Tibet

For decades, Tibetan refugees in Nepal have been living in relative peace, a situation that may be about to change.

Some in Nepal fear that China is stirring up tensions between their countrymen and the Tibetan refugee population.

Kathmandu has come under increasing Chinese pressure to clamp down on protests by Tibetan political activists, making the lives of some refugees increasingly difficult.

Al Jazeera’s Subina Shrestha reports from Kathmandu.

Duration : 0:2:57

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Exiled Tibetans Pray for China Earthquake Dead
2010-05-04 11:06

On Tuesday, Tibetans-in-exile living in Shimla offered special prayers for their comrades who died in a recent earthquake. 400 people lost their lives to the tremors in the remote mountainous Tibetan Plateau of southwest China.

The official death toll of the April 14th quake has climbed to 2,046 people, with 193 still missing.

The main 6.9 magnitude quake was centered in the mountainous area that divide Qinghai Province from Tibet.

According to Tibetan Buddhist tradition, the 21st day after death is considered very important and rituals and prayers are offered on this day.

[Yonten, Tibetan Buddhist Monk]:
“Today not only in Shimla but all over the world wherever there are Tibetans in exile, we are offering prayers, butter lamps and incense.”

The foothills to the south and east of the area are home to herders and Tibetan monasteries of Yushu County, while the area to the north and west is arid and desolate.

On Saturday, the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama asked Beijing if he could visit the site to comfort the victims. He has not returned to China since fleeing Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising, and is unlikely to get permission to go.

Duration : 0:1:32

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Death is real, it comes without warning and it cannot be escaped. An ancient source of strength and guidance, The Tibetan Book of the Dead remains an essential teaching in the Buddhist cultures of the Himalayas. Narrated by Leonard Cohen, this enlightening two-part series explores the sacred text and boldly visualizes the afterlife according to its profound wisdom.

The Great Liberation follows an old lama and his novice monk as they guide a Himalayan villager into the afterlife using readings from The Tibetan Book of the Dead. The souls 49-day journey towards rebirth is envisioned through actual photography of rarely seen Buddhist rituals, interwoven with groundbreaking animation by internationally acclaimed filmmaker Ishu Patel.

Duration : 0:9:1

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