Protest in Tibet

What is Freedom?
Notes on Freedom, Liberty, Revolution, & Evolution

For some, freedom means, "freedom to..." while for others, it means "freedom from..." Is this the same freedom? Either way, it must be acknowledged that freedom isn't conditional - it simply isn't freedom if it is qualified. So why do we need to qualify the word "freedom" in order to understand it? In truth, when we qualify the word, (any word), by our effort to be more specific, we lose our capacity to understand the concept - because the concept can only be understood in its totality. We define and define and define ourselves in the direction of specificity and misunderstand, in the direct opposite direction of generality, the essence, the true knowing.

The Dalai Lama has become an internationally recognizable icon of freedom because he is an exile, and petitions the people and governments of the world to aid him and his people with their struggle for freedom from the oppression of the Chinese government. He would like to see his people have the freedom to live and worship as they please.

How is the Dalai Lama different from any other exile? He is exiled from Tibet, to be sure – but he is also the Dalai Lama. To say that the Dalai Lama is exiled from Tibet is to say that the Buddha is exiled from consciousness. Properly understood from the perspective of Buddhist philosophy, Tibet is in the Dalai Lamas heart, and regardless where he may travel, at each moment he resides in Tibet. Tibet is the throne of his mind, at each moment he resides in Tibet.

The Dalai Lama is different because he is the only exile who, in a sense, doesn't really care. He comes to America and lectures to leftist college students who deride Christianity and other religions as being superstitious means of controlling the masses, (the exact same argument made by Mao Tse Tung to support the invasion of Tibet) - and they pander over him and lament his loss of freedom. The Chinese government has never been know to be very impressionable. I certainly doubt that China really has any regard for "the condemnation of the world for violations of human rights. (This was written over a year ago, before the recent controversy surrounding the protests in Tibet and the Beijing Olympics - yes, perhaps there is some concern, but after the Olympics have come and gone, I don't really expect much will have changed with respect to human rights in China.)

The Dalai Lama talks about Freedom - two, actually - the greater and the lesser, the unqualified Freedom and the qualified freedom to/freedom from , i.e. freedom for Tibet, freedom from China. The Dalai Lama is most concerned with Freedom. He is exiled from Tibet, yet at each moment he resides in Tibet. He lectures to Modern Westerners about Freedom. They are at home in the Modern West, yet they remain exiles from their own hearts, strangers from their own minds.

The Dalai Lama would certainly like to see Tibet, and all of the people of the world free from oppression, and free to worship however they may choose. As a boddhisattwa, he's made a vow to return from beyond the plane of this earthly existence, to suffer, and suffer, and teach, and teach, until every last soul in creation has attained freedom from the bondage of karma, the penultimate freedom, which leads to the final, unqualifiable freedom. He's been doing that for 14 lives as the Dalai Lama, and who knows for how long before that. He will continue to do so until each soul is shepharded through the gates. He wants to free our souls, and we buy a "Free Tibet" t-shirt and talk about how nice it would be if the nations of the world got together and adhered to trade sanctions to put economic pressure on China, and all this about the Olympic torch.

Don't get me wrong - I'm certainly not a fan of oppression, authoritarianism, fascism, exploitation, etc. - I've just been wanting to provide a different perspective on this recent Dalai Lama/Buddhism/Tibet/China phenomenon which has been so prevalent these last few years - the contrast between the greater and lesser freedoms, as they co-exist within the public perception of who the Dalai Lama is - gives us valuable insight into the value and both freedoms and the dynamic nature of consciousness. It would be a shame to be entirely pre-occupied with only the material side of the curtain.