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NOVEMBER 10, 2000 VOL. 26 NO. 44 | SEARCH ASIAWEEK

Letters
Lama Wars: 'Urgyen Trinley's exit from China has intensified rivalry in the Karma Kagyu sect, which in turn is feuding with the Dalai Lama's Geluk sect. And China is putting its stamp on the struggles.' — Oct. 20

"Struggle for Tibet's Soul" [INSIDE STORY, Oct. 20] is unbiased in its approach to the issue of the two competing Karmapa Lamas, and the war being waged from the different quarters of the Tibetan Kagyu lineage. Until now, world public opinion has been profoundly misguided on the issue of the reincarnation of the 17th Karmapa Lama, which bears heavily upon the credibility of the Dalai Lama's leadership and the cohesive influence it should exert among the Tibetan lama schools.

Julian Gearing allows the reader to judge on the main points of contention: The dubious authorship of the letter on which the regent Tai Situ Rinpoche bases the legitimacy of Urgyen Trinley as the 17th Karmapa; Tai Situ's total rejection of a forensic test of the letter; his connivance with Beijing authorities; and his deceitful involvement of the Dalai Lama (pictured) in the plot. It all points to a scheme to split the "Black Hat" Kagyupa lineage. The Dalai Lama has been put in the dilemma of hosting Urgyen Trinley in Dharamsala. Urgyen Trinley is a hostage of the circumstances and, by all signs, an unwelcome guest of the hosting authorities.
Cesar Perez Saavedra
Bangkok

Those of us who disagree with the "official" recognition of the Chinese[-backed] candidate for the Karmapa have found little voice in the mainstream media and it is refreshing to see in your article that the 17th Karmapa, Thaye Dorje, is now able to have a voice on the same level.
Joseph Manuse
New York City

It seems the Tibetan lamas know more about the mind than they do about politics and there is a lack of accountability or transparency in the affairs of some. Didn't people think it was strange that the Chinese government, long known to suppress the Tibetan population and freedom of religion, was suddenly supporting one Karmapa, Urgyen Trinley?
Steve James
London

Gearing's article is a distortion of Tibetan history and recent Kagyu lineage events. I am Tibetan, born a decade before the Chinese invasion. I have been in the West for 20 years. Before that, I worked as a secretary to the 16th Karmapa at Rumtek Monastery, India. I personally knew the four regents of the Karmapa. It does no service to anyone, except perhaps the Chinese government, to publish this fiction as if it were true. "Divide and conquer" has always been a Chinese tactic.

What arrogance in a non-Tibetan leads him to believe that he knows more about the culture and the recognition of Urgyen Trinley as the 17th Karmapa than the Dalai Lama? You perpetrate yet more suffering on the Tibetan people by encouraging unnecessary division.
Tenzing Thinlay
Los Angeles

"Struggle for Tibet's Soul" is so replete with misinformation and unattributed gossip in the guise of fact that it is difficult to know just where to begin addressing it. The recognition of Urgyen Trinley as the 17th Karmapa is not a matter of dispute in the Tibetan community. What possible authority in such matters could override the informed judgment of the Kagyu leadership, the heads of Tibetan Buddhism's other lineages, Tibetans at large, and the Dalai Lama himself? He has made repeated statements since 1992 in support of Urgyen Trinley as the Karmapa.

By what journalistic process are the Dalai Lama's words about his own culture neutralized and denied? Why are the people of Tibet disenfranchized yet again, subverted by a lunatic fringe and incomplete reportage?
Terry Sullivan
Press Secretary
Karma Triyana Dharmachakra Monastery
Woodstock, New York

Your in-depth report on Tibet's spiritual struggle is dangerously enlightening for unsuspecting and innocent Tibetans who blindly follow the Dalai Lama. Little do they know about the various factions trying to cut each other's throats under his benign cloak. In Tibet the Chinese have stopped everything but reincarnations. The common Tibetan is sick of the internal socio-religious rift that is recasting Tibetan nationalism. It is time Tibetan religious leaders came clean.
Karma Zurkhang
Falls Church, Virginia

The author mentions that while visiting Tashilunpo monastery in Shigatse, Tibet, he could see the pictures of both 11th Panchen lamas ["The Hunt for Baby Buddhas," Oct. 20]. This must be a misunderstanding, since it is widely known that the picture of the 11th Panchen Lama, who was recognized by the Dalai Lama, is banned inside Tibet and that owning this picture means jail for Tibetans. Therefore, it is very unlikely that what Gearing saw hanging on the walls of Tashilunpo monastery (indeed one of the most closely watched temples in Tibet) was the picture of the unfortunate boy missing since 1995.
Josep Alay
Barcelona

Gearing stands by his report. — Editors

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