*UPDATED* Tsampa Eaters and Sweet Tea Drinkers: Tibetan Identity Assertion Through Food

High Peaks Pure Earth has updated this post from January 19, 2011 to include some more interesting food-related trivia and new photos. We are keeping the original post up on the previous URL here. Since publishing this post as part of GOOD's "Food for Thinkers" week-long online blog festival, we have received great feedback and information. We have also read with great interest the long article by Jamyang Norbu all about tsampa and look forward to the rest of his series "In Defence of Tibetan Cooking". 

Below is the updated version of "Tsampa Eaters and Sweet Tea Drinkers: Tibetan Identity Assertion Through Food"



High Peaks Pure Earth is thrilled to be taking part in GOOD’s Food for Thinkers - a week-long, distributed, online conversation looking at food writing from as wide and unusual a variety of perspectives as possible taking place between January 18 and January 23, 2011.

Tibet may not exactly be renowned as a home for exotic cuisine but food makes an interesting lens through which to examine Tibetan identity, particularly after the protests of 2008 and the subsequent political and military crackdown. This High Peaks Pure Earth contribution to GOOD’s online festival hopes to provoke discussion about food in terms of identity and resistance.

Here at High Peaks Pure Earth we love good writing, good ideas and good food and readers are encouraged to check out the conversation in full at GOOD.is/food, leave comments and follow the Twitter hashtag #foodforthinkers.




Tibetans’ staple food is tsampa (རྩམ་པ་ rtsam pa), roasted barley flour. It is highly suited to the altitude and harsh climate of the plateau, requires few utensils and is an extremely versatile staple that can be consumed in various ways. The most common way to eat tsampa is to mix it in a bowl with butter and tea and then to hand roll into small balls and then eat.

Tsampa is unique to Tibet and at the core of Tibetan identity. Tsampa represents “Tibetan-ness” in face of threat, as explained by historian Tsering Shakya in his essay “Whither the Tsampa Eaters”. In the essay, Shakya refers to a letter published in 1959 by The Tibetan Mirror - a Tibetan newspaper printed in Kalimpong (India) - at the height of Tibetan resistance to the Chinese invasion that was “symbolically addressed to “all tsampa eaters”. As Shakya points out, “The use of tsampa transcended dialect, sect, gender and regionalism.”

The continuity of Tibetan resistance can also be traced through the persistence of the idea of tsampa as a uniting factor in identity—so, for example, in March 2008 when Tibet rose up in protest against Chinese rule, protesters in Lhasa were calling out to “tsampa eaters” to join them and the following year in eastern Tibet, protesting monks cried out "Rise up, all tsampa-eating Tibetans."



Today, despite the widened variety of food available in Tibet compared to sixty years ago, tsampa is enjoying something of a cultural revival. Whereas several years ago, tsampa was seen to be something eaten only by the elder generation with the younger set in urban areas embracing Chinese style hotpot or spicy dishes from Sichuan province, since the protests and crackdown of 2008 there has been a cultural re-assertion of Tibetan identity taking place. This reinforcing of Tibetan identity is taking place both on and offline and tsampa is back with a vengeance.

In 2010, Tibetan singer Tashi Dhondup was sentenced to 15 months in a labour camp for his album “Torture Without Trace”, a collection of songs about the suffering of Tibetan people under Chinese rule with many references to revering and missing the Dalai Lama. The second track of the album is titled “Western Land of Scholars” which is a direct reference to India (more India connections below in “Sweet Tea”). In Tibetan literature, India is referred to as a land of scholars, paying tribute to the great scholars of Buddhism. In the song, Tashi Dhondup sings, “Remembering my brother in exile / I carry a bag of tsampa on my back / And take this road to / The western land of scholars.”

Aside from the political connotations and identity assertion, Tibetans are also appreciating the wholesome and nourishing health properties of tsampa following numerous food scandals in China such as 2008’s poisonous dumplings and melamine tainted milk powder.

In 2008, it was revealed on Tibetan writer Woeser’s blog that stores of tsampa also made a good hiding place for stashing away photos of the Dalai Lama when the military police carried out their raids.

Following the devastating earthquake in Tibet in April 2010, Chinese state media reported on a tsampa donation fervour: “Residents in Lhasa [...] have donated so much tsamba to the quake-stricken Yushu [...] over the past weeks that many stores selling the Tibetan staple food have run out of it.”

The ways in which tsampa can be consumed have evolved considerably: today it is possible, at least in Lhasa, to buy tsampa cookies from the supermarket (photo below), complete with glossy packaging:


(Thank you to Bhuchung D. Sonam of TibetWrites for the translation of the Tashi Dhondup lyrics.)

Sweet Tea House in Lhasa Photo: High Peaks Pure Earth

Even though Tibetans traditionally drink their tea with butter and salt, sweet tea has become a popular drink especially in Lhasa, representing an entire social phenomenon as well as a firm political statement. Sweet tea is an Indian style of drinking tea with plenty of milk and sugar and explicitly links Tibet with India. Sweet tea was introduced to Lhasa by Tibetan Muslims during the 1930s, sweet tea being popular with Muslims because of prohibition against alcohol. Also, the tea houses often had radios where they could listen to the news in Urdu. The Sweet Tea House became a sign of modernity and a link to the outside world as sugar was very much a luxury item imported from India. Those who drank sweet tea were seen as people who had travelled and were cosmopolitan, signifying too that India was the source of modern items and ideas.

After the reform period, the “Sweet Tea House” took on a new meaning in Tibetan in the 1980s. Many sweet tea houses emerged in Lhasa, where young artists, teachers and intellectuals would meet to chat and gossip about the news. The tea houses had a unique system of payment, the owner did not directly sell the tea to the customer but sold it by the kettle or flask to the server, usually young boys and girls from the countryside, who would sell the tea to the customer.

According to art historian Clare Harris in her essay "The Buddha Goes Global" on Tibetan artist, and one of the founders of the 'Sweet Tea House Association', Gonkar Gyatso,

“In this atmosphere Gyatso and some of his artist friends, felt at liberty to establish the ‘Sweet Tea House Art Association’ and began to exhibit their works in the tea houses of the Shol district of Lhasa, where students from Lhasa University and other young Tibetans would congregate. The ‘Sweet Tea’ artists were participants in heated discussions about the future of Tibetan culture and their paintings acted as catalysts in the debate about modernity and Sinicization. Their stated aim was to produce a new type of art which was both specifically Tibetan (rather than Chinese) and explicitly anti-traditionalist in form.”

Years later, when Gonkar Gyatso moved to the UK, he opened a small gallery in East London and called it “The Sweet Tea House”.

More recently, here at High Peaks Pure Earth we have written about how cyberspace has afforded Tibetans new ways to exchange and communicate in a "Virtual Sweet Tea House".

Another cyber use of Sweet Tea is by a popular social networking site used by Tibetans called MyBudala. The screenshot below shows how the feed for status updates is called “Sweet Tea” and the feed for notes is called “Tsampa”!


The example of sweet tea, as well as tsampa, shows how closely Tibetan identity assertion is connected to certain food. This tweet (below) from July 2010 by a young Tibetan demonstrates the role played by sweet tea houses in reinforcing Tibetan identity:

Since Losar (Tibetan New Year) I have developed a good habit, using Tibetan language to say phone numbers, using Tibetan language in the work place where all the staff are Tibetan. Recently, in line with this development I went to eat traditional Lhasa thugpa (noodles), seeing the streets of old Lhasa was a great feeling. Every day I go to "Zezhuo" tea house to eat thugpa and drink sweet tea. I also often eat lephing (Tibetan street snack) and fried potatoes, hehe [...] 

At the same time as writing this article, High Peaks Pure Earth noticed a feature on "How To Make Tibetan Sweet Tea" by China Tibet Online, also published today, such a coincidence!


Since the heightened sense of Tibetan identity following 2008, there has been a refusal to use loan words and to conscientiously use Tibetan terms when speaking Tibetan. In October 2010, protests to save Tibetan language in schools took place all over eastern Tibet and Tenzin Dorjee, Executive Director of Students for a Free Tibet, recounts on his personal blog “Yarlung Raging” that Tibetan monks in Zachukha are fining each other 1 Yuan for every Chinese word they use. Tenzin Dorjee says of this small act of resistance, “It appears that this new self-imposed rule is spreading through other parts of Tibet. It's hard to imagine a better way to preserve our language.”

The connection to food here is in a short anecdote that we at High Peaks Pure Earth heard recently from Eastern Tibet, post-2008, about Tibetans going into a road-side restaurant and asking for fangbian mian (方便面, Chinese word for instant noodles). The restaurant owners refused to serve anyone who used Chinese words for the food. However, if you ask for thabde thugpa (སྟབས་བདེ་ཐུག་པ་ Tibetan word for instant noodles), you were served straight away...

Fear and Discrimination in Lhasa

High Peaks Pure Earth has noticed several status updates and anecdotes by Tibetans on social networking sites recently that give an insight into everyday life for people in Lhasa.

Previous posts on High Peaks Pure Earth that deal with the issue of discrimination against Tibetans include examples of Tibetans not being allowed to stay in hotels in Beijing or needing to be reported in public hostelries and baths. 


A status update written in November 2010 on the popular Chinese language social networking site RenRen.com by a young Tibetan illustrates the everyday treatment of locals in Lhasa:

60% of taxi drivers in Lhasa are people from Henan Province. [I know this because] I have asked many taxi drivers this question. Just now we, three young Tibetans, first waved at the taxi driver to indicate our intention to take the taxi, but it happened that another Han Chinese “comrade” waved at the same time, and the taxi driver chose the Han Chinese over us right on the spot. I originally wanted to take pictures of the license plate and make a complaint against him. But I thought this would have no effect, so I let him leave. I resign myself to this reality.

More recently, Tibetan netizens have been updating their statuses with practical information to stay safe in Lhasa. As readers will be aware of, there is less than a month to go until Losar (Tibetan New Year) and also March 10, it is usually always a tense period. In February 2009, The Times reported that "police have scoured Lhasa for possible troublemakers in a new Strike Hard campaign and detained 81 people, including two found to have "reactionary" songs – probably praising the Dalai Lama – on their mobile phones."

For more background on what constitutes a "reactionary song", please read this informative article by Woeser. These status updates below offer advice to Tibetans and cites the Amdo singer Sherten as being particularly sensitive. Sherten became hugely popular amongst Tibetans last year with his song "The Sound of Unity", follow this link to see that music video and to read the translated lyrics.

Posted on February 10, 2011

When you walk down a certain street in Lhasa, if somebody runs up to you asking whether you have a mobile phone, you should answer resolutely “no, I don’t.”
- Has it started again?

It never stopped. Now it seems that they have started to check the Tibetans songs in one’s mobile phone...

Posted on February 9, 2011

Friends who came down from Lhasa said that there were public security officers everywhere checking the pictures and songs in one’s mobile phone. It seems that they are checking those of us who come from the nomadic areas and people from outside. They did not give any explanations, but directly demanded one’s mobile phone and checked it. They also warned people not to save songs by such singers as Sherten and others.

Please note that we have removed all names from the screenshots and not mentioned them in the translations either.

Tibetan Musician Tashi Dhondup Released!

Tashi Dhondup, a popular Tibetan musician is free!

We’re excited to share with you news that Tashi Dhondup has been released after serving most of his 15-month prison sentence.

He was detained at gunpoint in December 2009 and accused of “composing subversive songs” following the release of his popular album “Torture without Trace”.

Tashi Dhondup is part of a growing wave of Tibetan writers, musicians, and intellectuals who are boldly defying Chinese authorities by openly expressing their loyalty to the Dalai Lama and desire for freedom.

Radio Free Asia has reported that he has safely returned to his home county of Yuglan, in eastern Tibet, and was warmly received along the way by locals with scarves and greetings. Read more about his release.

A new translation of Tashi Dhondup’s song “Waiting with Hope” is now available on the Tibetan blog High Peaks Pure Earth.
Join us in celebrating his release by viewing and sharing this video:

The price for defying Chinese rule is steep. There are more than 800 known political prisoners in Tibet today. In spite of the risks, Tibetans across Tibet continue to resist against all odds.

Your actions do help! Please keep the pressure on the Chinese government to release Tibetan prisoners of conscience.

SFT has highlighted the works of Tashi Dhondup, and those by many other detained Tibetan writers and artists, as part of the Renaissance Series, a monthly event aimed at amplifying the songs, poems, and writings banned in Tibet.

Join us in calling on China to release Norzin Wangmo, a female cadre and writer from Ngaba, in eastern Tibet.

Following the widespread protests in 2008, she was sentenced to 5 years in prison for speaking on the phone and on the Internet about Chinese government abuses in Tibet.

Take Action: http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5380/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=5485

The Chinese government’s harsh reaction to Norzin Wangmo’s actions demonstrate how threatened it is by the growing resistance movement inside Tibet. As we watch the revolution unfolding in Egypt, the Chinese censors are working double time. Hu Jintao knows that freedom is contagious and that no dictatorship lasts forever.

Through our collective efforts, we can support and encourage Tibetans, Chinese, Uyghurs, Mongolians and everyone who is fighting for their freedom.

Thank you for standing with Tibet.

SFT’s Response to Groupon’s Tibet Ad

More than 111 million people saw Groupon’s Tibet ad during Sunday’s Super Bowl.

The ad has ignited a public debate. Many are thankful that Groupon has chosen to raise the Tibet issue on prime time TV, promising to match up to $100,000 in donations to the charity, Tibet Fund.

Many are also dismayed that the ad presented the Tibet issue in a way that trivialized the Tibetan people’s struggle for human rights, freedom and survival.

Why such a strong division in the public reaction? The answer may lie in the fact that Tibet is an emotional issue for many people. It is also one of the most recognizable, vibrant, and effective non-violent movements of our time, deserving of the highest respect and sanctity.

For more than six decades, the Tibetan people have waged a nonviolent battle to regain the freedom to determine their own future and to live in peace in their own country. The cost has been brutally high. Yet, in spite of the hardships and suffering, the Tibetan people are resolute in their determination to end China’s occupation of Tibet.

For 6 million Tibetans, the movement is about survival and their sovereign right to be free and independent from China’s violent and brutal rule.

For Beijing, Tibetans are their David; the Tibetan people have single-handedly challenged China’s dictators more effectively than any other nation or government or corporation.

For many people living in the United States or in other parts of the world, the Tibet issue is a beacon of hope in a world dominated by violence. The Dalai Lama is one of the most respected world leaders of all time. In 2008, when the Tibetan people rose up against China’s tyranny, the global public – albeit not our leaders – rose up in support of their actions.

The Groupon ad may have been in poor taste and struck a chord of dissonance in many people, but, precisely because of this blunder, the word ‘TIbet’ – and awareness about the existential threats faced by Tibetans under China’s occupation – has now reached the homes of many more millions than it would have if the ad had been more politically correct and only seen one time during the Super Bowl.

In addition to the publicity, the Groupon ad aims to raise funds for Tibetan refugees; one of the world’s most vulnerable populations. This in and of itself is a good thing, and we encourage everyone who can to donate to support Tibetan exiled communities.

If you buy a Groupon coupon for $15, the company will donate $30 Tibet Fund to help Tibetan youth in India: http://www.groupon.com/deals/the-tibet-fund/

The outpouring of concern, opinion and debate regrading the ad is a clear indication that the Tibet issue is alive and strong in the consciousness of people around the world.

If you feel the ad trivialized the Tibetan people’s movement, let it be a call to action to help this important struggle.

If this ad gave you your first exposure to Tibet, we encourage you to learn more and to take action in support of the Tibetan people.

BELOW ARE 5 WAYS YOU CAN HELP:

1) Join Students for a Free Tibet’s email list to stay up-to-date on current developments in Tibet and ways to help: www.studentsforafreetibet.org/join

2) Join a local Tibetan organization or Tibet support group in your community: www.tibetnetwork.org

3) Write to your elected representatives and ask them to take action on the Tibet issue: www.studentsforafreetibet.org/political

4) Speak out for the release of a Tibetan political prisoner: www.freetibetanheroes.org

5) Support SFT’s work for TIbet: www.studentsforafreetibet.org/donate

Tibetan Singer Tashi Dhondup Released From Prison

High Peaks Pure Earth is pleased to read the news reported by Radio Free Asia on February 8, 2011, that Tibetan singer Tashi Dhondup has been released from prison. Readers may remember the videos we posted last year from his album "Torture Without Trace".

On February 7, 2011, a friend of Tashi Dhondup's living abroad posted information on the Tibetan language website Khabdha on the release of Tashi Dhondup. The title of their post is "Good News" and they write they learned of the news via a phone call. Radio Free Asia's report quotes a relative of Tashi Dhondup's living in Tibet as saying:

He arrived safely at his hometown in Yulgan [in Chinese, Henan] county on the same day at around 7:00 p.m.,” the relative said.  “On the way, he passed through Tsekhog [in Chinese, Zeku] county, where he was well received by the locals with scarves and greetings. [...] His family, fans, and friends gave him a warm welcome on his arrival at his home county in Malho prefecture.

Tahrir vs Tiananmen

The Chinese govt is censoring the words “Egypt” and “Cairo” online, because obviously they’re scared to death of the infectious nature of peaceful uprisings. I can’t help secretly thinking what a great moment this might be for the Chinese people to rise up for democracy, and apply the lessons they’ve learned from the Tiananmen Square movement.

How is Tahrir Square different from Tiananmen Square? That is a question worth asking, even though history is still unfolding in Tahrir Square as Egyptians are holding their ground against Mubarak’s thugs.

Will Egypt succeed where China failed? And why did Tiananmen fail in 1989 in spite of the hope and idealism with which the movement began? It is worthwhile to examine the strategic and tactical flaws that prevented the Tiananmen movement from succeeding. There is a brilliant article analyzing the Tiananmen democracy movement and why or how it failed, but I can’t find it now. (I’ll post it upon finding).

If the democratic uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt spread to China today, are the Chinese people better prepared for the fight?

"Having An Audience With His Holiness the Dalai Lama is Not A Crime" By Woeser


High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Woeser that was originally written for broadcast on Radio Free Asia on January 19, 2011 and posted on her blog on January 25, 2011.

This article follows on from Woeser's previous post titled "How I Met His Holiness the Dalai Lama Without A Passport" in which she recalled "meeting" the Dalai Lama via Skype on January 4, 2011.







I remember, ten to twelve years ago, I was an editor of “Tibetan Literature”, which belonged to the Tibet Autonomous Region Federation of Literary and Art Circles. One day Jamyang Sherab, a good friend of mine who has already passed away, told me that the next day the head of the Tibet Autonomous Region Federation of Literary and Art Circles was going to inspect the homes of all Tibetan staff and I should quickly hide my portrait of Gyalwa Rinpoche (the Dalai Lama), which I had standing in the Buddhist altar at home. Jamyang Sherab was the Vice-Chairman of the Writers’ Union and hence of course informed of this secret action to inspect the houses of Tibetans. The Tibet Autonomous Region Federation of Literary and Art Circles employed about 70 staff, of which half were Han Chinese and half Tibetan, and reportedly, they were only going to check Tibetan people’s houses, not those of the Han. The initiator was the Vice-Chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region Federation of Literary and Art Circles, the famous author Ma Lihua.

Later, I wrote in an article: "That afternoon, in the dormitory of my work unit, the thangka, the sacred lamps, the Buddhist clay sculptures in the small home altar as well as the portrait of Gyalwa Rinpoche, which had been brought back from India, all these items, which have accompanied me so many times, are symbols of belief and artistic beauty. I had to hide them because they have given out the strict order that it is prohibited to keep any religious objects at home and the next day, they were going to go from house to house and inspect; yes, this one word: inspect! When I was hiding the thangka, the sacred lamps, the portrait and the small altar in paper boxes, I couldn’t help but feel deeply ashamed. When I left home early next morning, although my room was already completely empty, I never wanted to feel this humiliated again."

Not long ago, because of a video dialogue between Gyalwa Rinpoche and some Han Chinese intellectuals, I was blessed to be able to meet Gyalwa Rinpoche on screen, listened attentively to his advice, and wrote the article "How I Met His Holiness the Dalai Lama Without a Passport", which was broadcast in three dialects on Radio Free Asia’s Tibetan Programme. The Tibetan programme of Voice of America also reported on this and as I heard, it evoked great public interest.

A Tibetan wrote on the internet: “The internet made it possible to have an audience without a passport, when I had told this part of the story to my old father, he nibbled on his biscuit and had tears in his eyes.” I also received phone calls from Tibetans late at night telling me that they shed tears of excitement after they had heard the news, and that they took it as an encouragement. The significance of this does not solely lie in my own “sode chenpo” (great karmic reward), one comment on my blogpost revealed the heavy truth: “As everyone knows, some of our compatriots were put into prison or even tormented to death just because they had spoken some words of fairness and hidden a photo of the Dalai Lama.” Just like the 23-year-old Tibetan from Nagchu, Kesang Loten, who was recently sentenced to 2 years in prison, being accused of surfing foreign websites and saving a picture of the Dalai Lama in his QQ online photo album.

“All human beings are born free…”, “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion…” – those two sentences are the ones that shook and comforted people the most out of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that was announced to the world over half a century ago. But they are also the most fantastic ones. This is especially true with regards to today’s Tibet, we never know if we ever have the chance to sense the rights of these words that are directly linked to humans living in this world.  We do not have these rights. Like thunder piercing through our ears, day and night, we are forced to sense that everything is not allowed, not allowed, not allowed!

So, having an audience with Gyalwa Rinpoche, is that the worst crime one can commit before those who yield absolute power? In an interview with Dolkar La, a journalist with the Tibetan service of Radio Free Asia, the Chinese lawyer, Teng Biao, who also engaged in a video dialogue with the Dalai Lama, stated very clearly: "For Tibetans, being arrested or sentenced because of owning a photo or symbol of the Dalai Lama, means brutally trampling all over their religious rights as well as their rights as citizens... Having a dialogue with the Dalai Lama, no matter what it is about, no matter how it is done, is clearly not violating any law.”

Hence, I wrote in my article: “In fact, today, many people from all over China meet with His Holiness and they have not at all lost their freedom; since we are all citizens of this country, Tibetans should also not be punished for having an audience with His Holiness.” This point is particularly important. This is also why I publicly talked about my audience with His Holiness and with this I want to tell this brutal power that controls our bodies and minds: “Tibetans having an audience with the Dalai Lama are not criminals! At the same time, I also want to let my compatriots know to be brave and keep going; and help bring the exiled Dalai Lama back home, including using the internet; and perhaps one day, His Holiness will be able to see the Potala Palace via video, which he has been separated from for so long.

Beijing, January 19, 2011

Lessons Learned: Remembering Lobsang Dhondup, Taking Action to Free Tenzin Delek

I was attending the World Social Forum in Brazil when the Chinese government executed Lobsang Dhondup and sentenced Tenzin Delek Rinpoche to death. I was checking my email in a small cybercafe in Porto Alegre, surrounded by activists from across the globe, when I heard the news. At first, I just sat there. Stunned. Moments later, I couldn’t fight it back, and I wept. Then, I resolved to fight. It was a defining moment for me as a young Tibetan activist.

Up until that moment, I had somehow been convinced that the Chinese wouldn’t go through with it. They hadn’t dared to execute a Tibetan in such an overtly political and high-profile way for nearly 20 years, not to mention the incredible amount of unwanted attention and government pressure the Chinese were facing as a result of the global outcry and campaign in support of the two men. I was sure it was helping. Unfortunately, I was wrong.

On January 26th, 28-year old Lobsang Dhondup was executed, likely with a bullet to the head, and Tenzin Delek Rinpoche’s death sentence was upheld, with a two year reprieve. Lobsang’s relatives never got to see his body. Only his ashes were returned to them.

Looking back on that day now, I see how naive I was to think that the Chinese authorities didn’t have the stomach for the fight – that they would somehow be unwilling to risk the negative press and global condemnation – and therefore wouldn’t carry out the sentences. I guess at that time, despite all I knew of their cruelty, all of the horror I had heard about since I was a small child, I had to learn this lesson and never forget it.

Though the Chinese government proved me wrong in my judgment that day, I was neither defeated nor hopeless. In fact, their brutal and heartless treatment of these two innocent Tibetan men only increased my determination to work harder and my conviction in the justice of this fight. And fight we did. In the campaign to stop Tenzin Delek Rinpoche’s execution in the years that followed, we did everything we could possibly think of – from street protests and direct actions at Chinese embassies & consulates, to online advocacy campaigns and government lobbying – to gain global public and political support, and to inspire people to take action.

In the end, on January 26, 2005, the Chinese government commuted Tenzin Delek Rinpoche’s sentence to life imprisonment for what they said was “good behavior” while in prison. Call it whatever they like, we knew why they did it. And though we were not able to help Lobsang Dhondup, I truly believe we saved Rinpoche’s life. This is the most important lesson. We can make a difference. We must fight. We might not win every battle, but we must always try.

We did our best for Rinpoche then, and we must do it again now. And never ever give up.

Please take action and help us free Tenzin Delek Rinpoche:

https://secure3.convio.net/sft/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=778