This is a blog for the Documentary "Tibetan Refugee" and "Journey Into Tibet."
I shot the film Tibetan Refugee in Dharamsala, India a number of years ago. I was visiting Dharamsala to see His Holiness the Dalai Lama speak, and while I was there I visited with my friend Thubten Ngodup, the Nechung Medium of the State Oracle of Tibet. YOU CAN PURCHASE THEIR CD HERE.
While I was there, he asked me to help him make a CD of the Nechung Monks performing live in their temple. You can find music from that recording here, or you can watch the monks in action here.
Kutenla, the Nechung Oracle, suggested I make a documentary about Tibetan refugees who had just arrived after walking across the Himalayas to freedom. Even that sentence sounds difficult - and to hear their stories was heartbreaking.
I discovered that people were sending their children away from their homes in Tibet so they could learn about their culture before it was destroyed by the Chinese government forever. These beautiful children were not allowed to learn Tibetan language or culture at home - and if you listen to their reasons for coming to India, you'll understand more clearly why so many people have chosen suicide, self immolation, rather than suffer further under the heel of the Chinese government.
It's hard for those in the West to understand what is really happening in Tibet. It's hard for those in China to understand what is really happening in Tibet.
I know, I've been to both places. In Shanghai and Beijing, they only hear bits and pieces of this outer realm, that they've been taught is part of China, but when they examine the truth and the record, can clearly see with their own eyes that Tibetans are as related to the Chinese as Africans are. But that's an argument for theoreticians - and I'm happy to make it, but not here.
This is a story in the words of the people themselves. They talk about why they were forced to flee Tibet - monks who were being tortured, doctors forced to commit abortions on women so they won't have more Tibetan children.
While I was in Tibet I informally asked some of the Han businessmen and women what they thought of Tibet. All ten of them said the same things; they hate Tibet. They hate Tibetan food, they hate the climate, they hate the altitude. As one businessman said "If I could make triple wages back home I would never have come here. I can't wait to go home!"
What that means is that eventually - these people will grow tired of Tibet. They will never adapt. They will never consider it home.
In essence it's the same as what happened to the Native American tribes in the U.S. - once the europeans had stolen all of their land, all of their oil, all of their precious resources, they left them alone. It only took 150 years to do so - but the Native American nation is rising again. The wealthiest casino operators in the world have taken their money and invested it in their people.
So one can only hope that one day the Chinese will do the same. Leave Tibet. Go back home. Once they've taken all their gold and oil and precious resources, they will leave. Because it isn't an easy place to live, and only Tibetans like living there.
Anyways, that's my two cents.
I'm including links to two of my films here: one is TIBETAN REFUGEE. The other is JOURNEY INTO TIBET.
One allows Tibetans to speak for themselves about what's really happening in Tibet. The other I shot while on a trip around Mt. Kailash with esteemed professor Robert Thurman. I could not allow my film to be political - but I felt it was important just to document what the experience is like going to Tibet. So if you have a desire to go there, enjoy this film.
Both films are for sale on DVD. You can find them here. (Tibetan Refugee) or you can find Journey into Tibet Here.
But you can also donate whatever amount of money you care to, so that I can continue my work and my filmmaking. If you find value, please donate.
Here are the music tracks from Amazon for "Nechung Monks Live in Dharamsala; traditional chants of tibet"
Thanks for tuning in.
And please donate if you can - I will use your donation to further this cause, thank you!!!
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| Rich Martini and Kutenla, The Medium of the State Oracle of Tibet |
While I was there, he asked me to help him make a CD of the Nechung Monks performing live in their temple. You can find music from that recording here, or you can watch the monks in action here.
Kutenla, the Nechung Oracle, suggested I make a documentary about Tibetan refugees who had just arrived after walking across the Himalayas to freedom. Even that sentence sounds difficult - and to hear their stories was heartbreaking.
I discovered that people were sending their children away from their homes in Tibet so they could learn about their culture before it was destroyed by the Chinese government forever. These beautiful children were not allowed to learn Tibetan language or culture at home - and if you listen to their reasons for coming to India, you'll understand more clearly why so many people have chosen suicide, self immolation, rather than suffer further under the heel of the Chinese government.
It's hard for those in the West to understand what is really happening in Tibet. It's hard for those in China to understand what is really happening in Tibet.
I know, I've been to both places. In Shanghai and Beijing, they only hear bits and pieces of this outer realm, that they've been taught is part of China, but when they examine the truth and the record, can clearly see with their own eyes that Tibetans are as related to the Chinese as Africans are. But that's an argument for theoreticians - and I'm happy to make it, but not here.
This is a story in the words of the people themselves. They talk about why they were forced to flee Tibet - monks who were being tortured, doctors forced to commit abortions on women so they won't have more Tibetan children.
While I was in Tibet I informally asked some of the Han businessmen and women what they thought of Tibet. All ten of them said the same things; they hate Tibet. They hate Tibetan food, they hate the climate, they hate the altitude. As one businessman said "If I could make triple wages back home I would never have come here. I can't wait to go home!"
What that means is that eventually - these people will grow tired of Tibet. They will never adapt. They will never consider it home.
In essence it's the same as what happened to the Native American tribes in the U.S. - once the europeans had stolen all of their land, all of their oil, all of their precious resources, they left them alone. It only took 150 years to do so - but the Native American nation is rising again. The wealthiest casino operators in the world have taken their money and invested it in their people.
So one can only hope that one day the Chinese will do the same. Leave Tibet. Go back home. Once they've taken all their gold and oil and precious resources, they will leave. Because it isn't an easy place to live, and only Tibetans like living there.
Anyways, that's my two cents.
I'm including links to two of my films here: one is TIBETAN REFUGEE. The other is JOURNEY INTO TIBET.
One allows Tibetans to speak for themselves about what's really happening in Tibet. The other I shot while on a trip around Mt. Kailash with esteemed professor Robert Thurman. I could not allow my film to be political - but I felt it was important just to document what the experience is like going to Tibet. So if you have a desire to go there, enjoy this film.
Both films are for sale on DVD. You can find them here. (Tibetan Refugee) or you can find Journey into Tibet Here.
But you can also donate whatever amount of money you care to, so that I can continue my work and my filmmaking. If you find value, please donate.
Here are the music tracks from Amazon for "Nechung Monks Live in Dharamsala; traditional chants of tibet"
Thanks for tuning in.
And please donate if you can - I will use your donation to further this cause, thank you!!!
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