Last Updated on January 15, 2025 by pg@petergamma.org
Peter Gamma from www.petergamma.org
became interested in Tibetan Buddhist meditation through Matthieu Ricard and Richard R. Davidson. But what strikes Peter again and again, is that the story of Tibetan Buddhism is a tragedy of which hardly anyone seems to talk anymore.
1950 China invaded in Tibet, 6´000 monasteries where destroyed and 128´000 Tibetans went to exile.
And as a result, we have today for instance in Switzerland:
- The monastic Tibet Institute in Rikon
- The Drukpa Zentrum Kollbrunn near Winterthur
- Lhagsam Tibetan Meditation in Zurich
- And in the U.S.A. we have for instance the Drikung Dharma Surya Buddhist Temple in Virginia:
But can this not be compared toa as if now the Habsburger from Austria which the Swiss have driven out of the country starting from 1291 would invate Switzerland again, and the Swiss had to escape now? And the Habsburger would destroy all of the churches in Switzerland? And some Swiss woul escape to Tibet to rebuild there churches and monastries there? Which Christians wo live in Switzerland can imagine something like this? But is this not the situation of the Tibetan Buddhist in Switzerland? And how much repression is necessary by the Chinese governement, so that this topic is only rarely discussed?
But is there a place where repression has worked on the long-term? We do not know of such a repressive system which would have been successful, and would be accepted by the society in general, and would find a majority of voters. And is there a country which does not want a democratic governement on the long term?
That is why Peter Gamma from www.petergamma.org supports the Tibetan People’s Exile Organization, which is the Tibetan government in exile, based in Dharamshala, India. It is composed of a judiciary branch, a legislative branch, and an executive branch, and offers support and services to the Tibetan exile community.