Burning for change in China: Tibetan protests

(mattthesamurai.deviantart.com)

How to Burn Yourself
Wisdom Quarterly (COMMENTARY)

Is setting oneself on fire ever a peaceful protest? Hoping to call attention to unbearable oppression is certainly understandable, but believing that governments change because of self-immolation is a fantasy.

Why do things usually change? Clandestine spying (MI6, CIA, Mossad...) agencies have in mind for something to happen. As movers and shakers they set things in motion behind the scenes then capitalize on events to attribute them to:

The Arab Spring began because of one person's extreme act...or the multinational military-industrial complex saved itself the time and trouble of deposing leaders (useful tyrants) who were no longer economically useful?

Lt. John Pike recommends one not pollute the environment or endanger other. Use pepper spray instead. It burns just as much and makes a great meme.

Tibetan monastics, hearing of what others have sacrificed, rush to an orgy of flames -- and that is supposed to kowtow China? It goes without saying that self-immolation is a preposterous act of violence and pseudo-spiritual showboating.

Stay among us free of third degree burns meditating for the inevitable peace. For there are repercussions for emotionally blackmailing authoritarian governments.

This extremism only fuels allegations of Tibetan terrorism turned inward and China's complaint that it is dealing with an unpredictable, irrational, and irresponsible (minority) segment of its own population.

• Are Uygurs any better off for fire-bomb rioting?
  
• Is the Dalai Lama any more endearing for embarrassing communicapitalists and their Red Army?
  
• Does some Vajrayana nirvana await suicidal monastics for their martyrdom?
• Should Tibetan boy monks fly to Hawaii and appease Pele?
• Maybe one hopes to be reborn a wrathful deity?
  

Tonight's event: non-vegetarian BBQ with choice cuts wrapped in saffron and momo stew.

Monk who self-immolated "called for Dalai Lama return"
Agence France-Presse (via the Hindustan Times)

BEIJING, China - A senior Tibetan monk who self-immolated last month urged Tibetans to unite and called for the return of the Dalai Lama in a message recorded before his death, advocacy groups said on [Feb. 2, 2012].

Lama Sobha, also known as Sonam Wangyal, was the most senior of 16 Tibetan clerics and former monks to have set themselves alight in the past year in protest against China's policies in Tibetan-inhabited areas.

In the nine-minute audio recording, Lama Sobha said his sacrifice was in solidarity with "heroes" who have died seeking to protect Tibetan culture, the Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) said in a statement.

The people of Tibet "must unite and work together to build a strong and prosperous Tibetan nation in the future," the group quoted him as saying.

"I pray that His Holiness the Dalai Lama will return to Tibet and remain as Tibet's temporal and spiritual leader."

Tibet's spiritual leader, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, fled into exile in 1959 following a failed uprising, and is a considered a separatist by Beijing -- a charge he has repeatedly denied.

The ICT also posted images of Lama Sobha's charred body, which it said were obtained by exiled Tibetans after the self-immolation in Qinghai province, northwest China, on its website savetibet.org.

Lama Sabha's recording was obtained by the US government-run Radio Free Asia, the campaign said. AFP has been unable to independently verify the authenticity of the recording.

Tibetans have long chafed at China's rule over the vast Tibetan plateau, accusing Beijing of curbing religious freedoms and eroding their culture and language. More

A Better Alternative

The many advantages of passive resistance (The Zeitgeist Movement)

There is no way to peace.
Peace is the way.