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Bill Tammeus's FAITH MATTERS

THE BOOK CORNER "In the Shadow of the Buddha: Secret Journeys, Sacred Histories and Spiritual Discovery in Tibet", by Matteo Pistono.

This is the remarkable and engaging story of a man who first went to Tibet to study Buddhist ways and who became, eventually, a political activist who, as a journalist, seeks to tell the world of the pain and suffering the Tibetan people have suffered -- and continue to suffer -- at the hands of their Chinese overlords. This is a story not just of the Tibetan people and their oppressors but also of Buddhist leaders, such as the exiled Dalai Lama, who have worked on the international stage to tell the story of Tibet and to bring changes to and for their people.  Read More 
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Bearing witness; Why I Spirited Secrets Out Of China

Bearing witness; Why I spirited out state secrets from China
Washington Post ON FAITH
Bearing witness; Why I Spirited Secrets Out Of China
By Matteo Pistono Friday January 21, 2011

I first journeyed to Tibet more in the late 1990s. I was on a pilgrimage in the footsteps of a 19th century Tibetan mystic named Tertön Sogyal. A horse-riding bandit turned meditation master, Tertön Sogyal eventually became the teacher of the 13th Dalai Lama, the predecessor to the current Dalai Lama. Such was the prevailing belief that Tertön Sogyal’s mantras and prayers could protect Tibet from foreign armies that the Dalai Lama sum¬moned him to Lhasa to serve the nation. Not unlike the Dalai Lama today, Tertön Sogyal was a master at integrating his political duties with spiritual practice, never losing the pure motivation that holds others’ well-being as the priority.  Read More 
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Is the Dalai Lama Retiring?

Washington Post ON FAITH
Is the Dalai Lama retiring?
By Matteo Pistono Thursday, January 20, 2011

To understand the Dalai Lama’s recent statement in November 2010 about retiring, possibly within the next six months, one must keep in mind what the Tibetan leader calls his three commitments. As a human being, the Dalai Lama is committed to the promotion of basic human values of compassion and tolerance; as a Buddhist leader he works to promote understanding among the major religious traditions; and as the holder of the title “Dalai Lama” which is traditionally the spiritual and political leader of the Tibetans, he is committed to resolving the Tibet issue with China. Regarding the latter, that commitment will cease, the Dalai Lama has said, when a mutually beneficial solution has been reached between the Tibetan and Chinese.  Read More 
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Book Review by Divanee-South Asian Politics & Entertainment

Most Westerners today know who the XIV Dalai Lama is. Many would be able to recognize a picture of him. Some, like me, have even seen his wax likeness at Madame Tussauds. Less known is Tertön Sogyal, a lama who was a contemporary of the previous Dalai Lama. It is this man whose journey Matteo Pistono followed over the course of nearly ten years. Out today, “In the Shadow of the Buddha” details not only Pistono’s pilgrimage but also the countless human rights violations committed against the Tibetan people by their Chinese occupiers. Read More 
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Will the Chinese government ban Wednesdays? A snapshot from Lhasa

Washington Post ON FAITH
Will the Chinese government ban Wednesdays? A snapshot from Lhasa
By Matteo Pistono Wednesday, January 19, 2011

"We are in the midst of a fierce struggle involving blood and fire, a life-and-death struggle with the Dalai [Lama] clique. Leaders of the whole country must deeply understand the arduousness, complexity, and long-term nature of the struggle."
-Zhang Qingli, head of the Chinese Communist Party in Tibet, March 2008  Read More 
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President Hu Jintao, Tibet, and the Dalai Lama

Washington Post ON FAITH
President Hu Jintao, Tibet, and the Dalai Lama
By Matteo Pistono Tuesday, January 18, 2011

In spite of China’s global rise, Hu Jintao, its “paramount leader” for much of the last decade, risks obscurity as an undistinguished helmsman. Regrettably, when crises of global proportions require bold solutions, this week's superpower summit promises to be a mismatch of one can-do American leader against one won’t-budge Chinese bureaucrat. The future of Tibet is a case in point.  Read More 
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Beijing and the (Next) Dalai Lama

Washington Post ON FAITH
Beijing and the (Next) Dalai Lama
By Matteo Pistono Monday, January 17, 2011

Since the 14th Dalai Lama turned seventy years old in 2005, the international media has increasingly focused on the question of his successor. The Dalai Lama himself has offered varying possibilities regarding how the 15th Dalai Lama could be identified but has not publicly stated definitively how the reincarnation would occur. How a young Dalai Lama might be invested with spiritual authority would be a matter of interest primarily for Tibetan Buddhists devotees if the Dalai Lama were not a prominent and influential leader on the world stage whose Tibetan voice represents an oppositional position to the ruling Communist Party of China.  Read More 
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Mikel Dunham reviews "In the Shadow of the Buddha"

Mikel Dunham writes:

In the Shadow of the Buddha is a book about religious freedom, transmitted from a prism that refracts a quartet of incisively written points of view. What’s really remarkable about Matteo Pistono’s book is that he wears his various narrative hats with equal authority.  Read More 
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30 Minute Radio Interview with Matteo Pistono in Boulder on KGNU

KGNU 88.5 FM
Joel Edelstein of KGNU radio in Boulder interviewed Matteo Pistono about the book, Tibet and China, and Pistono's own pilgrimage throughout the Himalayas.  Read More 
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