Tara’s Daughters

 

September 2002

 

55 Mins

 

 

9/10/02  Pix:      

Act I

Tara’s Daughters: She Who Can Not Be Abandoned.

Audio:

 

 

VO:        1:00:29:06

 

Much media attention has been placed on the Dalai Lama and the mystical practices of Tibetan Buddhism.  But almost nothing has been seen about the lives of Tibetan women refugees.  Here is an exclusive look at the challenges they face with their families in exile, the traditional life they lost as the Chinese government took control, and the key role refugee women play today in Tibetan cultural survival.

 

HHDL      01:01:03:17

 

 

 

VO:          01:01:26:07                                         

                                          

Mrs. T & Women

Photo of woman

 

“We consider women in society very very important regarding preservation of our culture because, particularly a type of culture  with which we are very much concerned with is peace of mind”

 

To understand Tibetan women refugees, we must find out about their heritage: both their homeland and their unique culture.

 

 

VO: 01:01:38

Historical footage of leading families of Lhasa

 

 

 

01:01:52

Old Tibet was a feudal society. 

Believed to be the reincarnation of

the Buddha of Compassion, The Dalai Lama was as much a god as the

country’s ruling  Monarch. 

 

Twenty aristocratic families managed

the worldly affairs of state  &

commerce.  The rest of society was

made up of traders, nomads, and

monks.  Tibetans shared religious

beliefs that encouraged them to

maintain a peaceful society.

 

 

VO: 01:02:23

MTNS, awesome

Tibet - to the Westerner is a land of

 

Blue mask

  legend, mystery & the fantastic.

 

Landscapes, flowers, women baby things – yaks etc.

The austere and beautiful terrain of the Himalayas shaped Tibetan

culture.  A rigorous lifestyle close to nature heightened awareness of the

preciousness of life. The Himalayas’

 

 

long winters and harsh living conditions created a culture devoted to the intricate study of the Mind

 

CHILD SINGING

And the Nature of Reality.

 

 

01:03:19

Woman Kneel by ROCKS

A profound reverence for the generative power of the feminine is part of their culture as timeless as the landscape.  The earth of Tibet is referred to in female terms and many of its holy sites - mountains, lakes,

 

WOMEN IN SPRING

and rocks are considered female.

 

HERDING ANIMALS

 

 

 VO: 01:03:42

Most women led home-centered lives.

 

 

 

 

Lady Sakya  01:03:45:06

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

VO:  01:04:21:12

 

They are the pillar of all society…

Woman are very hard worker and not only taking care of the family but also supports all the religious, the monasteries as well as practice their own way.  If they want some decision the family discuss with the mother, the mother is the one who decides, but they don’t like to come forward to.  Is because society, is not the woman’s world.

 

Tibetans have always been great story tellers

 

KESANG     01:04:25:08

 

“And  my mom got pregnant, and we didn’t even know she was pregnant.  She was a little bit on the chubby side and she always wore the Tibetan dress which covered a multitude of sins…So we never really knew and then one day I’d come back from school and I’d here this   new baby crying and she’d go, Well, Here’s your new sister or here is your new brother. And I’d go ok. And sometimes she’d say “father  its time and she’d be working all day and he’d come with the knife and you know cut the cord everything was done, she’d be cleaning the kid.  Its no big deal.

 

GIRLS CREEKSIDE

 

 

01:05:03:                             VO:

Its in Tibetan stories and legends that Westerners can glimpse how women are regarded.

 

 

 

 

Girls  creekside

tapestry

Religious  Scriptures  vary in their interpretation  of women.

 

WOMEN AGAINST ROCKS

 The most common term for woman is SKYE-DMAN which means born low.  There is no equivalent term for man. 

 

WOMEN BY FIRE

 

 

WOMEN TALK  VO    01:05:22

Women are characterized as the most patient and compassionate members

 

 

of society.  Mothers are cherished.

 

OLD WOMAN W/BEADS

 

 

 

 

But traditionally, women did not learn to read or write, and spiritually, females were somewhat handicapped.  Reincarnation as a woman is not as fortunate as  reincarnation  as a man.

 

TIBETAN  texts say, "She cannot become a Bodisattva until she is reborn as a man."

 

 

TAPESTRY    VO      01:06:04

Padmasambhava brought Buddhism to Tibet.  Yeshe Tsogyal, a Tibetan

 

TAPESTRY

woman, became his consort.  While requesting spiritual  initiations from him she said:

 

WOMAN W/BEADS  01:06:18

"Inadequate women like me with little energy and an inferior birth incur the whole world's hostility.  Whatever we do, the lot of a woman on the path is a miserable one.

 

WOMAN EATING

To maintain our practice is virtually impossible, and even to stay alive is very difficult."

 

 

TAPESTRY

But Padmasambhava praised her spiritual accomplishments,

 

MALE VOICE     01:06:43

PHOTO FEMALE  STATUETTE

" O yogini who has mastered the Tantra, the human body is the

 

KIDS DANCING

basis of the accomplishment of wisdom,

 

KIDS IN ROBES SINGING

And the gross bodies of men and women are equally suited.

 

OLDER WOMEN

But if a woman has strong aspiration she has higher potential."

 

 

 

 

VO: 01:07:02

 

 

 

This sounds paradoxical, but  Buddhism teaches that Life is suffering.  While women’s suffering is great, this can be beneficial  because suffering leads to purification , clarity  & Enlightenment. 

Gaining  spiritual insight is the true purpose of life, so suffering can create wisdom.

 

 

And every aspect of life is an opportunity for spiritual teaching.

 

Sky burial

 

 

VO:  07:59:01

Death is embraced unflinchingly.   In the cycle of reincarnation the death of the body is just a transit for the soul.  As Tibetans live above tree line where the air is so cold the ground remains frozen, a chador, the ‘sky burial’ allows the human body to return to nature swiftly. 

Tibetans believe the vultures will not take the flesh of evil-doers.

 

 

 

 

VO:  01:09:16:21

 

Thangkas, photos of gods

 

 

Lady Sakya   01:09:24:16

Tibetans cultivate personal relationships with a retinue of deities.  None is more beloved than the Mother Goddess, Tara.

 

First time I received the Tara initiation

And I was strong connected and that thought it was something like more mother, is second mother who can even guide me spiritually.

 

 

VO 01:09:39:08

Tara practice is observed by lay people at home and by clergy in temples.

 

 

 

 

TAPESTRY

The ancient goddess Tara came in

 

DARK TARA FACE

her incarnation as the human "

 

TAPESTRY

Princess Moon of Wisdom”. She

 

AERIAL VIEW PAINTING OF VILLAGE

vowed in her journey toward enlightenment to help all sentient beings.  Monks asked her to return

 

ADULT MALE DANCERS

as a man.  She refused,

 

BACK TO DANCERS

“Those who wish to obtain supreme enlightenment in a man's body

 

PROCESSION OF DANCERS

are many, but those who want to serve in a women's body are few.  I vow to serve solely as a woman until

 

CIRCLE OF DANCERS

 

 

 

 

 

the enlightenment of all sentient beings."

 

Tara in all her aspects has inspired generations of Tibetan men and women.

 

Music

 

 

VO: 01:10:51

Geographically remote, Tibet was untouched by world events through the first half of the 20th century. 

 

 

PHOTO MONKS RUNNING

But in 1950, the first armies of the People’s Republic of China came to

“liberate” Tibetans from feudal lives and bring them Communism – a government unconfused by spiritual  tenets.

 

 

 

Persecution of educated people commenced immediately.  Tibet’s Eastern provinces were colonized Homes and villages were turned into forced labor camps.

 

 

 

 

PHOTO OF REBELS  `

 

 

 

Rebellion erupted against Chinese rule in Eastern Tibet in 1956. Although brave fighters, Tibetans lacked numbers and arms.  Women helped the fighters by providing supplies and information.

 

 

 

 

PHOTO OF TANKS

 

 

 

 

Twa pres       01:11:52:01

 

 

 

Many Tibetans believed the Chinese could never take possession of the capital.  But Lhasa fell in 1959 despite fierce resistance.

 

“The Tibetan women association is a non governmental organization and the formation of this association goes way back from 59.  It was on 12 March, 1959 in Tibet that  Tibetan women from various parts of Tibet led peaceful demonstration against the Chinese asking them to quit Tibet.  Subsequently the Chinese arrested the 4 front leaders and they were arrested and taken to prison and tortured for many many years and later  they were publicly executed”

 

 

01:12:28:10

Jamyang Sakya recalls the Chinese arrival.

 

 

Lady Sakya –  01:12:30:03

We lost our country in a way everything and

we had tremendous difficulties crossing from the Himalaya and carrying my sons in the backpack crossing through to Bhutan. It was a very very hard decision and when the top of that mountain is 23,000 feet sea level and looking back  go to the Bhutan side and looked back again, its with the tears.  But I never thought it was forever.

 

 

PHOTO ON HORSEBACK

VO:  01:12:59:03

 

 

 

The Dalai Lama disguised as

one of his own guards, escaped with  his mother, elder sister, younger brother, tutors, soldiers and loyalists. It took two weeks to reach India.  A total of 100,000 Tibetans– 49,000 women and girls escaped to India

 

Photo HHDL w/ Indian leaders

 

PHOTO OF REFUGEE

& Nepal where they were sheltered as refugees.

 

PEOPLE  w/ROPES

Thus began a chain of events that has changed their traditional  way of

 

BROWN TENT

life forever.

 

BUSY MARKET STREET

According to Chinese statistics 87,000  Tibetans were killed during

 

BOWING PRAYERS

 

 

the 16 months of resistance after the ‘59 uprising.  

 

AMA ADHI C/U

Tibetan women were treated as harshly as men.  Those who resisted were killed or subjected to years of starvation, torture &imprisonment.

Ama Adhe’s family were leaders in the countryside.  She believes she survived 28 years in Chinese prisons to remember those who died. She recalls  being seized:

 

 

AMA ADHI W/INTERPRETOR-

01:14:04:21

Ama Adhe translator: 

When the Chinese army came in my house my daughter was sleeping next to me in bed she survived because my friends breast feeded her while I was away.  She didn’t die. My son tried to follow me but later I heard that my son had fallen in the river and died, when I was taken by the Chinese and I had two kids a boy and a girl. They were left behind.

 

 

 

 

FLATS ON SIDE OF HILL

VO:  01:14:59:15

 

The Chinese destroyed more than 6000 monasteries, nunneries,

 

FLATS W/FLAGPOLE

temples and shrines.

 

RELIGIOUS ARTICLES

It is estimated that 1.2 million Tibetans have died since 1959

 

MAN AT ALTAR

due to war, famine, forced labor, execution, and torture.

 

Lady Sakya        01:15:19:15

We came because we wanted to be free to practice dharma so we know the Chinese Communists doesn’t have that. We don’t know where we are going who is going to support us we don’t know anybody we don’t know the language but its just pray that something happened.

 

 

 

 

 

9/7/02     ACT II

Tara's Daughters – Doc

 

TIBETAN PALACE

 VO: 01:15:39:10

 

Over 40 years later, the future of Tibetan culture in their sacred homeland is unclear.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In 1959, The Dalai Lama and his advisors realized that cohesiveness could be sustained by organizing a Government-in-Exile, but its establishment took time.

 

The future of Tibetan culture and its religion lay in the continuity the refugee communities in India, Nepal, and the West would provide.

 

Early conditions were very difficult for all refugees.

 

PHOTO OF FACTORY

 

 

Exile ended the age-old tradition of Tibetans living in extended families.  How to care for the young, old, and infirm became difficult.

 

Rinchen Khando  01:16:32:15

RK – in the old times you’d see most of the women at home …looking at household, and looking after the children, since we came out of Tibet and we had to face a totally new world I think our women did very well in adapting to a new ways of life at the same time truly changing themselves.

 

WOMAN REF. W/ BABY

 

 

VO:  01:16:57:06                                      

At first the refugees only had tents to live in.  India, with high unemployment among its own population, could do little to help the refugees.  In shock, with improper clothing, no medical care and poor food, many died.

 

TSERING W/ MOM

Tsering translates for her Mother & father.  They were part of that first migration and among the few

 

TSERING’S FATHER

 to survive and prosper

 

TSERING:             01:17:24:04

“They have been working in the public work department before on the road in Denali and I was very small, my brothers and my younger sister and older were very small and they were all on the back like that and then my mom was working.    before they were working on the road in the public works department at that time they were getting just one rupee a day/

 

 

Yangchen by Tibetan flag

VO:  01:17:48:22

 

Like Tsering, Yangchen is part of the first generation to grow up in the refugee community.  She works for and is dedicated to the Government-in-Exile.

 

 

 

 

YANGCHEN & MOM ON COUCH

 

 

YANGCHEN: 01:17:58:21

My Mom was the only one who could earn the livelihood to look after my dad and also for the 3 children to send to school…so my mom had a very tough time when we were very young.

 

 

RINCHEN   01:18:14:13

 

 

 

 

Thank God Tibetans have a good attitude towards change and the society doesn’t hold them back… for example  In the early 60’s women would just have to go out and do any kind of work to support their family along with their men.

 

``

VO              01:18:30:01

Industries were started based on traditional crafts.

 

WOMAN CARRYING WOOL

Tibetan carpet factories opened in Nepal, lifesavers for the refugees, as they provided decent wages.

 

WOMAN WEAVING BOARD

In Tibet, weaving was a family craft

 

WOMAN AT WHEEL

In Nepal, every

 

WORKERS BUSY AT SPINNING WHEELS

aspect of production is part of a modern industry -

 

WOMAN SPINNING WOOL

From wool gathering to spinning, weaving and sales.

 

AT BOARDS POUNDING WITH TOOLS

Women do all but the most heavy physical labor.

 

C/U OF MAN AND WOMAN

Tibetan carpets are among the finest in the world.

 

C/U OF HANDS WORKING ON CARPET

The refugee experience varies from

 

 

country to country but most women need to work for cash.

 

CUSTOMERS IN SHOP

 

 

MRS Tsering   01:20:07:24

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lady Sakya:   01:20:45:20

“In  Nepal everything is very expensive not like India so I was not more than housewife, I tried to find job and then I found job in here in the Tibetan  refugee camp in Jawakhal this also belongs to the Tibetan exile government so this former manager Mr. Lopsang Nyima and my

husband talk and he said oh yes better to find job if she speaks good English and we need a

salesgirl in show room so that would be

very good if the Mrs. would join the job.”

 

When I first came in America I made so many mistakes, in Tibetan when you see ladies the first things you ask what  your name and then is how old are you and I did that a lot of times some they never give me answer because in Tibet I think Chinese the same way the older you are, respected.

 

 

VO:       01:21:14:21

While the Tibetan refugee community is starting its fourth generation in exile,

 

REFUGEES  ON MTN PASS

 

 

a small but constant stream of new refugees from Tibet trickle across high mountain passes, RISKING ALL FOR A NEW LIFE.

 

 

 

Like those who fled before them, most arrive with only the clothes on their backs.

 

 

 

 

RECEPTION CTR SIGN      

VO:  01:21:41:07

 

Refugees who make it to Dharamsala, in India

 

BEDS IN SHELTER

 are provided with food and shelter.

 

 

 

TSERING TSOMO SHEDS HEADWRAP

Others stop in Nepal, the first border crossed from Tibet.

Tsering Tsomo, a Tibetan Bonpo nun, is one who walked the perilous route.

 

 

 

 

WOMAN HERDING

She had been a shepherdess in Tibet. With no nunnery to go to, she came seeking religious community in Nepal.

 

TSERING In front of banner

 

 

TSERING READING SCRIPTURE

Six months later Tsering is learning to read the sacred texts she had learned by rote.

 

 

 

 

TEXT IN VIEW

Tsering dreams of returning to Tibet to start a nunnery where women can learn to read and write but she had

 

HERDING CATTLE

to leave the Tibet Autonomous Region to get a religious  education.

 

VO     01:22:49:12

Historical footage

Scholarship has always been prized in Tibetan culture. Traditionally, the  monastic system trained monks in the Tibetan arts & sciences.  Only aristocratic members of the old society learned to read & write.  Among these, a handful of women were educated for the pleasure of their fathers.

 

Lady  Sakya,        01:23:11:29

I had to learn at the monastery like the boys are learning and then I come home and I have to learn the chores like girls  learn so that is why my girlfriends would say I was unlucky because you have to take two part of things, so I thought I can’t play like them and I had to go to the school every day.

 

 

VO: 1:23:41:03

PHOTO-TEACHER AT BOARD

 

But today, the Government-in-Exile makes education the number one priority for refugees.

 

 

 

 

Rinchen Khando    01:23:44:13

One of the wonderful things that the government in exile they has done is they have set up schools for the Tibetan children and they have made education free and available to all the Tibetan children. And one thing they never said was to send the boys to school and forget about the girls, they said school for all Tibetan children. Education for all Tibetan children.  Therefore as a result girls are educated equally with boys.  always free for all, and in the schools they are  taught  together and treated equally in fact lots there is a lot of encouragement  for  the girls to really come out with their opinions or ideas or whatever.

 

VO    01:24:36:11                                     

 

 

The Tibetan Children's Village in Dharamsala is headed by Jetsun Pema, the Dalai Lama’s sister.

 

 

JETSUN PEMA     01:24:42:07

Jetsun Pema:  and this children’s village is institution which was started in 1960 and it was initiated by HH to take care of the Tibetan refugee children who at that time were arriving with their parents from Tibet then the children had a difficult time and as most of the parents were involved in the road construction work which the government of India gave our people to do then the children had a difficult time in the road construction camps because they had to keep on moving and they had to live in tents so you know it was difficult for the children to be in these road camps HH sent his officials  out and brought the children collected and in 1960 May there were 53 children brought here that’s how He started this children’s  village… and since 1964 its 31 years since I’ve been doing this work.

 

VO      01:25:47:05

The budget is 700 rupees per month per person which is less than 20 dollars its all included the education, the food, the clothing, everything is included.

 

RINCHEN KHANDO    01:26:41:15

Through education you can see better you can understand better  and you can decide better for yourself

 

VO       01:26:47:16

Secular education allows refugees to prosper in their host countries

 

 

Education has produced a great difference between refugee born women and their Tibetan born mothers.

 

 

It gives women greater voice in and beyond their community.

 

 

 

 

YANGCHEN 01:27:04:12

Like in Tibet , my mom never got education, she was never exposed to education like now

 

TSERING              01:27:12:07

…if you educate  an individual you are just educating one person… and if you are educating a woman you are educating a family you are educating a society you are educating a national and then comes international and everything like women they have a wider understanding rather than men. I think

 

 

 

 

VO    01:27:29:13

nunnery

Tibetan refugee women have opportunities for religious education equal to men for the first time in history due to this modern Dalai Lama. Nuns can study for geshe degrees, like Ph.d’s in religion, as monks have for centuries.

 

HHDL      01:27:45:21

So we have to make better facilities for women practitioner or student so this new nunnery near Dharamsala  I’m very much hoping will be model so in the future in Tibet we can establish some more nunnery with good quality, high standard, steady

 

C/U PHOTO OF DL

VO         01:28:15:29

 

The Dalai Lama has been described as the essential sustaining element of Tibetan culture

 

MOTHER & CHILD

 

 

TSERING            01:28:22:02

 

 

I think he is everything for us, he is everything if you would be a leader or a spiritual or political leader we’d be no where, from him we get spiritual purity, we get peace of mind we get contentment we get happiness…

 

 

 

 

MRS. Tsering        01:28:39:26

I find him really really good leader, really good leader, not only the leader we call him a Tibetan god king His Holiness the Dalai Lama, he’s not  king like other country’s king, he’s a holy man, on top of that he’s a very special man to come to in reincarnation generation generation he will come to us.

 

01:29:03

 C/U PHOTO OF DL

His Holiness the Dalai Lama is the heart of Tibet to most Tibetans.

 

 

 

 

 

Kesang     01:29:09:06

 

 

I had not met his HH in India or Tibet but when he visited here it seems like you’re more accessible more accessible here than there because over there of course he’s held in such respect.  People are in such awe of his presence that you don’t dare even go and visit His Holiness you don’t do that sort of thing and even if you did you don’t even look up you don’t have direct eye contact, there is so much respect that you just bow your head, …  So I went in after being just literally pushed in there, and I was just awestruck I couldn’t talk I couldn’t do a thing.  My husband said Boy, I’ve never seen that side of you and I said well you that is the way I feel we respect him so much.

 

Photo of HH as child.

VO             01:30:06:14

 

He has no doubt who has had the most profound influence on him.

 

HHDL        01:30:11:10

…regarding I think a proper development of inner basic human good quality such as compassion loving-kindness respect other’s right, I think you see, my own case  my mother for example was such a warm-hearted person. My mother so kind very compassionate. So perhaps in my own case still I cannot say I’m a compassionate person still I can say comparatively I can say I’m not not bad.

 

HHDL w/ Nobel Prize

VO            01:30:52:20

 

The Nobel prizing winning leader cherishes Tibetan women.

 

HHDL        01:30:56:11

I feel women’s role is great, very great, I notice this in many places, not only in India Buddhist community but also Christian communities everywhere, I notice everywhere female side seems more sort of interest, or more how say  keen  about faith one’s own faith.

 

Rinchen Khando    01:31:26:07

 

 

 

 

Yangchen Dolkar         01:31:37:11

 

 

 

 

 

 

VO                                01:31:54:09

 

 

The very lifestyle of Tibetans is so much influenced by the religious principle  that you really can’t separate them very easily.

 

Starting from the morning like we’re doing a small prayer in front of  the altar then we first thing we give whenever we give whenever we eat we give the first share to the god then we start our eating have  and before that we pray altogether

 

For many refugees the spiritual aspect of the culture is what is most important.  Some choose a strictly religious life by becoming nuns.

 

Tenzing Tsamo     01:32:07:15

 

Head shaving          

VO                      01:32:14:19

 

 

 

Tenzing Tsamo       01:32:22:15

 

 

 

 

                              01:33:40:17

 

 

 

VO                         01:33:51:11

 

 

 

Rinchen Khando      01:33:58:19

 

 

 

Tsering Tsamo        01:34:07

 

VO                        01:34:14:20

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                   01:35:15:22

 

Astrologer says

01:35:23:10

 

 

VO                           01: 35:31

 

 

Old historic wedding ph

01:35:47

 

 

 

 

My name is Tenzing Tsamo and I come from South India.

 

A new generation of Indian born Tibetan women stand firmly rooted in traditional faith.

 

We wake up at 5 o’clock and we have to study our scripture and after that at 6 am we have morning prayer hall 7 we have breakfast and we pray altogether  8:30 we finish that then 30 minutes we have break.  9 am to 12 o’clock we have also Tara puja…after that we have lunch time 1 o’clock to 2.

 if I become a nun I have a very good chance to study our dharma if we marry we have no chance to study we would think about our families.

 

Women in secular and religious life cooperate to preserve Tibetan culture.

 

I do go and see the nuns and see the nuns very often and talk to them and say now what do you understand, has that made any difference to your life?

 

It’s very happy, a nun’s life.

 

Tibetans are joyful. Celebrations are undertaken with enthusiasm.

The entire community comes together to celebrate Losar, the Tibetan New Year.

 

Tibetan women all over the world make momos, juicy meat dumplings.

 

Libations are offered to the gods.

Burning incense and raising prayer flags mark the beginning of the new year.

 

Astrologers and oracles are consulted about new year’s fortunes.

 

The elements is good, everybody is ok here.

 

Losar provides the time for men and women of all ages to enjoy one another as they did in Tibet.

 

Traditionally marriages were arranged according to the social and economic needs of families. They had little religious significance.

 

Kesang          01:35:54:25

 

 

 

 

 

Kesang wedding 

My mother married when she was about 13 and it was an arranged wedding.  My father came on a white horse picked her up and she was crying because that is what you, then she had her first child and boom bang 15 kids... The difference is I think, I’m the first in my family to marry out of an arranged wedding I actually you know  actually dared to fall in love. So that was something different.

 

I wanted an American wedding with veil and the whole bit and my husband wanted a Tibetan wedding so we said let’s do both.   So in the morning we had the church ceremony with the white dress and in the afternoon we dressed he wore the chuba and I wore the Tibetan brocade dress. My brother and Maid of Honor who is Tibetan wore the Tibetan robes and wore the Tibetan boots and we did the whole spiel.

 

WALKING DOWN HALLWAY

01:37:07:12

 

But young people still face considerable pressure to enter arranged marriages.

 

 

 

 

WOMAN IN CARPET FACTORY-

01:37:09:18

as a Tibetan  its quite difficult you know to change our own mind and also for the children we have to obey our parents

 

 

 

 

VO:     01:37:18:11

Pasang lives in the U.S. as part of

 

C/U OF PASANG

 

The U.S. resettlement project. Her life is almost completely Westernized.

 

PASANG AND BOYFRIEND

01:37:26:09

 

PASANG (laugh) we had a love marriage and we

like each other, I can’t think of what else…

 

BACK TO COUCH

01:37:33:07

 

While visiting her family in Kathmandu, she & her boyfriend of 3 years decide to wed.   Accepting the love marriage, their families provide this traditional ceremony.   Traditionally the bride’s dowry is her jewelry. In this wedding the jewelry has been rented for the day. 

The ceremony is a daylong affair, with the Mola Tange presiding.

 

WOMEN CHANTING

He chants jokes & exaggerations

about the merging families.

 

 

 

 

MOLA TANGE MAKES SYMBOL

The saying is that if this fertility symbol is not scattered beyond recognition on the wedding night,

 

cu ON MOLA TANGE’S HANDS

the groom should have been a monk.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

VO:      01:39:30:32

As refugees, young people with families from different regions and social classes of Tibet now mix, a rare occurrence in old Tibet. 

 

Many refugees lead rural lives in India and Nepal. 

 

RURAL WEDDING PROCESSION

This wedding comes 10 years after the couple had a family.  This is the first time they have the finances

 

BRIDE ON SHORE

to hold the wedding celebration and feast.

 

BACK TO PROCESSION

Perhaps the day is sweeter because of the long time it took in coming.

 

OLD WOMAN W/ BRANCH

Astrologers are consulted on the union, evil spirits warded off,

 

LIQUID POURED ON HEAD

and a boisterous time is had by all.

 

 

PARTICIPANTS ON PONIES

Traditionally, family and marriage were the Tibetan woman’s social  security.

 

VO:  01:40:40:12

MRS T IN FACTORY

Today married wage-earners, may be separated for long periods of time.

 

Montage of what’s to come

 

 

 

TWA Secretary Lawa

01:40:48:00

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

VO:      01:41:42:01

Many women live alone without family.

 

When elected my husband in Ladakh, I had to make choice…. so talking with husband this one seems to be wider TWA wider than school itself, so my hubby in Ladakh I came here we decided in mutual understanding and supporting each other. In this way I’m very grateful to him without his encouragement, without his understanding it would be very difficult especially with the 3 children.

 

Refugee women keep and honor and their culture in their daily lives; while celebrating holidays, like Tibetan New Years’; and by honoring personal events.

 

 

 

 

VO    01:41:55

The refugees have formed a successful Tibetan community in the Diaspora.

 

Shots from Tibet

As the refugee’s lives go on, Tibet’s fate, broken into Chinese provinces, is uneasy.  The Chinese have over a billion people while the Tibetan plateau is filled with space and valuable resources.  Travel in and out of the area can be difficult for Tibetan refugees as they are considered Chinese citizens who should come home.

 

Vulture footage

 

 

HHDL:    01:42:40:14

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

01:43:38:21

Chinese policies change, and Tibetan religious freedom is not constant. 

 

Obviously, they, not only Tibetan women, but every Tibetan is facing this kind of problem. Actually, in the eyes of Tibetan, the Chinese, our Chinese brothers and sisters are alien, alien people. So you see, alien people came to our country without proper invitation. Then dictate on us how to behave, how to think, how to speak, including religions (laughing). That's the difficulties, there is complicated.

 

With over 500,000 Chinese troops in the Tibet Autonomous Region, Tibetans are becoming a minority in their own land.  Yet, those who flee express concern for all Tibet’s residents.

 

 

Ama Adhe left Tibet in 1987.  She made Dharamsala home to satisfy her lifelong dream of living close to the Dalai Lama.

 

Ama Adhe   01:44:06:09

I pray that the world will be freed from such atrocities and miseries as I and other Tibetan people have suffered.

 

VO: 01:44:26:20

Although few in number, Tibetan refugees have a large impact outside of China because they are organized, share their spiritual teachings, and remind us that freedom is what people hold most dear.

 

 

VO: 01:44:06

 

 

 

 

TWA former Pres.   01:44:53:00

 

 

 

 

 

VO:   01:45:25:00

 

The Tibetan Women’s Association is a worldwide non-governmental organization formed to create solutions to the refugees’ problems. 

 

In India  it was in 1984 that the Tibetan Women’s  Association was revived again, and the main objective of the association is to work for the struggle of our country  Tibet and to fulfill the dreams  of those brave women who led the demonstration  from 59,... as of today we have over 9000 members  all over India and a few abroad.

 

The T.W.A. spent years in  Preparatory meetings for the UN Women’s Conference of 1995. 

 

TWA Sec. Lhamo   01:45:31:26

We not only think of the Tibetans but Chinese women also.

 

VO:   01:45:41:09

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

American: 01:46:01

 

 

 

VO:  01:46:10

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eva Herzer  01:46:39:05

 

 

 

 

VO:       01:46:56:17

The United Nations’ Fourth World Women’s Conference was attended by 30,000 women in Huarou, China, During a UN conference, the land its held on is protected as UN territory, like an embassy.  Attendees were horrified that Chinese security measures ignored this jurisdiction.

 

“When I got back to my room they had gone through my suitcase and my roommate’s suitcase.

 

A workshop was organized by Tibetan women refugees at the NGO Forum.  The women were afraid to complain of harassment by Chinese security until a videotape was seized. The story was released on the international wire service and made front page news. 

 

 

But they grabbed from all sides and started to punch me and pull on my bag here so I tried to back out of the room but they just kept grabbing at me and punching me.  They told me I had no rights to speak about Tibetans…

 

The confrontation between refugee women and the Chinese showed conflict rarely seen by Westerners.

 

VO        01:47:11

 

 

 

HHDL       01:47:17:27

The Dalai Lama has repeatedly stated the only way to settlement is through peaceful resolution. 

 

Look carefully you’ll see the Chinese government attitude without much notice, you’ll see some change and the Chinese people themselves particularly the internationals…the thinkers, the students, and also the Chinese diplomats. I think among this category of people the spirit or desire want more liberty freedom democracy is growing.

 

 

 

 

Ama Adhe        01:48:04:19

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rinchen Khando  01:48:30:12

For more than 1000 years, the people of our land have considered ourselves a separate race and culture from the Chinese.  We want future generations to have feeling, that same sense of identity.  Tibetans believe, unlike grass, which can be wiped out in strong wind, we are as the earth.

 

If you do this for the benefit of somebody else, it’s worth taking it on you.  That is most of what our prisoners did in prisons in Tibet.  They said all right, let them torture us, let them beat us, because by our doing this it helps the course it helps the dharma so let me be the punching bag.

 

 

VO:                                  01:48:56:08

Many Western Buddhists believe Tibet’s

misfortune has brought a great gift to the West, the Precious Jewel, the

sacred teachings of Tibet.

Rinchen Khando     01:49:10:05

I definitely feel that it is the philosophy and way of life that has made the Tibetans cope with the problems of life…

VO:   01:49:22:09

How do women refugees understand their plight?

Lady Sakya     01:49:25:17

(her voice starts over pix of refugee reception in India)

If something comes good and think that all Terpulgems blessing and this is wonderful but that doesn’t last forever either, if something comes

good in a way you know then happy, and then

if something comes,  doesn’t go well goes wrong

 and you think maybe this is part of moving my obstacles not really just something bad for me

doesn’t stay this forever might come some

happiness later.

VO: 01:49:58

Wheel of Life -          

 

 

 

In the Wheel of Life, birth, aging, and death are caused by the afflictive emotions, the senses, and attachment.  These keep sentient beings in worldly realms until grasping ceases.  In cyclic existence, all living things die but they return in new forms through reincarnation – individuals, all have their own lifespan and purpose.  In Tibetan Buddhism Bodishattvic vows are taken to reincarnate and serve until the Enlightenment of all sentient beings.

TWA sec Lawa     01:50:44:03

in order to have something good in order to help some other people to do something good even  if has to sacrifice one’s life I think that’s really worth it.  Staying for 100 years and doing nothing for others just caring for one’s health I don’t find any meaning in it ,

VO:                      01:51:10:09

Tibetan  sacred texts make clear woman’s spiritual  value,

GOLD STATUETTE

From the tantric scripture  of the

-DANCING STATUETTE

Yogina tantra class:

Male Voice         01:51:18:09

 

young women in ornamental dress

One should honor women

 

 

-PRAYERS FROM ABOVE

Women are heaven, women are truth

 

 

WALKING THRU SMOKY WOODS

Women are the supreme fire of transformation

 

 

GOLD FACE

Women are Buddha

 

 

-2 NUNS ON BUSY STREET

Women are religious community

 

 

2 CHANTING NUNS

Women are the perfection of wisdom

BABY

 

VO:                       01:51:42:09

For most the future is here, in Nepal and India as refugees…

2 WOMEN SMOKING

 

 

Women are forging the link between old Tibetan ways

-GOLDEN FACE

and their future. Relocation has forced refugee women to take on new roles.  This tests a woman and makes her search her faith for sustenance.

-2 WOMEN AT WINDOWS

For those who believe in Dharma

-PEDESTRIANS

The essential spiritual path, there IS an ultimate truth,

 

 

-FEMALE STATUETTE

To Buddhists, achieving freedom from attachment

 

 

-PASANG BEING FED

Whether in pleasure or pain  - is

-C/U OF AMA ADHI

liberation

 

 

 

 

KESANG-           01:52:30:12

Xmas tree living room

 You know, Tibetans will always be Tibetans and no matter where we are and how Westernized we get, basically we’re still Tibetans.

VO                      01:52:54:09

Tibetan refugee women keep the essence of their faith and their people’s vitality for they know they hold the key to Tibet’s spiritual  treasures.

Ama Adhe          01:53:09:02

“I am free now.  There are no guards outside my door.  There is enough to eat.  Yet an exile can never forget the severed roots of beginnings, the precious fragments of which are always within the heart… As I pass through the hours of each day, I feel my heart remains with the memories of my family and friends whose bones have become part of a land now tread by strangers”

Credits                01:53:42:10

music

 

 

 

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