderful people are being maltreated and forced to take a culture which is not theirs while they are being forbidden to practice their own. Why is China playing god on these peaceful people? I was shocked to see Temples being demolished, schools being forced to teach using Chinese instead.

China seems to be so afraid of monks and their teachings that’s why they are being suppressed. I could only think of one reason, China don’t like the Tibetan culture of peace and harmony because it is directly incompatible with the communist idea of materialism and greed for power and domination.

What shocked me more is about the nomads who for centuries freely roam the Tibetan plateau like wild birds, letting their goats, sheep and yaks enjoy the bounty of God’s creation are now forced to stay in reservations. I could feel the pain being forced to stay in one place when for centuries you have been free to settle in any portion of the earth like wild lilies in the mountains and hills. To be forced to live in a settlement is more horrible than being force into a prison cell. They are forced to stay in settlements because according to the Chinese government they will cause environmental destruction such as erosion. This reason from the Chinese simply defies logic. Nature itself has stand witness on how the nomads peacefully co-existed with nature. They have been responsible stewards of the great grassland in the Tibetan Plateau. No erosions happened, no environmental disaster. I would still choose the Tibetan Nomad’s way of taking care of the environment than the Chinese way. With the Chinese occupation, where have been the green grasses? Now in many parts all you could see are mines and quarries. Where have been the trees? I would still rather play and run with the Nomad’s goats and sheep than play with the huge mechanical machines and truck of China now dominating the once lively homeland for the Nomads.

A liar fears nothing but the truth to be revealed. And an accomplished liar will do everything to cover up his lies. China is afraid of the truth. China is afraid that the world might witness all the lies it said to cover up its claims on Tibet which in truth and in fact has no legal or moral ground to stand upon.

The fire emerging from the bodies of those Tibetans who self-immolated may be interpreted in two ways. For the Tibetan Nation, They are the light in these times of darkness in their history as a nation. They are like stars in the skies that guide the Tibetan nation who in the darkness of oppression never gave up, but bravely and courageously marched towards their freedom. Their flaming bodies served as a beacon light, like a firm lighthouse in the mountain, guiding a battered ship towards the safe grounds. On the other hand, these are the fires that will burn the souls of those leaders who out of their selfishness and arrogance ordered the suppression of a peaceful nation. The fire that will burn the souls of those who ordered the murder and torture of thousands who asked nothing but their country that was robbed from them. The fire that will vindicate all the loses of Tibet, the tears of the widows and widowers, the tears of the orphans and those who are made to suffer for no just reason.

I admire the Tibetan people who even at the doorstep of death are not afraid just to speak their minds and hearts. As I watch the DVDs I cried together with the brave marchers in 2008, who despite the blockades and arrests made by the Indian police still they never gave up until they reached the border. They may never have reached or set foot on the soil of their beloved country, but still it was a great success. I cried with the sight of their physical and emotional sufferings.  That event was indeed one of the most successful campaign initiated but the Tibetans. And so far one of the biggest failure of the Indian government in relation to the Tibetan case, having succumbed to the pressures of the Chinese government, and for the entire global community for refusing to look.

Why are the world leaders kept of refusing to look into Tibet? Are they likewise afraid to see their failures? Are they afraid to realize that their rhetoric on human rights and democracy are belied in the current situation of Tibet? Several world powers today spend billions of dollars in forcing the Arabs to accept western democracy. They use economic diplomacy, bribery, instigated internal rebellions, and to the extreme of military campaigns. They stepped into the Arab lands as if serving democracy in a silver plate, forcing this people to accept it, though they have clearly manifested their intentions to craft their own form of system in accordance with their culture and religion. These super powers have played like world police in those regions. But here is Tibet begging to the world, to help them gain back their freedom, their human rights and to establish their democratic government based on the rule of the people. A true democracy, of the people, by the people, for the people. But the world kept on denying it to them!

After watching the DVDs, I had a brief contemplation on what I have watched. Afterwards, in the midst of my internal grief, as I grieve for Tibet, I realize one important answer. Since I was a boy I have always dreamed of becoming a Catholic monk or priest, but it did not happen for some reasons. But then I kept on praying that still I may be used by God as his instrument to share his good news and undying love for his children. Finally, He answered my prayer, I have found my ministry, my mission. From this day onwards I will walk and stand for Tibet. I could see the suffering Jesus in this suffering nation. I could see the bleeding heart of Jesus in the eyes of the innocent Tibetan children. I cannot refuse to stand for these people. Lest, when I face the Master I may not find the answers to this simple yet meaningful  questions: when I was hungry, did you gave me something to eat? When I was thirsty, did you give me water to drink? When I was lonely did you comfort me? When I was in prison did you visit me? When I was stranger did you open your door? If not then I do not know you.

I do not know how many Filipinos I may convince to rally with me, but even though I will never detach my self from the struggle now that I have understood more the truth.

As a Christian I found a renewed affection for my Tibetan brothers and sisters. Some are my Buddhist brothers. Though there may be religious or faith base differences, I am confident that I could successfully work with my Tibetan brothers and sisters on the basis of love, compassion and mutual trust.

Long live Tibet! God Bless Tibet!