[Marxism] Friendly Feudalism: The Tibet Myth

["Walter Lippmann" <walterlx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Friendly Feudalism: The Tibet Myth
by Michael Parenti

July 7, 2003


Throughout the ages there has prevailed a distressing symbiosis
between religion and violence. The histories of Christianity, Judaism,
Hinduism, and Islam are heavily laced with internecine vendettas,
inquisitions, and wars. Again and again, religionists have claimed a
divine mandate to terrorize and massacre heretics, infidels, and other
sinners.

Some people have argued that Buddhism is different, that it stands in
marked contrast to the chronic violence of other religions. But a
glance at history reveals that Buddhist organizations throughout the
centuries have not been free of the violent pursuits so characteristic
of other religious groups. (1) In the twentieth century alone, from
Thailand to Burma to Korea to Japan, Buddhists have clashed with each
other and with nonBuddhists. In Sri Lanka, huge battles in the name of
Buddhism are part of Sinhalese history. (2)

Just a few years ago in South Korea, thousands of monks of the Chogye
Buddhist order---reputedly devoted to a meditative search for
spiritual enlightenment---fought each other with fists, rocks,
fire-bombs, and clubs, in pitched battles that went on for weeks. They
were vying for control of the order, the largest in South Korea, with
its annual budget of $9.2 million, its additional millions of dollars
in property, and the privilege of appointing 1,700 monks to various
duties. The brawls left dozens of monks injured, some seriously. (3)

But many present-day Buddhists in the United States would argue that
none of this applies to the Dalai Lama and the Tibet he presided over
before the Chinese crackdown in 1959. The Dalai Lama's Tibet, they
believe, was a spiritually oriented kingdom, free from the egotistical
lifestyles, empty materialism, pointless pursuits, and corrupting
vices that beset modern industrialized society. Western news media,
and a slew of travel books, novels, and Hollywood films have portrayed
the Tibetan theocracy as a veritable Shangri-La and the Dalai Lama as
a wise saint, "the greatest living human," as actor Richard Gere
gushed. (4)

The Dalai Lama himself lent support to this idealized image of Tibet
with statements such as: "Tibetan civilization has a long and rich
history. The pervasive influence of Buddhism and the rigors of life
amid the wide open spaces of an unspoiled environment resulted in a
society dedicated to peace and harmony. We enjoyed freedom and
contentment." (5) In fact, Tibet's history reads a little differently.
In the thirteenth century, Emperor Kublai Khan created the first Grand
Lama, who was to preside over all the other lamas as might a pope over
his bishops. Several centuries later, the Emperor of China sent an
army into Tibet to support the Grand Lama, an ambitious 25-year-old
man, who then gave himself the title of Dalai (Ocean) Lama, ruler of
all Tibet. Here is a historical irony: the first Dalai Lama was
installed by a Chinese army.

To elevate his authority beyond worldly challenge, the first Dalai
Lama seized monasteries that did not belong to his sect, and is
believed to have destroyed Buddhist writings that conflicted with his
claim to divinity. (6) The Dalai Lama who succeeded him pursued a
sybaritic life, enjoying many mistresses, partying with friends,
writing erotic poetry, and acting in other ways that might seem
unfitting for an incarnate deity. For this he was "disappeared" by his
priests. Within 170 years, despite their recognized status as gods,
five Dalai Lamas were murdered by their enlightened nonviolent
Buddhist courtiers. (7)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To support the Chinese overthrow of the Dalai Lama's feudal theocracy
is not to applaud everything about Chinese rule in Tibet. This point
is seldom understood by today's Shangri-La adherents in the West.

The converse is also true. To denounce the Chinese occupation does not
mean we have to romanticize the former feudal régime. One common
complaint among Buddhist proselytes in the West is that Tibet's
religious culture is being destroyed by the Chinese authorities. 
This does seem to be the case. But what I am questioning here is the
supposedly admirable and pristinely spiritual nature of that
pre-invasion culture. In short, we can advocate religious freedom and
independence for Tibet without having to embrace the mythology of a
Paradise Lost.

Finally, it should be noted that the criticism posed herein is not
intended as a personal attack on the Dalai Lama. He appears to be a
nice enough individual, who speaks often of peace, love, and
nonviolence. In 1994, in an interview with Melvyn Goldstein, he went
on record as having been since his youth in favor of building schools,
"machines," and roads in his country. He claims that he thought the
corvée and certain taxes imposed on the peasants "were extremely bad."
And he disliked the way people were saddled with old debts sometimes
passed down from generation to generation. (52) Furthermore, he
reportedly has established "a government-in-exile" featuring a written
constitution, a representative assembly, and other democratic
essentials. (53)

Like many erstwhile rulers, the Dalai Lama sounds much better out of
power than in power. Keep in mind that it took a Chinese occupation
and almost forty years of exile for him to propose democracy for Tibet
and to criticize the oppressive feudal autocracy of which he himself
was the apotheosis. But his criticism of the old order comes far too
late for ordinary Tibetans. Many of them want him back in their
country, but it appears that relatively few want a return to the
social order he represented.

In a book published in 1996, the Dalai Lama proffered a remarkable
statement that must have sent shudders through the exile community. It
reads in part as follows:

Of all the modern economic theories, the economic system of
Marxism is founded on moral principles, while capitalism is concerned
only with gain and profitability. Marxism is concerned with the
distribution of wealth on an equal basis and the equitable utilization
of the means of production. It is also concerned with the fate of the
working classes-that is the majority -- as well as with the fate of
those who are underprivileged and in need, and Marxism cares about the
victims of minority-imposed exploitation. For those reasons the system
appeals to me, and it seems fair. . . .

The failure of the regime in the Soviet Union was, for me not the
failure of Marxism but the failure of totalitarianism. For this reason
I think of myself as half-Marxist, half-Buddhist. (54)

And more recently in 2001, while visiting California, he remarked that
"Tibet, materially, is very, very backward. Spiritually it is quite
rich. But spirituality can't fill our stomachs." (55) Here is a
message that should be heeded by the affluent well-fed Buddhist
proselytes in the West who cannot be bothered with material
considerations as they romanticize feudal Tibet.

Buddhism and the Dalai Lama aside, what I have tried to challenge is
the Tibet myth, the Paradise Lost image of a social order that was
little more than a despotic retrograde theocracy of serfdom and
poverty, so damaging to the human spirit, where vast wealth was
accumulated by a favored few who lived high and mighty off the blood,
sweat, and tears of the many. For most of the Tibetan aristocrats in
exile, that is the world to which they fervently desire to return. It
is a long way from Shangri-La.


· · · · · ·


Michael Parenti is an internationally known author and lecturer. He is
one of the nation's leading progressive political analysts. Parenti
received his Ph.D. in political science from Yale University in 1962.
He has taught at a number of colleges and universities, in the United
States and abroad. Parenti's most recent books are To Kill a Nation
(Verso); The Terrorism Trap (City Lights); and The Assassination of
Julius Caesar: A People's History of Ancient Rome (New Press). You can
find more information about Michael Parenti at michaelparenti.org.

FULL MUCH LONGER ARTICLE WITH MANY FOOTNOTES HAS BEEN POSTED:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laborpartypraxis/message/20949



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WALTER LIPPMANN, CubaNews
Los Angeles, California
http://www.walterlippmann.com
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/
"Cuba - Un Paraiso bajo el bloqueo"
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