The Buddhist community here in Syracuse has been anxiously watching the tense situation for their fellow Buddhist monks at the Kirti monastery. Spiritual guidance from His Holiness the Dalai Lama in dealing with this crisis has been desired here after learning of the deaths of protesters at the Kirti monastery.
Lobsang Wangyal has reported for the Tibet Sun, "Dalai Lama offers prayers for victims at Kirti Monastery", http://bit.ly/kfuNxK. On Tuesday the Dalai Lama led a prayer session at Tsuglakhang Temple in McLeod Ganj, India, in the aftermath of the deaths of protesters at Kirti Monastery in Tibet. It has been reported that two Tibetans have died in a security crackdown on the Buddhist monastery in Amdo Ngaba. And the Chinese police have taken around 300 monks from the monastery to an unknown location. Buddhists here in Syracuse have joined in prayers with the Dalai Lama for the victims at Kirti monastery.
After unrest which was set off last month when a young monk set himself on fire and died in an apparent anti-government protest armed Chinese police had sealed off Kirti Monastery and ordered a “re-education programme” for the monks. It has been reported that thousands of exiles and foreign supporters attended the prayer session. Senior officials of the exiled Tibetan government, including prime minister Samdhong Rinpoche, also took part in this event. Ever since the death of the monk who set himself ablaze on 16 March the Kirti monastery has been completely locked down by Chinese armed forces due to fear of mass protests.
The present situation at Kirti monastery, which is home to nearly 2,500 monks, is reported to be very grim. The area is presently closed to foreigners.The Dalai Lama has made an appeal to the international community to intervene and to try to dissuade China from using force on the local people. The Dalai Lama has said “I am very concerned that this situation, if allowed to go on, may become explosive with catastrophic consequences for the Tibetans in Ngaba.”
Mandel News Service: http://www.mandelnews.com
