Tibet’s struggle

Tibet’s long struggle

Musings
Sonia Kelly

THE current upheaval in Tibet brings back into focus The Cloona Health Centre’s connection with that country. In days before the health centre was set up, back when we had a weaving factory, the first Tibetan uprising had caused an exodus of those involved, and we were aked about the possibility of some of the refugees setting up a self-supporting community here.
The request had come from the Dalai Lama via the Secretary of the Buddhist Society in London, who was a personal friend of mine.
Well, at the time, our factory was in need of expansion. We had an old mill on our property and it seemed feasible to repair it and make it into living quarters and work space. It also seemed an acceptable idea to the Dalai Lama, so an envoy was sent to suss things out.
And that was how we came to be acquainted with Chime Youngdong. This was a great honour, as we came to realise during his stay, for Chime (pronounced ‘Chimmy’) was not only the ruler of 200,000 people in the east of the country, he was also the ninth reincarnation of an important monk of the same name. He was moreover a national hero, having led a party of 20,000 followers in January 1959 on a march across the central plateau of Tibet to Lhasa, where he hoped to persuade the Dalai Lama to intervene on their behalf to the Chinese authority concerning the atrocities that were being inflicted on their people.
After a month of marching, they reached a ravine to the north of Lhasa. As they passed through it, two Chinese aircraft came roaring through the cleft, machine guns blazing, and mowed down half their number.
In spite of hearing of this atrocity and others (the sterilising of males, the forcing of Tibetan women to bear children fathered by Chinese, the burning to death of dissenters, the driving of nails through the eyes of dissidents, the ravaging of monasteries…the list is a long one), the Dalai Lama held back for fear of causing further violence.
But from that time on, Chime was a marked man, and after dodging Chinese guards for a month, he realised that the time had come for him to flee. So, as the discontent in Lhasa fomented, he preceded the Dalai Lama and took to the hills once more, finally arriving in Europe and eventually in Cloona.
He was a charming man and thoroughly approved of our plans for a future Tibetan workforce. He hitched up his orange robes and cycled along the lanes, he helped with the household chores and in no way suggested that he was due any homage. He poured over the designs for the conversion of the mill – the machinery was to occupy the ground floor with the weavers living above.
After he left, he sent us another ex-monk to learn the art of weaving while we awaited the Government’s sanction for the immigrants. This man arrived with a beautiful English wife, half his age, thereby astonishing the locals even further. They eventually installed themselves in a cottage near Murrisk, which became a sort of Tibetan sanctuary and introduced us to Tibetan food and culture.
They were, of course, Buddhista, and it was initially because of my interest in Eastern religions that the whole saga had evolved. Now I hoped to learn more. But the Government had other ideas. They refused the permits – and the Tibetan interlude was over. That was when I decided to compile my own recipe for healthy living and to carry on transforming the mill.
Now that unfortunate country is once more in turmoil. But what’s new? Tibet has been in thrall to foreign invaders since the Mongols swept in in 1207. The Chinese, the Nepalese and the English have all had a go at taking it over.
We wait for the current outcome.