Journal Entry- Studying Up

For my project, I will be working with and communicating primarily with Tibetan families. I have been trying to understand more about the Tibetan exiled situation by watching movies, reading articles, etc. and my facilitator recently sent us an article that talks about His Holiness the Dalai Lama, his plans for political retirement, and China's opinion/role in that decision.

I found this article to be very interesting and it got me thinking about how this announcement, of whether or not His Holiness is going to be able to and when he will retire, is going to have a huge affect on the people I will be working with, and on the area I will be living in. If His Holiness steps aside and the Tibetan constitution is changed to replace his position with "a democratic system in which the political leadership is elected by the [Tibetan] people for a specific term," then that means that the government and lives of the Tibetan people will be dramatically changed. Our Tibetan language teacher spoke to us a little bit about this issue, and he was telling us that he thinks that the Dalai Lama should be able to retire because the Tibetan people need to learn to separate church and state, and leave politics politics and religion religion. He was saying that the Dalai Lama isn't always going to be there to lead the Tibetans, so the Tibetan people need to be a little more independent, at least in politics. TJla then told us that his opinions would be considered very radical, and most likely many other Tibetans would not share that same viewpoint.

If His Holiness steps aside and is able to retire, then I wonder if this would increase or decrease the likelihood of Tibet gaining independence or autonomy. The article talks about how if he does so, then talk and negotiations with Beijing will be easier, but his absence in Tibetan politics would also make many Tibetans anxious and unsure of their future.

I wonder what the result of this debate will be, and what the result of the decision will be. It's interesting to be witnessing history in the making, and even more so to witness Tibetan history in the making, when it's a population I will be working so closely with for the sp/su.