Bolding in red and underlining my own.
Mila Rangzen is a US armed forces veteran serving New York Community as an immigration translator.
This article is not about Tibet and China. It is not about Rangzen and Umaylam, nor is it about democracy or free speech strangulation in exile Tibetan world. So any questions you, the reader, might have regarding these topics can be put aside for now. This is a call to the people of Utsang to wake up: The primary 2016 Sikyong election is knocking our door.
This is the cowshed 99% of Utsangs live in for the past six decades.
Jepa Valleys in Utsang
UTSANG RISING
Autobiography of Mila Ranzen
Buddhism—the Mother of all Delusions PART –II
By Mila Rangzen
Buddhism is lamas’ source of income, status and power. Donations from devotees are the lifeblood. In pre 1959 Tibet, lamas owned estates. Tibetan lama government taxed nomads and peasants in old Tibet in currency, goods and labor. Taxes were not meant to improve their lot. It was raised to feed thousands of monasteries and nunneries gorging on meat and butter. Yes, doing nothing. The common Tibetans survived on a ball of grounded barley. They grazed sheep or toiled in the fields from sunrise to sunset. Tibetans believed that Buddhism would free them from samsaric existence. But there is nothing original about most of Buddha’s ideas. The ideas such as karma or nirvana get put out there with a supposedly superior Buddhist explanation. For instance, moksha in Hinduism means nirvana to the Hindus. But Buddhist explanation is that it is not nirvana. It is a realm of gods and goddesses and so still bound to samsaric existence.
Buddhism borrowed much of its ideas from Hinduism. The idea of karma for instance was created by the Brahmin caste in ancient India. The Brahmins were the upper-most caste in the brutal caste system of Indian society which continues to this day. It made sense for the Brahmins to hold and push the idea of karma. Since that would justify to the lower classes, the lower castes, any perceived injustices that they felt. The tradition of Buddhism inherited these ideas from the Brahmins, also in ancient India. The Buddha himself was a prince, from the warrior caste, the second highest caste in Indian society, just below the Brahmins. Buddha lived a rich life in which he knew no suffering, until he was a young adult and left the confines of the palace he was raised in. Then he came up with this philosophy that life is suffering. But, he never questioned why he didn’t suffer before he was 29 years old, when he lived in mansions with a retinue of seductive women at finger tips. But, one of the most hateful parts of Buddha is the part of him that regarded women as inferior. Pressure was brewing from women who wanted to become nuns. He said if he ordained women into nunhood, Buddhism in India would survive for only 500 years! With only monks as his disciples he predicted it would last 1000 years! Women must indeed be morally so defiled for even a compassionate Buddha to utter such a thing! Sexist Buddha was.
The suffering of people outside his palace was caused by the great wealth of the princes and the upper classes themselves. They don’t work at producing the necessaries of life and the enormous luxury goods that they live with. But they get poorer people to produce these things for them. They cause suffering to the lower classes who have to struggle to make the wealthy comfortable while still taking care of their own families with the little wealth that they are allowed to have. But, Buddha preached to the poor a philosophy of renunciation. Of course, it is said that he preached this philosophy to everyone. But, it was mostly the poor somehow who came to accept Buddha’s teaching. Because Buddha promised that through the extinction of desire, they would be able to overcome suffering. And overcoming suffering is definitely something working people want to do! But, Buddha never understood the social causes of suffering. He never questioned why most of the world’s suffering is with working people rather than with wealthy people who are in fact attached to their possessions.
The system of working people suffering because they spend their lives forced to create wealth and comfort for rich people is still pretty much like the one we live under today. And it is unjust and causes great suffering. Lamas, Rinpoches, and Tulkus would like us common people to believe in karma still, and that it will all work out somehow eventually. But, will it? Or is this just a mythological idea that keeps people from protesting the fact that the people in power or the wealthy force us to work for their comfort while we have to live pretty poorly? Karma is just a useful tool for the wealthy preachers, to get the poor to accept that justice will be done eventually, even as the poor suffer injustice after injustice.
Prince Siddharta Gautama renounced worldly life for spiritual pursuits. This is true however deluded he might be about enlightenment. Today Rinpoches renounce spiritual pursuits for material comfort under one pretext or the other. Fancy mansions for tulkus are common. Grand monasteries stand awkward before slums in which the Tibetan laity who actually crave for material comfort live. You see monks chewing tobacco and inhale snuff. Some tulkus visit discothèques and prostitutes in Delhi. Others get soaked in power thirst. They encourage monks to beat up lay Tibetans in worldly disputes. Others get entangled in petty financial disputes and get murdered. Still some get stuck in intoxication or sex scandals. Still others plunge into sectarian politics, getting others murdered. Or some tulkus pop in anger management pills for decades. How can lamas guide us on the road to nirvana, supposing there is one, when they fail to guide themselves first?
In the early 1970s, the Dalai Lama declared Jepa Rinpoche as having attained nirvana. Jepa Rinpoche was a hermit from my phayul Jepa, a mineral rich district to the west of Shigatse. The Dalai Lama praised him as a genuine modern day Jetsun Milarepa. Milarepa was an 11th ACE yogi from Gungthang, western Tibet. Tibetans believe he was the only person who attained nirvana in a single life time since Buddha died 25 centuries ago. It is said when Jepa Rinpoche died and his body was cremated in Manali in India, the mantra of Vajrayogini was visible on his bones. But, one evening when I rushed home in the 90s I noticed my father in a state of half-sad half-upset emotion. On my enquiry he exclaimed, “Our Jepa Rinpoche reincarnation has turned out a playboy at Delhi University!”
Buddha did not teach Mahayana and Vajrayana. He taught the Pali canon which came in print 400 years after his death. He said once by grabbing a handful of sand on the banks of river Ganga that that is all there is in his teaching. If any one in the future comes up with more than that then it is nothing but fraud. But today Mahayana and Vajrayana get accepted as some form of Buddhism. Mahayana rose as an intellectual revolt against the Hinayana. The time Buddha predicted Buddhism would die out and the birth of Mahayana came about the same time! Exactly 500 years after the Buddha died. Given the frailty of human memory, and the time gap- the possibility for discrepancy between what Siddhartha taught and what was written down is immense. Try in a classroom a little experiment with about 20 PhDs passing a short story from one person to the next. See if the story at the last person matches the one started with the first individual.
Buddhism contradicts itself. On the one hand it teaches desire is evil because it causes suffering but it encourages us to desire nirvana. Not to desire suffering is also a desire. One wonders why Buddha called the truth of suffering and the truth of desire noble. It teaches us to practice compassion and meet nirvana at the soonest possible. The aim was to be of effective help as a Buddha to the six kinds of sentient beings. It gives an analogy of some one studying medicine and then graduating as a well trained doctor. This doctor can diagnose the disease for symptoms and causes. This trained doctor can give patient the right medication and advice for a speedy recovery. Then ironically it encourages us to be a bodhisattva and delay our entering nirvana. Delaying out of compassion for the sentient beings! It reasons that the motivation to be the last sentient being to enter nirvana gets you the ticket first! This is pure intellectual and moral dishonesty. It then teaches us to doubt and question if the teaching meets your experience and reason. But at the same time it demands you to have faith in your root guru as a Buddha—infallible and above scrutiny. Buddha said life had no beginning. It then begs the question how he could remember all his previous lives as claimed in the scripture? The tulku system is tied to history, tradition, status and politics. Their authenticity has never been tested or made transparent to the scientific community and the public. This should be done in the future. Anyway how many celibate lamas and tantric sex masters have achieved nirvana?
Nothing inspires me more than Siddhartha’s investigative spirit. To the seekers of truth he says:
“Do not accept anything by mere tradition — (i.e., thinking that it has thus been handed down through many generations). Do not accept anything just because it accords with your scriptures. Do not accept anything by mere inference. Do not accept anything merely because it seems acceptable — (i.e., thinking that as the speaker seems to be a good person his words should be accepted). Do not accept anything thinking that the ascetic is respected by us (therefore it is right to accept his word).”
This investigative spirit that does not spare a Buddha is a legacy worth adopting. This approach from top down is nonexistent in all other religions which make them childlike intellectually. A good example would be Christianity with “I believe…” when you hit 18 years of age. Islam preaches conversion by force or death to the non Muslims. Issuing death sentence to apostates is a classic example of an emotionally sick and insecure religion. But, we need to ask ourselves “how much do we as Buddhists investigate the dharma and the masters?” The debates in the Tibetan monasteries that I observed over a period of 2 years are so superficial. The monks have already in their heart accepted the Buddhist faith as superior before they have even begun the search. The monks argue to better their debating skill, not correct their viewpoint. They mainly focus on inferential evidence. And also on scriptural evidence which is nothing but a circular argument that gets nowhere. Not one monk left the monastery because he found the teaching incompatible with evidence, and reason. It is little wonder because they hardly question the scripture, masters or the Buddha.
Tibetans suspect atheism stemming from a chest with heartlessness. And those atheists are bound to commit to a life of heinous crimes. This is not the case. Many atheistic countries like Norway and Sweden have one of the lowest crime rates in the world. Crime against humans, animals and nature is low in these non religious countries. This may have a lot to do with the socialist system set in place. But 5000 wars were fought in the last 2000 years in the name of religion around the world. Hundreds of sectarian wars were fought in Tibet since 8th ACE. This is history. As an atheist I have saved more than a dozen human lives risking my own from rough waters or wild animals. I do honor ethics, facts, evidence and reason. Lack of evidence in the Buddhist truth claims has turned me to atheism and secular ethics. Rinpoches eat, sleep and defecate like us mundane creatures. And we are not supposed to criticize them. One common feature among these preachers of renunciation is that they don’t lack money. When questioned, their response is “It is a renunciation of the the mind, not material per se.” This excuse is followed by another one that one should examine the teaching, not the conduct of the masters. That is to say see if the medicine is working or not, don’t bother about what immoral life the doctor is living.
I appreciate kindness, friendliness, honesty, trustworthiness. I appreciate love for all-it does sound somewhat artificial but the aspiration is noble. I appreciate empathy and compassion-it does sound arrogant but the action is noble indeed. The reason is a simple, not a lofty one. I do not appreciate stress, anxiety, dissatisfaction, desperation, frustration, pain, and suffering. So I vowed not to will to do anything harmful to others that I can not will others to do to me. This is not as same as don’t do to others what you don’t want others to do to you. If I cannot will others to lie to, steal from, hurt or kill me then I would not will myself to lie to, steal from or hurt or kill others. This moral compass has proved powerful to me over the years. Mindfulness and analytical meditation get involved here. But also I don’t delude myself into thinking I will not fail! I appreciate empathetic action even if this is my first and last life. I don’t need the theory of rebirth to appreciate compassion. Nobody in his right mind appreciates a life of cruelty, pain and suffering. Our sense of pain and pleasure is what gives meaning to our life. Life per se has no intrinsic purpose. That is until new evidence suggest otherwise. Cosmology puzzles us with billions of universes that come and go. It does give us a hint that neither creator nor karma is at work.
He can be reached at milarangzen@gmail.com
Buddhism—the Mother of all Delusions PART I
by Mila Rangzen
For centuries Tibetan people have slept. We have believed everything Buddha taught from heaven to hell and from rebirth to nirvana as true. I do not question the Buddhist precepts of morality here but the main basis of it which is faith-based. Buddhist faith has caused the sleep of the Tibetan brain. Faith creates fear and greed. Fear of being reborn in hell or other lower realms, and greed for a birth ticket to heaven and other higher realms has imprisoned Tibetans in their own minds. To free our people from this psychological prison, a battle must be waged against the Buddhist faith and that battle has begun. This battle is not an easy one but there is no backing down. I will not slack until evidence and reason triumph over faith. I refuse to not think, and much more not question the Buddhist faith. Buddhist faith is believing that is not so.
Buddhism has failed to prove its truth claims on the following:
• Mount Meru, three worlds, pure land and thirty-one planes of existence.
• Four realms of gods, demigods, hungry ghosts, hell creatures, and eighteen hell realms.
• Ten stages, five paths, karma, 49 day bardo, Buddha nature, rebirth, and nirvana.
• Buddha was born from a woman’s armpit without human intercourse.
• Thirty-two major signs and eighty minor signs of a Bodhisattva.
• A Bodhisattva’s supernormal powers on clairvoyance, levitation and flying.
• And entering and exiting through the wall of a rock is a feat considered a sign of having realized emptiness.
• Superimposition power of a bodhisattva’s consciousness on another sentient being’s. A Bodhisattva’s power of floating against river current remains a story.
• A Bodhisattva’s power in showing up in many forms in different locations in a second.
• Putting the earth into an atom without shrinking the size of the former nor enlarging the size of the latter.
Such claims defying the laws of physics is not yet proven.
• Mount Meru, three worlds, pure land and thirty-one planes of existence.
• Four realms of gods, demigods, hungry ghosts, hell creatures, and eighteen hell realms.
• Ten stages, five paths, karma, 49 day bardo, Buddha nature, rebirth, and nirvana.
• Buddha was born from a woman’s armpit without human intercourse.
• Thirty-two major signs and eighty minor signs of a Bodhisattva.
• A Bodhisattva’s supernormal powers on clairvoyance, levitation and flying.
• And entering and exiting through the wall of a rock is a feat considered a sign of having realized emptiness.
• Superimposition power of a bodhisattva’s consciousness on another sentient being’s. A Bodhisattva’s power of floating against river current remains a story.
• A Bodhisattva’s power in showing up in many forms in different locations in a second.
• Putting the earth into an atom without shrinking the size of the former nor enlarging the size of the latter.
Such claims defying the laws of physics is not yet proven.
There was a time I embraced Buddhism on faith and later I questioned everything I believed in by researching it. It does not take me to travel the entire breath and length of the earth to figure out ivy as a poisonous plant. Faith is that ivy. “I am now enlightened!” is the greatest delusion Siddhartha Gautama ever shared with humanity. He fooled himself and his followers. His disciples asked Buddha on what happens when an enlightened person dies. Buddha evaded this fundamental Buddhist question by telling them that it was unimportant. He told them to focus on here and now by giving a clever scenario of a man shot with a poisoned arrow. What else could he do when he had no real answer? Tibetans often succumb to this kind of holy trick which is also a cause for misery. The combination of demilitarization and depopulation through monks and nuns proved deadly to our independence. Had Buddha confessed that he did not know, I would have appreciated his honesty.
Why does Buddhism go on perpetuating these myths as facts despite zero evidence? Perpetuating lies for twenty-five centuries? These myths are necessary to make us believe that there is something larger than us out there. And that the status quo of those in power namely the lamas is the way things ought to be. Hence, Buddhism teaches myth as factual with no proof and It implants blind faith in Tibetans. The Buddhist goal is to strike terror in us so we in fear may look up to its world view as the way out and in exchange get enslaved. It robs Tibetans of their ability to think and chains them to perpetual ignorance so government, society or religion can exploit them. Buddhism promoting myth as reality for centuries testifies that Buddhism does not want its followers to be wise and free. It goes against their investment. Buddhist lamas wielded power in Tibet for over a millennium. It continues to do so in exile too. 30% of the Tibetan parliamentary seats are occupied by these lamas or monks. The Chinese fear that once Tibet is given freedom, the old theocratic government will come back alive to oppress Tibetans is not entirely without a base.
What makes a monk think it is right to demand evidence when you tell him that evolution is a fact? Why is it logical for a lama to demand proof when you tell him that earth revolves around the sun on its own axis? Why is it not legitimate for us atheists to demand proof from Buddhism that has made claims on hell as factual? Why do we give Buddhism a free pass when it fails to prove even a single truth claim it preaches? A geshe asked me to prove that nirvana does not exist. It is a naïve question to begin with. Negation of nirvana does not demand a demand for evidence because generally its nonexistence is its reasonable proof. The demand to prove the nonexistence of aliens on an X planet– when there is no X planet to speak of in the first place– is misplaced.
Rebirth remains just a myth but I do appreciate Buddhist insight on the following:
Compassion, meditation, impermanence, interconnectedness, no self, and no soul, and emptiness.
Rebirth remains just a myth but I do appreciate Buddhist insight on the following:
Compassion, meditation, impermanence, interconnectedness, no self, and no soul, and emptiness.
But demand evidence on Buddhist claims and you are almost always met with stiff excuses and evasive politics when no answers are at hand. Clever answers get provided using the following psychological strategy.
• Metaphors, analogies, faith move mountain stories and skillful means rationalization.
• You lack spiritual merit blame game.
• Not seen need not mean not exist certainty as evidence for the existence of a nonexistent entity.
• And magic or display of supernormal powers harm people scare tactic.
• Excusing a lama’s bizarre behavior as a sacred activity.
• Followers must view root lama as a Buddha or hell awaits you when you die manipulative strategies.
Often circular argument gets supplied to answer the questions directed at the word of Buddha. Some of the often used excuses are simple . The light exists. But because you are defiled by negative emotions you cannot see it is one such blow off “explanation”.
“Spend 70 years in a monastery. Read 4000 volumes on Buddha’s discourses and its commentaries. Enlightenment will be evident to you” is a lama’s usual response. “Lack of evidence need not mean the evidence does not exist”. Fair enough.
• Metaphors, analogies, faith move mountain stories and skillful means rationalization.
• You lack spiritual merit blame game.
• Not seen need not mean not exist certainty as evidence for the existence of a nonexistent entity.
• And magic or display of supernormal powers harm people scare tactic.
• Excusing a lama’s bizarre behavior as a sacred activity.
• Followers must view root lama as a Buddha or hell awaits you when you die manipulative strategies.
Often circular argument gets supplied to answer the questions directed at the word of Buddha. Some of the often used excuses are simple . The light exists. But because you are defiled by negative emotions you cannot see it is one such blow off “explanation”.
“Spend 70 years in a monastery. Read 4000 volumes on Buddha’s discourses and its commentaries. Enlightenment will be evident to you” is a lama’s usual response. “Lack of evidence need not mean the evidence does not exist”. Fair enough.
Lack of evidence for the nonexistence of a nonexistent entity does not prove the nonexistence of the evidence too. Where does this kind of oxymoronic argument lead to? No where. Existence of the entity in question and not its nonexistence must be proved first. The burden of proof falls on the one that claims something exists. How on earth can lamas go on preaching nirvana is real without experiencing it at all? How can they go on propagating hell without a single shred of evidence? In fact, lack of evidence is construed as evidence. There stands exposed the intellectual criminality. Tibetan liberals are no better either. My point is not to alienate you my reader but to get straight through the bullshit. If every Tibetan is thinking alike, then is any Tibetan thinking at all? They fail to stomach criticism of Buddhist faith on the ground that it is none of our business. Why is it legitimate to criticize communism, capitalism, and science for its destructive powers? They have no answer. Why is it not legitimate to even criticize Buddhism? We must not spare faith devoid of facts. Every sensible Tibetan must criticize faith that is against facts. Don’t let it get away with its faulty truth claims. Attack its attitude that it has no obligation to prove anything because it is a religion.
Buddhism is guilty of creating fear and greed in us. It controls us through these baser emotions. Through this twin strategy it gets us to accept its world view whether religious or political. It creates fear in us of the consequences of being reborn in one of the three lower realms. That is if we don’t follow its teachings. It creates greed in us for the reward of being reborn in one of the three upper realms. That is if we follow its teachings. Following its teachings also promises nirvana. Nirvana is far more enticing and superior to heaven but no evidence that it exists.
One of the 10 commandments of Buddhism is “wrong view” which is dangerous and divisive. It preaches that whosoever does not believe in karma or does not take refugee in the Buddhist trinity is on the wrong path. Both atheists and followers of all other religions fall into this category of damnation.
Karma in Buddhism acts in the similar fashion as the creator in Christianity. They mean two different dynamics though. Karma gets used as one magic word or excuse to answer all questions. Why can’t Buddha show up before us once if he is omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent or almost one? Rinpoches answer that you are saturated with negative karma and so it is not possible.
Not being able for one to remember the past life is no big deal to the lamas. Reason being we sometimes don’t even remember what we ate yesterday and who we met and when. No objection. It’s obvious that when the brain gets damaged in an accident the mind gets affected and memory gets lost. How is it possible that during 49 day bardo you witness your loved ones in bereavement? And you wonder why you don’t see your footprints on the sands as you walk on a holy beach. And you miss your dear ones as if you were alive, well after you died and your body specifically your brain is totally cremated? What happens to the interdependent function-supposing there is one-between the brain and the mind? “There is a connection. Only you haven’t discovered it yet.” This dogmatism is also born out of slavish reverence to the holier than everyone else that is the Buddha. Buddhism takes the possibility as evidence and not leave it as likely. A scientific mind would not do this. “Just because you have not seen it does not mean that it does not exist. There are many paths that a donkey has not travelled on” is their favorite line of dismissive defense.
You experience bliss from yawning, burping, sighing, sneezing, relieving, farting, scratching itch and orgasm. These examples it uses to state what glimpses of nirvana is like. That far it can reach. How can the development of compassion and insight create a nirvanic state–unborn, undying, unchanging, uncreated out of samsara–born, dying, changing and created? Can you get 1 out of 0 and a panda cub from a woman’s womb?
A trillion human beings walked on earth for the past 7 million years. Does it surprise you that not one individual in the entire human history died and came back to tell us what it was like? Not one so called arahat or Buddha came back from death to prove his stupendous claims. This failure gave birth to the politics of bodhisattva and reincarnation. Supernatural power is claimed as a sign of spiritual attainment. Not one so called bodhisattva has displayed a single supernatural power. Neither the Dalai Lama nor Karmapa Lama nor Sakya Lama nor Nyingma Lama-the heads of the four major schools of Buddhism in Tibet have displayed any spiritual power that could change the mind of the PRC to set us free. Doing this much could have opened the eyes of the humanity. But the fact remains that Buddhist faith has failed both Tibet and humanity too. Regardless, seeking freedom through awakening that destroys faith and embraces reason is a sign that you are a thinking being. And that is the first objective here. PART II of this piece shall be out soon. Till then, do not think. Thinking is a crime. Questioning is a sin.
Struggling against the Sleep of my People, my Utsang People
This article is not about Tibet and China. It is not about Rangzen and Umaylam, nor is it about democracy or free speech strangulation in exile Tibetan world. So any questions you, the reader, might have regarding these topics can be put aside for now. This is a call to the people of Utsang to wake up: The primary 2016 Sikyong election is knocking our door.
2016 Utsang Political Humiliation
Before I go further, we Utsangs must first seriously ask ourselves a few questions. Do we Utsangs have an iota of pride in who we are and where we came from? Do we have some sense of self-respect? Are we again going to fall apart and fall for Lobsang Sangay’s cute words and hollow promises? Our ancestors were the Tsenpo warrior kings like Songtsen Gampo who not only unified the warring tribes of the roof of the world as one nation but also conquered the neighboring nations including China in the east and India in the west and Persia in the north to Burma in the south. Tsenpo empire is today part of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma, China, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. It required not just matrimonial alliance and other soft power but raw physical bravery, moral courage and political competence to use force to bring about unity on a large scale. The Persian and the Chinese records support this assertion. In recent history also Utsang men fought to death the invasions from Mongols, Dogra singhs from Kashmir, Sultans, Bhutanese, Gurkhas, British, Manchus and the Chinese. This is our proud militant past.
But where are we Utsangs now? Are we hiding under some rocks? If not, then where do we Utsangs stand today politically? We Utsangs easily make 70% of the exile Tibetan population and yet we failed Tenzin Tethong in 2011 Sikyong election. This is not to say just because a candidate is Utsang he automatically deserves our votes. Tashi Topyal is from Utsang but he won’t get my vote because I see not much substance in him. However, I commend his courage to stand up for the Sikyong election. Competence precedes provincialism. Justness precedes regionalism. But when a competent and just Utsang stands up, our Utsang people should stand up too as one to support and vote him.
The Sikyong election is not only about serving the interests of Tibetans as a whole but it is also about provincial pride and recognition. Let’s face it. Everyone has an agenda no matter how truthful and just one may project oneself out. It could be a craving for a ministerial post or a deep sense of personal satisfaction for doing the right thing. Well, failure to throw in the ring our just one competent Utsang politician is a kick to the gut of Utsang dignity.
When the Dalai Lama semi-retired in 2001, exile Tibetans had the first public voting opportunity. There were only two candidates. Samdhong Lama and Juchen Thupten. None of them were Utsang. Then in 2006 two candidates stood for the Sikyong election. Samdhong Lama and Juchen. Not one was a Utsang. On my asking a few Utsang politicians at the time if they were willing to stand up for the post and what I discovered shocked me to this day. They were so scared of even dreaming to stand up for the post let alone leading the people. Again this time 2016 not one Utsang of substance fought for Sikyong election. This is unbelieaveable. Is this not an embarrassment to our Utsang psyche? It is indeed a shame that the largest population could not produce a single candidate let alone win the Sikyong election among just 3, not 100 provinces. If this is not a humiliating blow to our Utsang pride, then what is? We must do something before it is too late.
Timidity, our Greatest Obstacle 
Considering the size of our population in exile we should in fact be the king makers! At our feet every politician should be wagging his tail for votes. But in reality we proved otherwise. Yes, we proved suckers. And why? We have tons of educated, competent and experienced Utsangs yet not one stood up for 3 terms out of 4. Why? It is primarily because we fail to support our own no matter how deserving he or she is. We fail to speak up and promote our own. Lack of pride and timidity are our greatest obstacles. Dodul Lingpa, an Utsang leader in California, spoke on audio with passion, courage and pride, both personal and regional, and it is seen by some ignorant Utsangs as a source of discord within our community. Feeble mindedness and fickle mindedness are cancers we need to uproot from our system.
I interviewed 60 Utsangs in their late 20s and 50% of them did not know what village or valley in Tibet their parents came from. Kasur Kelsang Gyaltsen is a Utsang but he pretended to be from Dhotoe. Kasur Dhongag Tenzin is also a Utsang but he too pretended to be from Dhotoe. With Juchen’s hook they got what they wanted, the Kalon post. To Utsangs like these I have zero respect. How can you respect someone who has no pride in his roots? You can change your sect but not your province. You can change your religion but not your race. You cannot become what you are not. You cannot unbecome what you are. Born Utsang, die Utsang. So build up on where you stand. Dignity begins at home.
Every time I talk in small groups about the need to steel the spine of our Utsang people or simply mention Utsang, Utsang people, especially the youth raised in India, Nepal and Bhutan, scatter and tremble in fear with their mouth wide open, gasping for air while their faces grow pale. Their fear of being branded regionalists is ridiculous. They mistake positive regionalism for negative regionalism because they do not know the difference between the two. We can’t blame them entirely because our elders did not care to instill pride in their roots. We love to glorify timidity as humility. When a regional situation demands a forthcoming tongue from us we look at each other and then left and right hoping somebody would speak up first and when nobody does it we go home and whine, bitch and moan. No Utsang chithue rose to speak against chithue Bawa Kelsang’s vehement objection, rather uncalled for, of a responsible question raised by Utsang chithue Dolma Tsering during last September chithue session. Bawa Kelsang, Lobsang Sangay’s phayul chikpa, can be seen on youtube, stuttering and his hands trembling with rage because Dolma’s question was directed to Sikyong Lobsang Sangay on using his official tours as a platform for election campaign. We need bold, consistent and steadfast Utsang chithues like chithue Dolma Tsering.
And if some Utsang does speak up, we fail to support him or her. Timidity, born out of selfishness, is what I hate to see in my Utsang people. I for one will not tolerate our Utsang people degenerate into a bunch of self-interested insensitive slaves hiding under the cover of mild natured humble crap when situations demand an aggressive stance. We lack the courage to stand out and give each other social, economic, educational, political and physical support. We tremble at every movement in the wilderness of politics. We have lost the spirit of adventure that our ancestors had. We drool and faint at the sight of a single drop of blood. We fear our own shadows. It is a pity that sons and daughters of Songtsen Gampo and Miwang Pholha have come to this. Until and unless we correct our long held mistaken notions we will never rise up. If we allow our courage to erode further, that day is not far off when we will have left no energy to fight even for our basic rights like the right to life and the chastity of our daughters.
Courage is highly regarded across cultures and has obvious benefits for those surrounded by courageous people. Courage is broken down into four main subcategories: Bravery, Perseverance, Honesty, and Zest. Physical bravery is courage in the face of physical pain, hardship, death, or threat of death, while moral courage is the ability to act rightly in the face of popular opposition, shame, scandal, or discouragement. We need both. Fear can chain us all night long, but courage makes one fine chain cutter! Perseverance falls under the larger category of courage because it often involves continuing along a path in the midst of and after having faced opposition and perhaps failure. Honesty involves integrity in all areas of one’s life and the ability to be true to oneself and one’s role in the world across circumstances. Zest or enthusiasm most often comes forth as a character strength in the midst of trying circumstances. A brave Utsang is one who rises to the occasion by staking his personal comfort, popularity, jobs, business, positions, family, limbs and life. And if he goes down he will not go down alone nor by taking a few of them with him but by taking all those directly responsible for his tragedy. This is the Utsang I want to see. A fighter to the core.
Courage is reckoned the greatest of all virtues; because, unless a man has that virtue, he has no security for preserving any other. ~Samuel Johnson
Lack of Communication
As if lack of courage (and pride) is not enough there is a total lack of communication among ourselves as a result of which our bonding collapsed. There is no communication between Utsang monks and Utsang lay. There is zero communication between shichak Utsangs and sanjor Utsangs. There is no communication between the old Utsang and the young Utsang. There is no communication between Utsang leaders and Utsang community. There is no communication among Ngaripas, Tsangpas, Topas, Kongpos, and Upas who are all unalloyed Utsangs historically, politically, geographically, administratively, linguistically and culturally for centuries. The sense of oneness is zero. There is no communication between Utsang intellectuals and Utsang multi-millionaires whose combined effort and strategy could change our economic fate overnight. Utsang monasteries are poor as hell. For the first time in six decades Tashi Lhunpo monastery built its first assembly hall this year. Utsang business persons are so small scale. 99% of Utsang business persons do footpath sweater business. 99% of Utsangs live in tile roof huts in the settlements in India. The poorest of the poor. When it rains, the roof leaks. At night you look up the ceiling you see stars. Rats run around through the ceiling to escape cobras in hot pursuit.
This is the cowshed 99% of Utsangs live in for the past six decades.
Educationally we have produced only 12 Phds when we should have produced 12,000 in the past 60 years in exile. Can we really afford to sit back in quiet contentment? Think about it. Phd+Money+Ambition+Courage=Political power?
There is no communication between the super rich Utsangs and the impoverished Utsangs. If there is any communication between or among us Utsangs it is that we skillfully pull each other’s legs at every opportunity. We trek mountains and cross oceans and dig earth to find “reasons” to bring our own down. Dhardon Sharling and Namgyal Lhagyari are attacked on social media for some social association with Lukar Gem. We are so naive and credulous to the sweet tongue of Lobsang Sangay’s supporters that we jump first to degrade our own. We teach ourselves to despise each other. We teach ourselves to distrust each other. We chicken out, spill beans and flee at the slightest threat to our skin. And this is what we have become. A joke in the Tibetan society! But this is no laughing matter. Timidity of my people strikes at the very core of my individual being and it should that is if we have some self-respect left. The lack of communication, camaraderie and bonding is making me throw up. And the abundance of indifference among us Utsangs is a dagger lacerating my heart with shame. Can’t we do better? Communication+Trust+action=Lasting relationship?
Utsang Pride
I am proud of being an Utsang from the lush valleys and mineral rich mountains of Jepa District. Our ancestors created history in administration, war, religion, education, economics, and geopolitics. This is history. The richest Tibetan, Chomphe Tsering, in Tibet is an Utsang from western Tibet worth $1 billion. The richest Tibetan, a billionaire, in diaspora is an Utsang from Shigatse in Canada. His family earned their wealth through sheer hard work and business skill. The richest Tibetan in Nepal is a Utsang from Nyenam. Nyimo nun was a Utsang from Tsang who jolted 18 Utsang districts to fight to death for freedom in the late 60s. Mila Repa and Thangthong Gyalpo are Utsang from Toe and their legacy continues to this day. Utsang men practice kindness, understanding and compassioon to the best they can but when cornered they are second to none fighters. I witnessed that in my father, uncles and brothers and in myself.
Jepa Valleys in Utsang
There are a thousand and one reasons why I am proud of being an Utsang but I keep most of these to myself. I fought two foreign wars without blinking an eye once and got shot at. After all, we Utsangs are not cattle to be contended with some grass and water. We are meat eaters. Our ancestors were wolves-the apex predators on the Tibetan plateau. But today after centuries of Lamaism, peace, serfdom, poverty and humility we have become lambs. Disconnected from dangers for so long through surrender and therefore lacking the necessary experience of courage to confront it has produced a culture of lambs. And lambs pay the heaviest price. They get slaughtered and eaten up. This race of chickens, rats, goats and sheep must either be exterminated or turned into roaring tigers that catches its preys and feeds its cubs and trains them to follow the footsteps of their worthy parents. Remember, we are Utsangs with a proud history. And we shall live and endeavor to revive our pride and uphold it for our future generations so they don’t have to go hiding their head and their origin in shame.
Acknowledging Deficiency
The first step to succeed in life is to acknowledge deficiency in a particular area of interest. This time we failed ourselves by not being able to produce one worthy Sikyong candidate but not in the future. Not any more! To ensure a steady line of competent and just Sikyong candidates from Utsang in the future let us not wait till the last minute. 
Let us start now by grooming DHARDON SHARLING for 2021 and NAMGYAL LHAGYARI- a direct descendent of Songtsen Gampo- with due recognition from the Dalai Lama, for 2026 but first and for now vote none other than chithue tsoktso Penpa Tsering as 2016 Sikyong! Our objective is to win only 51% of the votes.
We voted for Lobsang Sangay so he could bring about a positive change but he brought no change. He lies between his teeth and he gets away with that. His cute jokes fool people. His deceit kills. Read PART I of this piece, where his lies are death with, under the heading “Why I Will Vote Amdo Warrior Penpa Tsering for Sikyong 2016”. We must stop looking the other way if we have some conscience left in our beings. Unless we do something now it is likely that our Utsang people in the future will end up as cooks, drivers and sweepers in offices that CTA has its hands on. The prestige of Utsang people is indeed at stake.
Around 70% of Utsang voted for Lobsang Sangay in Oct 2015. The age range of the majority of these voters is between 18 to 35 and 60+. The former is young and inexperienced. The latter is unschooled and naive. Both are equally ignorant of our domestic politics. Our domestic politics is driven by provincial, regional and sectarian affiliations. These two groups are therefore the most gullible of our people. They need awakening from a caring heart and it is here I step in where other Utsangs dread to even think of treading. Sound off! Utsangs for Penpa Tsering!
Strategy for Utsang Bonding, Solidarity and Unity
I do not intend to sound preachy but for those who do not get it metaphorically let me tug at your heart with tips, facts and advices. I suggest Utsang Centex to take the following actions at the soonest possible. Build Regional Utsang Associations in every place on this planet where Utsangs reside. Each RUA will have 11 executive members. It will help Utsangs in need of supporting letter for RC in India or asylum in the west and many more. Organize regional Utsang parties and picnics once a year. Organize a 3 day grand annual Utsang get together where influential Utsang leaders, lay or lama, will give inspirational guidance. This will light the path to Utsang pride and courage. Admission is strictly for Utsangs with Utsang IDs.
What is in store for Utsangs?
Utsang positive provincialism is helping ourselves and our own economically, educationally, politically, socially and if necessary physically. This is what we must adopt now and forever. Negative regionalism is putting down others belonging to another region or province out of jealousy and hatred and without any apparent justification. Negative regionalism is denying the government benefits of jobs, positions, aid or economic and educational opportunities to those who simply belong to another region or province. This we must discard. But we must fight back with a vengeance when others be they Khampas or Amdos meet this injustice to us Utsangs. No amount of humility or tolerance will prevent this kind of bias, favoritism and negative regionalism go away. Hiding in a corner, wallowing in self pity and inferiority complex will not help us regain our dignity. It is harmful for you and your children’s mental and emotional health. It eats up the immune system.
With the right Utsang communication that meets Utsang needs, Utsang camaraderie, bonding and unity will grow strong. Create an online Utsang database where we have basic information about pure Utsangs. 30,000 Utsangs reside in the west. $20 or equivalent per person or $100 per family yearly contribution to the Utsang Association Centrex should be enforced. This system alone fetches $500,000 per year. Utsang online Donate system should be in place. As a first step 1000 Utsangs from the west will donate $1000 per person one time to create $1 million Utsang seed money.
The Utsang Centex will put this money and annual contributions in two non-sister Indian banks as a fixed deposit earning an interest of 10% or more annually. The interest earned will be used to: –
- grant interest free loans to small scale Utsang business persons.
- grant scholarship to needy Utsang students.
For e.g. Rs 1 lac per year for a BA student, Rs 2 lac per year for a MA student and Rs 3 lac per year for a Phd student. This good money is to get poor Utsang families to push their children to get paid for going to school and eventually to ensure every future Utsang is a Phd.
- provide nursing homes to the elders.
- provide medical insurance and Rs 1 crore life insurance to every Utsang.
- provide concrete housing, a motor cycle, a car and Rs 1 crore fixed deposit to those living in tile roof huts and also to the newly married.
- To increase our population and to encourage families to produce more children, Rs 20 lacs per child will be gifted.
To improve our gene pool, the best genes around the world will be bought from sperm banks. Each wife will birth one good gene child. Genetic regression will be curbed. Utsang monks and nuns better start getting married. Our population is shrinking for the past 13 centuries.
By the way, Chithue Dawa Tsering is the best Utsang President we have. Under his leadership, Utsang get together were organized and Utsang bonding is growing by the day especially in Dharmsala. He built an Utsang Community Hall and a five story guest house. He is always available for any Utsangs in need of help.
The Dharamsala Utsang Community Center is to give weekly 2-hour political education on Sunday evening by eminent Utsang scholars, professors and bureaucrats. Admission is strictly for Utsangs. Utsangs 70 years old or older will burn themselves, one dozen at a time, to death before the United Nations and in the western capitals to pressure the western leadership and also to show solidarity to those who burnt themselves to death for freedom in Tibet. Strike a deal with the legal Utsang visa brokers and get 10,000 Utsang families from India to the west particularly US in the next 5 years. To promote Utsang interests, establish Utsang newspaper (Tibet Week), Utsang TV news UNN, and Utsang radio UBC. Tibettimes is run by Amdos and Tibetexpress is run by Dhotoes for two decades now. We are so behind that after 6 decades in exile we are finally talking about the necessity of a media owned and run solely by Utsangs. The political humiliation felt by many Utsangs this time around is a blessing in disguise indeed.
Our elders were so wrong in adopting a passive approach to our ills for so long. It is a shame that our educated elders did not take the initiative to rouse Utsangs from deep slumber and today my generation of Utsangs is paying the price. No Utsang Regional Associations for the past six decades? That’s fucked up. The best channel of communication left ignored for so long. Unbelievable. Create Utsang ID, Utsang website in English. There is one in Tibetan. Thank God! But improve upon it. To promote Utsang, use name such as Utsang Momo, Utsang Restsurant, Utsang Hotel, Utsang School, Utsang University, Utsang Enterprises and Utsang Corporations Limited. Also go and be their customers to help them grow rich and richer. Doing so enriches our own community.
Create Utsang email group, Utsang text message group, Utsang Facebook, Utsang Twitter, and Utsang YouTube. Get it official. Hire 2 full time staff for each medium to keep them active through the coming years. Host Miss Utsang, Mr. Utsang and Utsang fashion show. Create a Utsang parliament with 5 MLAs each from Ngari, Tsang, Toe, U and Kongpo. Build $1 billion Utsang economic support system. Use imagination. The right women and the left brain. This is not only possible but absolutely probable.
I can’t stress enough how important it is for us to make sure Penpa Tsering beats Lobsang Sangay this time. If beaten, Lobsang Sangay might not show up in 2021 otherwise he will show up for the third term after manipulating new parliamentary resolutions. If defeated this time Lobsang Sangay will probably be absorbed elsewhere. This is good. Penpa Tsering, unlike Lobsang Sangay, has no cult following which makes it easy for Dhardon Sharling to crush Penpa Tsering in 2021 Sikyong election. Gyari Dolma or Tenzin Sinzitsang might show up in 2021 but Dhardon Sharling with our one pointed support will beat them to a pulp. This will make the path smoother for Namgyal Lhagyari to walk on in 2026 or 2031. You see what I mean?
If you want a dedicated and competent Utsang politician to succeed as Sikyong, you can’t wait for the world to give him or her attention the way a homeless cripple waits for food on a sidewalk. You have to be a warrior. You have to fight, promote and protect your choice and interests with a madness of a mother whose child is surrounded by an army of hungry predators. The dawn of UTSANG RISING is not far off. Matter of fact It’s right here and now! It calls for a bit of courage, determination and strategy though. It calls for the revival of Utsang martial spirit. The tsenpo warrior spirit! I can lead you under this organization, SONGSTEN WARRIORS. It’s a war at a thousand fronts. Are you there with me?
Sikyong post is a launchpad for your ideas about a just and fair Sikyong and you the Utsang voters are the rocket fuel that lifts him/her off the ground.
So burn it up, my tribesmen.
Your votes are counting on you.
So burn it up, my tribesmen.
Your votes are counting on you.
UTSANG RISING
P.S. I encourage tibettimes to translate this article into Tibetan and publish it on their paper to reach out to the Tibetan reader. Like, subscribe, and share this article on Facebook and wechat and other social media. Thank you.
Mila Rangzen is a US armed forces veteran serving New York Community as an immigration translator.
He can be reached at milarangzen@gmail.com
He can be reached at milarangzen@gmail.com
Lithangpa Thupten Gyatso, a Supporter of Lobsang Sangay, Insults Utsang People. A Must Listen.
Autobiography of Mila Ranzen
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