I wonder if the popularity of Tibetan Buddhism had a lot to do with the slight uneasiness many Americans felt about China in the 90’s. The 90’s was the decade when Free Markets supposedly won, and they would improve the human condition more than any other ideology in history. And they did, lifting about 2 billion people out of poverty. But the example of China unsettled a lot of people — Yes, they were becoming capitalists, but then there was Tienanmen, the complete refusal of the government to democratize, the pollution, the treatment of political prisoners, their Dickensian sweatshops with nets to catch people committing suicide, the corruption, the proliferation of con artists, the angry nationalism, etc. Why is it that the free markets weren’t working their magic like they were supposed to? Maybe this is what real capitalism looks like?
When people can’t answer a question, or don’t want to know the answer to a question, they resort to fantasy. The Tibetans became the “good Asians” and the Chinese became the “bad Asians”. But, under such a view, a lot of nuance is lost. First, although Tibetan culture is thoroughly Buddhist, Buddhism is deeply layered into Chinese culture as well, although its signal is weaker because of other traditions. The Chinese destroyed a good deal of Tibetan culture, but a lot of Han Chinese tourists want to go there to see what’s left of it — there are even TV shows and movies made about Tibet. The Chinese oppressed Tibetans, but for the first time in history, Tibet has a middle class, rising literacy, and rising life expectancy. Tibet is becoming overwhelmed by Han Chinese settlers, but they often leave because they can’t deal with the air at such high altitudes — the Tibetans are noted for their barrel chests, evolved to give the lungs more surface area. Tibet should be a free nation, but even the Dalai Lama has said that it’s time to stop the struggle for independence, and just learn to live in China. Tibetan Buddhism is somehow a model religion, but it is theocratic, esoteric, and fraught with a lot of things that would be very distasteful to modern people.
As someone with a passing interest in the Tibetan language, I love Tibetan Buddhism, but from a respectful distance. I love its bright colors, its hardiness, its shamanistic wildness, its pageantry, and its intellectual sophistication. It is the product of warriors who turned inward. This being said, I would never go any further into it other than intellectual curiosity, because it would be nothing more than an affectation. I was raised in the Western, Judeo-Christian tradition, and I believe that this tradition must be nurtured and protected.
