03-19-2008, 04:23 PM
Interview of Tibetan leader Smadhong Rimpoche
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Tibetans living as refugees in India and elsewhere have a democratic system to govern community affairs outside their motherland. While spiritual leader Dalai Lama [Images] heads the government-in-exile from the headquarters in Mcleodganj near Dharamshala, it is 69-year-old Smadhong Rimpoche, who as prime minister heads the administration of the Tibetan Diaspora.
According to the Dalai Lama, Professor Rimpoche 'knows more about the Tibet issue' than he does. Rimpoche is considered reincarnation of the Smadhong lineage of Buddha. On matters related to diplomacy and politics of Tibet and China's control over it, Rimpoche's views are the most important after that of the Dalai Lama.
A renowned scholar of Sanskrit and Hindi, Rimpoche is fluent in English and heads a movement to preserve ancient Indian sciences and literature preserved in the Tibetan language but lost in the original. More than 100 precious Tibetan books have been translated in which the ancient Indian wisdom was buried or lost many centuries back. In 1959, when Tibetans took refugee in India, they brought many of those books with them.
Professor Rimpoche's mission to give back something to India when he was heading the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies in Sarnath near Varanasi has earned him respect amongst scholars in India. He was elected twice for the highest post in the exile government, garnering around 90 per cent votes of Tibetans. He is a popular monk; a simple man known for his sthitpragnya (unmoved by happiness or sorrow) attitude.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Tibetans living as refugees in India and elsewhere have a democratic system to govern community affairs outside their motherland. While spiritual leader Dalai Lama [Images] heads the government-in-exile from the headquarters in Mcleodganj near Dharamshala, it is 69-year-old Smadhong Rimpoche, who as prime minister heads the administration of the Tibetan Diaspora.
According to the Dalai Lama, Professor Rimpoche 'knows more about the Tibet issue' than he does. Rimpoche is considered reincarnation of the Smadhong lineage of Buddha. On matters related to diplomacy and politics of Tibet and China's control over it, Rimpoche's views are the most important after that of the Dalai Lama.
A renowned scholar of Sanskrit and Hindi, Rimpoche is fluent in English and heads a movement to preserve ancient Indian sciences and literature preserved in the Tibetan language but lost in the original. More than 100 precious Tibetan books have been translated in which the ancient Indian wisdom was buried or lost many centuries back. In 1959, when Tibetans took refugee in India, they brought many of those books with them.
Professor Rimpoche's mission to give back something to India when he was heading the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies in Sarnath near Varanasi has earned him respect amongst scholars in India. He was elected twice for the highest post in the exile government, garnering around 90 per cent votes of Tibetans. He is a popular monk; a simple man known for his sthitpragnya (unmoved by happiness or sorrow) attitude.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->