“His
Holiness”. I first saw him on TV, a documentary, 60 Minutes, I forget exactly
where or when, but he impressed me with his infectious laugh, immeasurable joy,
and extremely profound yet simple message: interdependence and compassion; love
and non-violence; selflessness and integrity; dignity and respect … I was
hooked. His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama had my ear and my admiration
from that point forward.
I started listening to
His talks, I began reading His books, I visited, His website. I use a capital
“H” because this man is the real deal, as close to a God as there is on Earth,
plus “His Holiness” is always capitalized, so I capitalize the H here out of
respect, but will not do so from this point forward because he is such a humble
man that he would likely be embarrassed by it, he would not like it. After all,
he often refers to himself as a “simple monk”.
His
message made sense to me, enticing me to further explore Buddhism, a religion I
was unfamiliar with, having been raised Catholic, only later finding out that
it is not really considered a “religion” because there is no “God”, no creator,
in Buddhism. Buddha was a man, a prince no less, who lived around 2,600 years
ago in India, becoming “enlightened” after 49 days of meditation under the
Bodhi tree at the age of 35 in a place now called Bodhgaya. So, back to his
message, actually Buddha’s message, referred to as the “dharma” in Buddhism and
one of the Three Jewels: the Buddha, the Dharma (Buddha’s teachings), and the
Sangha (the devout followers: monks, nuns, bodhisattvas).
First,
“suffering” (or “samsara” in Sanskrit), the subject of the Four Noble Truths,
is at the root of human existence in Buddhist philosophy. We all want to be
happy, but our ignorance: Our thoughts, our emotions, our desires and our
inability to manage them get in the way of attaining happiness.
Second,
we should observe our body (equated metaphorically to the Sangha), mind (the
Buddha), and speech (the Dharma), inhibiting our propensity to lie, cheat,
steal, kill, covet, idle gossip, talk badly about others and so on, by
enhancing our ability to focus on the present moment and making positive
choices while minimizing or eliminating negative ones.
Third,
we should be compassionate, empathic, and care about others more than we care
about ourselves, letting go of “me”, “I”, our “self” and in the process doing
what we can to eliminate suffering in others and ourselves. This is also
referred to as “bodhicitta” and those who dedicate their lives to ultimate
compassion with a focus on eliminating suffering in all sentient beings
(people, animals, insects, etc.) and attaining Buddhahood are referred to as
“bodhisattvas”.
So
I started reading books on Buddhism, basic books like Buddhism for Dummies, A Beginner’s Guide to Tibetan Buddhism, and
other introductory texts, in order to learn more about what seemed to be a very
complex subject. Then, not wanting to spend another winter in the Midwest, I
had an epiphany - why not go to India and learn about Tibetan Buddhism at its
source, Dharamsala, McLeod Ganj to be specific, from His Holiness himself?
The first place I visited
was the Dalai Lama’s website, where I checked his teaching schedule and, lo and
behold, he was going to perform a teaching for a group of Koreans at his temple
in McLeod Ganj from the 11th through the 13th of November
2014. Then I started checking airfares. I found a fare for $1,100 on United,
which seemed like a very fair price considering that tickets to Europe nearly
always exceed that, usually by a lot, so I decided to run the idea by my wife.
I would leave in late October, go to Dharamsala for two months to study Buddhist
philosophy, then meet her in New Delhi during her winter break (she is on the faculty
at a large Midwestern university) for three weeks of touring, then south to Kerala
for some much needed R&R by the sea.
Arriving in Dharamsala,
McLeod Ganj actually, on a bright late-autumn day, the skies were a deep Dodger
blue, the snow-topped Himalayas steep and jagged, the surrounding foothills
raining pieces of shale and boulders the size of garbage trucks, and the trees
surrounding the town a deep forest green, literally. His Holiness’s temple is
actually in the hill station town known as McLeod Ganj, several kilometers and
a 15 to 30 minute ride by bus, taxi, or car from Dharamsala depending on which
road you take, the pot-holed “shortcut” or the longer, but much more
comfortable “bus road”. So if you want
to be around his temple, attend his teachings, or volunteer with the Tibetan
refugees as I did, you must stay in McLeod Ganj, not Dharamsala.
I
felt totally at home as I entered McLeod Ganj on the first of November, as if I
had somehow been there before, maybe in a past life, and my karma, which had
been dismal for the past several years (that is another story, maybe an
upcoming book), suddenly took a turn for the better as you shall soon find out.
Forty-five
minutes after arriving, having quickly unpacked my backpack in my room at the
Pink House Hotel, I decided to go for a stroll around town. No sooner had I reached the long, treacherous
staircase leading from the hotel to Jogiwara Road a few hundred feet above did
I meet Thupten Pema Lama. Thupten is a small, slender man who always wears a
hat of one kind or another. His English
is excellent and I soon found out that he is the now retired director of the Tse
Cho Ling Monastery in McLeod Ganj and a former Buddhist monk. We walked and talked for a while as he was on
his way to get his cell phone repaired at a shop up on Temple Road, one of the
two main thoroughfares running the length of the “market” area of McLeod Ganj
and the road that takes you to the Dalai Lama’s Temple complex about a
kilometer downhill. He pointed out his monastery in the valley below, where he
still works part-time, from the second floor balcony of the small shopping
center we were visiting. The secluded monastery, a three hundred step trek
below the main square, is a peaceful respite where monks pray, meditate, and
chant and where tourists can stay in a modest room with en suite bath for just
600 rupees (less than $10) per night. Thupten then invited me for tea at his
home the next morning “around 10:00 am” and I enthusiastically accepted this
kind invitation from a relative stranger.
Thupten’s
small, simple apartment sits on the second floor of a building nearly adjacent
to the hotel where I was staying, overlooking the river valley below with a
view of the front range as well as the peaks of the Himalayas off in the
distance. We had Tibetan bread, which quickly became one of my favorites and a
staple throughout my stay, and milk tea, a Tibetan tea mixed with hot milk and
a little sugar. As we talked, his sister sat with us, a sweet woman who speaks
little English and is struggling with health problems as I later found out.
Thupten then invited me for lunch. Unable to turn down such a warm and
hospitable invitation, we retired to his living room while he bounced back and
forth between there and his small kitchen where he busily chopped fresh
vegetables and whipped up a tasty soup which I later found out was a Tibetan
dish called “thupka” (pronounced “too-pa”). We watched BBC, his favorite, while
chatting and eating our thupka with his sister.
There
just happened to be an International Film Festival taking place in town that
day, so we jumped in his car, picking up a stray tourist, a doctor from
Australia, along the way, heading up the hill to TIPA (Tibetan Institute for
the Performing Arts) to watch a couple movies. We also had another complimentary
lunch with the director of the film we had just seen, a very well known monk
and Rinpoche (reincarnation), on the stage in the TIPA courtyard. From tea to
lunch(es) to film festival, we had a splendid day and I had made a new friend
for life. I later found out that Thupten is very prominent in town and a leader
in the local Tibetan community. My karma was definitely heading in a positive
direction and all this on just my first day in McLeod Ganj.
Oddly
enough, that very same night, I met another very influential and equally well-known
Tibetan monk by the name of Bargdo (pronounced “pack-toe”) while having my
first restaurant meal at Nick’s Italian Kitchen. Sitting at a table for two, I saw a monk walk
in and ask a woman sitting by the door if he could join her as all the tables
in the restaurant were occupied. I am
not sure why she turned him away, but I quickly caught his eye and beckoned him
to join me as I was sitting alone and happy to have some company. Bargdo has written 14 books and given countless
public talks around the world about his experiences while being held in a
Chinese prison and tortured by his captors, all for publicly pleading for a
“Free Tibet” and announcing his devotion to His Holiness the Dalai Lama to the
Chinese. For someone who was held
captive and tortured for years in a Chinese prison, Bargdo was extremely
jovial, even joyful, laughing uncontrollably at his own puns and as friendly as
anybody I have ever met, including the Dalai Lama himself. We ended up talking for a couple of hours and
I bought one of his books, which he happily agreed to autograph for me before
we went our separate ways. Fortunately, his company was much better than my
meal, but the evening was an overall success in my eyes. Still day one and more
positive karma!
I wanted to attend the
Dalai Lama’s teachings, study Buddhist philosophy, volunteer with the Tibetan
refugees, and study yoga during my two months in McLeod Ganj, so on the
following Monday I made the two kilometer trek down Jogiwara Road to the
Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, also known as the “Tibetan Library” for
short. As it turned out, they had two
Buddhist philosophy courses scheduled each day, Monday through Saturday, one at
9am and another at 11am, taught by two different geshes (a geshe is a Buddhist
monk with the equivalent of a PhD in Buddhist philosophy), each with his own English
translator as the geshes taught only in Tibetan. I registered for both courses
for the two months I would be in town, paying a grand total of 800 rupees ($13)
for both courses and the texts.
I
was too late for the 9am class that day, but the 11am class had just started,
so the registrar insisted that I attend.
Entering in the middle of the opening prayer was a bit disconcerting, but
none of the fifty or so people seemed to take notice and I quickly found a seat.
The geshe was enthusiastic in his speech as he described the day’s verses of Nagarjuna’s
Precious Garland in his native
Tibetan, so I could not understand a word.
His translator, an American by the name of Julia whom I later came to
know quite well, and Geshe obviously had a strong connection, a bond that
allowed her to alternate between Tibetan and English all the while bantering
back and forth while clarifying key points in the simple yet complex prose
being taught. I was hooked … great stuff and positive karma once again!
As
I was leaving the class, I overheard a group of people speaking Italian. Having lived in Italy, being married to an
Italian, and of Italian ancestry myself, I speak a reasonable amount of Italian
and understand quite a bit more. One of
the group was an older woman with shaved head and dressed in the traditional
Buddhist nun’s robes, so I asked her in Italian where she was from. She told me that she lived in McLeod Ganj,
but the rest of the group was from various places in Italy. They were obviously
in a hurry to go somewhere, but before they left, the nun invited me to
another, more private teaching at a café across from the Dalai Lama’s temple
that day at 2pm. I decided to go and am
I glad I did – I was definitely on the karma train.
The small room above the One Two Café seats 12
people comfortably, many of whom sit cross-legged on cushions on the floor with
tiny desks in front of them for taking notes. The more “senior” in attendance,
those with bad knees like the Italian nun and I, sat in one of the few plastic
chairs lining the wall. Our teacher, Geshe Lobsang Choegyal
Rinpoche of the Institute for Buddhist Dialectics (IBD), is not only a
geshe, but also a “Rinpoche”, the reincarnation of a very high Tibetan lama who
reportedly meditated in a cave in the Himalayas for 50 years. I was later told that Rinpoche is also
mentored by His Holiness and was reportedly handpicked by the Dalai Lama to
study at the IBD, the monastery inside the grounds of the Dalai Lama’s temple
in McLeod Ganj.
As Rinpoche entered the room, that day and every
Monday through Friday following, all in attendance would bow, with the
Buddhists, and even some non-Buddhists who did not know any better, prostrating
themselves three times at Rinpoche’s feet (a prostration is a sign of respect
or reverence for a high lama and/or Rinpoche where the individual bows down to
the ground in four distinct movements, sliding their hands in front of them as
their forehead touches the ground before returning to a standing position only
to repeat the movement for a total of three times). He would always start with warm
greetings and a small amount of banter, normally light and jovial, before his
opening prayer. He would then begin his
teaching for the day. His translator, Ben, from Jerusalem is a soft-spoken and
very kind man. His relationship with Rinpoche is also obviously very special
and they work extremely well together. Ben is also familiar enough with both
Tibetan and Buddhist philosophy that his translations flow effortlessly and were
quite easy to understand.
What a tremendously compassionate and wise man Rinpoche turned out to be
as I experienced over the next 6 weeks or so in his presence. Incredibly
positive karma was generated and much Buddhist philosophy was assimilated over
the 45 hours we spent together in that small room simply adorned only with
seven Tsongas, wall hangings with paintings of the Buddhas surrounded by
crimson and gold silk fabric, one behind Rinpoche’s low throne-like seat and three
adorning each of the two side walls. Rinpoche was scheduled to leave with His
Holiness for several days of teachings in Karnataka, India in late December and
I was very sad to have to part ways on the last day of his teachings. He had
become my teacher, my geshe, my guru, my Rinpoche.
I had started teaching English conversation shortly
after my arrival to Tibetan refugees at LHA Charitable Trust, a
Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), a non-profit in other words, one of
several in McLeod Ganj providing free education and services to the many
Tibetans who have escaped from their homeland and the oppression of the Chinese
government. I taught an hour-long class Monday through Friday at 4:00 pm and
had one student that I tutored, a 28-year old Tibetan Buddhist monk named Sonam
that I met each night.
Sonam Wangdu is a Buddhist monk, at least six feet, five inches tall, a
giant by Tibetan standards, and one of the kindest, gentlest, sweetest people I
have had the honor of meeting in my lifetime. He was arrested in New Delhi,
shortly after escaping from Tibet in 2012 at the age of 26, for protesting in front
of the Chinese embassy over their immoral occupation of his homeland, Tibet. Sonam
was only held for a couple days, short by Chinese standards, and the New Delhi
Police told him he was “six feet, seven inches”. He is tall, but I think their
measurement was over by an inch or two. That was Sonam’s second incarceration,
the first being in Lhasa (Tibet or China depending on who you talk to) where he
was arrested by the Chinese for protesting in favor of His Holiness the Dalai
Lama, who is persona non grata as far as the Chinese government is concerned.
Sonam was lucky, he was only imprisoned and tortured for a week while several
of his fellow protestors were shot, some killed, by police for speaking out in
favor of the Dalai Lama.
Sonam escaped from Tibet shortly thereafter, trekking
across the Himalayas in the middle of winter with three other monks. Crossing
near peaks in excess of an altitude of 20,000 feet in temperatures of minus
forty degrees Fahrenheit and below, it took Sonam and his companions 30 days to
cross into Nepal and reach the Tibetan Welcome Center in the capitol city of
Katmandu. They were some of the lucky ones because many of their countrymen and
women die of starvation, dehydration, frostbite, freeze to death, or are fallen
by Chinese snipers who routinely wait perched atop a ridge for escaping
Tibetans to wander by.
Sonam and I met two days after my arrival, barely
able to communicate because of my non-existent Tibetan and the little bit of
English he had learned up until then. We continued to meet every night of the
week, many times for two to four hours while drinking milk tea, Tibetan herbal
tea, or simply hot water, one of Sonam’s favorites along with hot milk. We
would also meet one day on the weekend and go for a long walk in the woods or
up to the village of Dharamkot, a few kilometers above McLeod Ganj, to talk and
spend time together. The other weekend day, normally Saturday, Sonam had
reserved for, as he liked to say, “washing my body” where he would hike down to
the Bhagsu River, which was very cold in November and December, to wash himself
and the few clothes he owned.
Sonam and I became very close and remain close to
this day, talking on Skype when possible and texting on WeChat, a favorite
among Tibetans in India. He has become like a third son to me and I hope we can
meet again very soon, possibly in the United States where he would like to
visit one day. Sonam gave me a Tsonga of the Shakyamuni Buddha, the “original”
Buddha, formally known Siddhartha Gautama, a prince from Northern India who was
enlightened under the Bodhi tree some 2,600 years ago. And he calls me
“respected teacher”, a term of endearment that warms my heart every time I hear
it.
As I mentioned earlier, the Dalai Lama was scheduled
to give three days of teaching from the 11th through the 13th
of November upon request from a group of Koreans. Anybody could attend the
teachings as His Holiness’s temple can accommodate two to three thousand people
comfortably, so three days prior I took my two passport photos and paid my ten
rupees (16 cents US) at the Dalai Lama’s Security Office on Bhagsu Road not far
from the town square, receiving my security badge in less than ten minutes. I
then walked to the temple to reserve my seat using a piece of paper with my
name written on it, affixing it to the cement floor with some borrowed tape at
a location where I was told His Holiness would walk past following the teaching
each day.
When I arrived on the morning of the first teaching,
lo and behold someone was sitting on my reserved spot! Normally, it would not
have been a problem and I would have simply sat somewhere else, but there was a
full-house and not a square inch of available space anywhere. When I informed
the intruder of his error, he stood up and showed me his name on a large mat
where he had been sitting, but when I picked-up his mat to reveal my name on
the concrete below where his mat had been placed, he had no choice but to move
elsewhere. Those are the rules, I did not make them up, I only enforce them.
The Dalai Lama arrived shortly after the appointed hour of 8:00am,
causing much excitement as he circumambulated, clockwise of course, the temple before
entering. As he did, he stopped and talked to several people, touching others
and giving blessings all along the way. Upon entering the temple, he made jokes
with the Koreans seated inside along with some of the monks from his temple
before being seated and getting down to business. As he started talking in
Tibetan (translations were available in several languages via FM radio – you
have to bring your own), dozens of young monks started circulating through the
crowd with large baskets of Tibetan bread and huge steel pots filled with
steaming milk tea (you have to bring your own cup), handing out the bread and
pouring the tea to everyone in attendance. This is a ritual at every teaching
in his temple, followed by a short prayer from His Holiness over the bread and
tea before everyone begins consuming them. The teaching then begins in earnest
and continues for four hours except for a 15-minute “toilet” break about
halfway through. These three days of teaching focused on Nagarjuna’s Precious Garland, the same text we were
studying in my 11:00 am class at the Tibetan Library, so much of what was said
sounded familiar. I will not elaborate on the details of the teachings because
it would take up too much time and is too detailed to include in this short
story, but it was enlightening, pun intended.
The next two days proceeded much the same as the
first, except that on the last day there was a large lunch provided by His
Holiness for the Korean’s and anybody else who wanted to partake, including
Tibetan bread, rice, a vegetarian curry, and boiled vegetables, standard fare
for a large
gathering and completely free of charge of course. Another thing
that stood out to me was that on the second day there were several young monks
navigating their way through the large crowd with stacks of 1000 rupee notes (1000
rupees equals about $16 US), seeking out the Buddhist monks and nuns, giving
each of them a 1000 rupee note, not to anyone else, just the monks and nuns.
Having vowed to a life of poverty, existing on the simple meals at their
monasteries and wearing only the crimson and gold robes of Tibetan Buddhist monk
or nun and a simple pair of shoes or sandals, these men and women live on very
little, so $16 is a lot of money. A small gesture of compassion by His Holiness
to the Sangha, his devoted followers, the Buddhist monks and nuns, but with an
enormous impact on those who subsist on less than one dollar a day. Just
another example of the compassion of the Dalai Lama
Another teaching, this time for four days in early
December, was scheduled short notice after my arrival for a group of Mongolians,
so I had the opportunity to attend a total of seven days, nearly 25 hours of
teachings with the Dalai Lama during my time in McLeod Ganj. What a blessing
and what tremendously positive karma had come my way during my stay.
But
wait, that is not the best part of the story! Shortly after I arrived in McLeod
Ganj, knowing that the Dalai Lama would be at his residence much of the time,
an unusual occurrence with his hectic travel schedule, I decided to request an
audience. Why not? The bad news: I received word from Tenzin Taklha, the Dalai
Lama’s nephew and personal Secretary, three days after my request telling me
that an audience would be impossible due to the Dalai Lama’s strenuous schedule
and concerns for his health. The good news: I was invited to a group receiving
line on December 8, 2014 where I would have the opportunity to greet His
Holiness, receive a blessing, and have a photo taken with him. I was elated!
Thupten
Pema Lama told me that these receiving lines were group events where
nationalities are grouped together for the greeting, blessing, and photo. Well,
that was good enough and just to have the opportunity to be so close to him was
blessing enough for me, so I waited for the appointed hour – 8:00am on December
8th.
I arrived early at the
temple’s security office that morning where I was checked-in, went through a
metal detector, was patted-down (frisked), and had my possessions thoroughly
checked. I had brought six mala (Buddhist rosaries) and two khata (ceremonial
scarves for blessings) with me to have them blessed by His Holiness. Because
nothing can be carried on your person when meeting the Dalai Lama, except a mala
or khata, they were aggregated with all of the other’s and my remaining possessions
were taken and sealed, all to be returned to me at the end of the visit. I was
then told to go to a waiting room at the base of the hill leading to his
reception center and living quarters.
There
were probably 75 or so people there that brisk December morning and from what I
heard, there were people from Mongolia, Korea, Japan, Tibet, China, and America
of course. Nearing the 9:00am hour, we were grouped together in a line by
nation and led up the hill toward the reception center. The line wrapped around
the semi-circular driveway in front of the reception center with the head of
the line under the canopy in front of the building. I was about one-third of
the way back, number 25 or so. The Dalai Lama arrived shortly thereafter with
his entourage, waving to his guests and smiling and laughing as is his way.
Just
as Thupten had told me, the groups from individual nations were instructed to
approach him one at a time. I could not tell you where the first groups were
from, but there were from 5 to 12 or so people in each group. He would greet
them, chat briefly, give them a blessing, and his staff would then take a group
photo. The encounters lasted from one to three or four minutes. The group in
front of me was from Japan and there were seven of them. I overheard the Dalai
Lama telling them in English how wonderful it is that the Japanese are so
forgiving toward Americans for having dropped the two atomic bombs on Japan at
the end of World War II and that forgiveness is a critical part of compassion
and Buddhism. Little did His Holiness know that the next person in line was an
American and a military veteran at that.
Oh,
I forgot to mention, I was the only American in line that day, so when it was
time, I was escorted to meet the Dalai Lama alone - I was the only nationality
with just one member present! When I approached him, one of his staff said, “This
is Lieutenant Colonel Sorrentino of the United States Air Force”. I then presented
the white silk khata to the Dalai Lama between my two outstretched palms, as is
the tradition. Taking it from me, His Holiness placed it around my shoulders as I bowed.
He then took my hands and we bowed together in greetings. Not letting go of my
hands, he asked me, “How long were you in the military?” to which I replied “20
years Your Holiness”. “ Did you serve in combat?” he asked. “Yes Your Holiness,
I served in the Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq, and Afghanistan operations”. “Oh, very
good”, he replied. At that point his staff were looking as if it were time to
move on, so I took the opportunity to tell him something rather than asking a
customary question.
I
said, “Your Holiness, I have been fortunate enough to volunteer teaching
English conversation to and befriending many Tibetans while here in McLeod Ganj
and I have gotten to know your people very well”. I went on, “I have to tell
you that I have never met such kind, compassionate, joyful, and wonderful
people in my life and if there is ever anything I can do for you or the Tibetan
people, please do not hesitate to ask me”. As I was finishing my comment, my
eyes began to fill with tears of joy, both for the opportunity to meet this
great and very kind man as well as because of the joy that working with my
Tibetan students at LHA and my monk Sonam had given me. I have to say that there was
a bit of sadness as well, knowing what hardships and suffering the Dalai Lama
and all Tibetan refugees had experienced while escaping from Tibet in very
harsh conditions, leaving friends and family behind to do so.
His Holiness saw the
tears in my eyes and still holding my hands he told me, and I am paraphrasing, about
tolerance, interdependence, compassion, and forgiveness. He said that it is helpful to empathize with
and feel compassion toward those who we feel harm us or wish us ill will and
that anger and resentment only cause our own suffering. The Dalai Lama added
that the ignorant are oblivious to the feelings of others, requiring even more
compassion from those with the wisdom to understand their suffering and that
those are the reasons Tibetan Buddhists are such compassionate, joyful, and caring
people. A few more photos were then taken, I later found out that the
photographer had been snapping away the entire five minutes for a total of nine
photos, and then it was time for me to let the next group approach. It then
dawned on me that the Dalai Lama had not let go of my hands the entire time we
were together.
His Holiness says that our enemies give us the best
opportunities to practice compassion and forgiveness. He has every reason to hate the Chinese for
what they have done to him and his people, yet he loves them as much as anyone
else, if not more, and holds no animosity.
He believes, like all Tibetan Buddhists, that every creature on earth,
insects, animals and humans alike, could have been our mother or father in a
previous life, so we must treat every living being with the same love, compassion,
dignity, and respect we would afford to our parents. In this way, it is much
easier to feel compassion toward our enemies.
I have only a few hundred hours of exposure to
Buddhism, having only scratched the surface with much yet to learn and
practice. I still find it difficult not to become angry with and intolerant of
ignorant people (the Dalai Lama likes to call them "stupid"), but his
teachings have allowed me to reexamine my gut reactions and, eventually, soften
those reactions with patience, acceptance, understanding, and compassion for
all sentient beings, both the good and the bad. That is what I learned in the group
and individual encounters between "His Holiness and I".
Copyright 2015 – 3rd Wave
Media Group, LLC – All Rights Reserved
Title: His Holiness And I
Key Words: His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, his, holiness, Dalai, Lama, Dalai Lama, Tenzin, Dharamsala, McLeod Ganj, McLeod, Ganj, India, Tibet, China, Chinese, LHA, Tibetan, refugees, travel, value
