Dalai lama, cards and murder

Ed the Editor's personal blog corner

I read some inspiring posts by Peter, a master of thought over at Necessary Skills. Peter explains how, as a younger man, he read that the secret to life is to be happy - but it seemed too simplistic. His doubts sent him on a lifetime journey to find a more substantial answer.

After years of fruitless searching, he eventually went back to the first answer and has lived happily ever after. That will teach him to ignore the Dalai Lama.

Whist and murder

Some years ago, I spent time in Nepal,

Ed the Editor's personal blog corner

Whist and murder

Some years ago, I spent time in Nepal, up near the border with Tibet. It was the height of summer. There was a constant flow of traders from either side of the frontier, and lots to observe.

The Tibetans were very similar in appearance and attitude to their neighbors in Nepal - both are special folk, to put it mildly. Living at altitude in the harshest conditions (5 months snowed-in indoors followed by arid Arizona-style summers) both races have adapted physically and mentally, in order to cope with their environment.

Basically, both the Nepalese and Tibetans I met were short, incredibly fit and strong, brilliant card players and always happy to go for long walks into the mountains. They are peaceful people too, always with a big smile on their face, welcoming, kind. Weird though, how such peaceful and tranquil people could have such a propensity for killing and, in the Tibetans' case, the self control not to.

Murder

The Nepalese ghurkas are the most feared soldiers on earth, sorry marines, but they are. These Natural Born killers are selected from everyday young men who home in on the ghorka region to go through the testing process. According to reliable sources, they have no concept of disobedience under any circumstances, they have no concept of not leaving their enemy dead, and astonishingly, they are not taught as such how to kill. It comes naturally. Even more telling is that until they are in a battle situation, they are the most peaceful and gentle people by nature.

(Yeah, right, I hear you say?) Admittedly, I wouldn't feel that way now, as certain Maoist Nepalese have turned even on their own people, killing left and right with a smile on their face. However, as a traveler in the more remote part of Nepal back in the 90's, I had total peace of mind relying on locals for shelter. There was never a trace of animosity, and people were always willing and able to help, usually to point me in the right direction to the nearest almost dried-up waterfall. One guy even jumped across a raging river, boulder by boulder, with me on his back!

Happy not to kill

It is also hard to imagine the mindset of the Tibetan guys, who like their Nepalese neighbors are small, but can carry 250lb packs for fun, have a warrior mindset but wear a fixed grin. And unlike the Nepalese, who would kill an enemy in a heart beat, these proud folk had been passively resisting the Chinese atrocities for years. This is because their Dalai lama has insisted they do not resort to arms.

I don't know that the Tibetans have been angels as such, but by and large, the Chinese have had an easy time of it, in terms of massacres.

It is hard to imagine living under such duress, but most Westerners probably cannot imagine living there under any circumstances, peaceful or otherwise. I guess, though, the Tibetans are happy to obey, or give the impression they obey the wishes of their spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.

Perhaps the best person to ask about how the Tibetans might feel happy not to disobey the Dalai Lama, is Peter?

As an addendum, the best, no-bull illustration of the environment I was in, and the people I met, is the movie Mountain Patrol or Kekexili. I had no experience of poachers as such, but I would say that every other aspect of that film is authentic. Be prepared to be amazed by real life.

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