Dear Thupten Lama,
I read that you were a respected Tibetan religious teacher in an exile
community established in India by Tibetan fleeing the 1959 war with China. You
worshipped the same deity as many Tibetans did, until the Tibetan
government-in-exile banned worshipping that deity. Your appeal to the said
government for freedom of worship only earned you the denomination of
"agitator". Then, under death threats from your fellow Tibetans, your family
and yourself had to seek refuge in the U.S.A. for you to be able to remain true
to your religious convictions safely. I find this story very disturbing, but
also absolutely inspiring. After living in the United States for a few years, i
now have a really hard time understanding why a government would try to force a
religion on the people it represents because it is supposedly the right
religion. i am even less able to fathom why the people would follow such orders
to the point of threatening to put to death someone who disagrees with the said
official religion. nevertheless, your story is also inspiring to me because of
the way that you responded to the events. Rather than merely bending to the
arbitrary will of your government, you sought to protect your freedom of
worship, because you believe that it is an unalienable right of any human
being. What is more, you did not hesitate to seek asylum in the United States
when your life and that of the members of you family were seriously in peril.
No amount of thank-yous from me could ever reveal the depth of my gratitude
towards you. you have exhibited a type of leadership that is under assault in
many parts of the world nowadays, because of people who believe that they know
the one truth and they must force it on other people. I sincerely wish you to
live to officially become a U.S. citizen and i wish countless blessings to your
children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. thank you.
Paul, an admirer
Course Objective reinforced:
My Beyond Border letter brought me close to the long struggle of the Tibetan people for political and religious freedom. Indeed, the Tibet has been occupied and governed by China for decades in ways that alienates Tibetan culture itself. So, Tibetan residing in Tibet as well as those in exile have been fighting since then to regain sovereignty in their country and being able to practice their traditional Tibetan Buddhism. The process of writing the letter to Thupten Lama enabled me to master the identification of the interplay of key
ideas, attitudes and social justice issues related to nationality, linguistic background, race, class, gender, religion, ability and sexual orientation within and among the characters, plots, settings of the selected texts
I read that you were a respected Tibetan religious teacher in an exile
community established in India by Tibetan fleeing the 1959 war with China. You
worshipped the same deity as many Tibetans did, until the Tibetan
government-in-exile banned worshipping that deity. Your appeal to the said
government for freedom of worship only earned you the denomination of
"agitator". Then, under death threats from your fellow Tibetans, your family
and yourself had to seek refuge in the U.S.A. for you to be able to remain true
to your religious convictions safely. I find this story very disturbing, but
also absolutely inspiring. After living in the United States for a few years, i
now have a really hard time understanding why a government would try to force a
religion on the people it represents because it is supposedly the right
religion. i am even less able to fathom why the people would follow such orders
to the point of threatening to put to death someone who disagrees with the said
official religion. nevertheless, your story is also inspiring to me because of
the way that you responded to the events. Rather than merely bending to the
arbitrary will of your government, you sought to protect your freedom of
worship, because you believe that it is an unalienable right of any human
being. What is more, you did not hesitate to seek asylum in the United States
when your life and that of the members of you family were seriously in peril.
No amount of thank-yous from me could ever reveal the depth of my gratitude
towards you. you have exhibited a type of leadership that is under assault in
many parts of the world nowadays, because of people who believe that they know
the one truth and they must force it on other people. I sincerely wish you to
live to officially become a U.S. citizen and i wish countless blessings to your
children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. thank you.
Paul, an admirer
Course Objective reinforced:
My Beyond Border letter brought me close to the long struggle of the Tibetan people for political and religious freedom. Indeed, the Tibet has been occupied and governed by China for decades in ways that alienates Tibetan culture itself. So, Tibetan residing in Tibet as well as those in exile have been fighting since then to regain sovereignty in their country and being able to practice their traditional Tibetan Buddhism. The process of writing the letter to Thupten Lama enabled me to master the identification of the interplay of key
ideas, attitudes and social justice issues related to nationality, linguistic background, race, class, gender, religion, ability and sexual orientation within and among the characters, plots, settings of the selected texts