Rev. Danny Fisher

Via Phil Ryan at the Tricycle Editors’ Blog: In his blog On the Ground for the New York Times, Nicholas Kristof writes about the Chinese response thus far to His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s most recent concession, specifically the acceptance of Chinese Communist Party rule in Tibet as part of any future agreement. Initial reactions, as he says, are not especially “encouraging.” This is lamentable and also kind of illogical when one considers how enormously this concession helps the Chinese. Kristof writes:

After the Dalai Lama dies, I expect that many Tibetans will turn to violence, even terrorism, and the crackdowns that follow will further erode Chinese legitimacy. What the Dalai Lama has to offer China is precisely international legitimacy for its rule over Tibet and the acquiescence of ordinary Tibetans to Chinese rule, so that the country can get on with economic development.

The editors of the Washington Post write today that with U.N. special envoy Ibrahim Gambari’s sixth no-results mission to Burma, “it is clear now that U.N. diplomacy has become a cover for inaction, not a pathway to reform.” They further state that “it is time for [U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon] to say that he won’t allow the United Nations to be exploited and humiliated” by General Than Shwe and the rest of the junta.

The Associated Press is reporting that Holiness the Dalai Lama is suffering from exhaustion and has cancelled upcoming trips to Mexico and the Dominican Republic in order to undergo medical tests and treatment. His normally full schedule has been cleared for the next three weeks so that he may rest and recover.

We hope for your speedy recovery, Your Holiness, and hold you in our thoughts, prayers, and practice.

The Korea Times is reporting that more than 200,000 South Korean Buddhists, both lay and monastic, from almost all orders, have gathered at Jogye Temple in Jongno to protest what they perceive to be discrimination against their religion by President Lee Myung-bak’s administration. It is one of the largest demonstrations in Korea in many years. President Lee is a Christian minister who once offered Seoul up to God in a public prayer while he was mayor of the city. He also once issued a video statement commending participants in a prayer meeting that called for the physical collapse of the country’s Buddhist temples. Buddhists account for only a scant percentage of public officials, while members of Lee’s Somang Church fulfill many important positions in the administration. President Lee was elected with the support of many Buddhists voting in a nonpartisan way and presumably hoping that he would govern in the same manner. Earlier this summer, though, a transportation data system and new maps of the Cheonggye Stream provided by the government excluded locations of Buddhist temples. This was later amended, but tensions flared again more recently after police officers searched the car of the Ven. Jigwan, the respected chief executive of the Jogye Order, ostensibly looking for activists from the People’s Association Against Mad Cow Disease who have been hiding in a local temple. (Their work caused President Lee’s approval rating to take a sharp drop.) The demonstrators in Jongno are demanding an apology from President Lee, “reprimands for public officials involved in religious discrimination,” legislation to better protect citizens from the abuse of power they perceive, and the removal of the People’s Association Against Mad Cow Disease activists from the government’s wanted list. I’ll have more on this story as it develops.