BUDDHIST TRADITIONS (INCLUDING BON)
These interviews detail the religious and spiritual traditions of Tibet, including Buddhist monasteries, the influence of these traditions in everyday life and perceptions of the Chinese occupation.
ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEWS
Select an interviewee from the list below or scroll down to browse the interview summaries and key topics. After each summary, a link is provided to the entire interview transcript.
All interviews are in PDF format. You will need Adobe Acrobat software installed on your computer in order to open these files.
1. Lama Kunga Thartse (#94)
2. Tsewang Khangsar (#93)
3. Ngawang Choseng (#91)
© 2009 Tibet Oral History Project. These translations and transcripts are provided for individual research purposes only. For all other uses, including publication, reproduction and quotation beyond fair use, permission must be obtained in writing from: Tibet Oral History Project, P.O. Box 6464, Moraga, CA 94570-6464.
At the age of 10, Lama Kunga Thartse was recognized as a reincarnation of a previous lama. He was taken to Thargye Dupdhe Monastery in Shang village to study and later moved to Ngor Monastery near Shigatse. He was born to an aristocratic family and his father, Mr. Shuguba, served the Tibetan government in various capacities, including the Minister of Finance. Lama Kunga Thartse nostalgically recalls his family estate where they used to grow barley, vegetables and flowers. The estate was later covered in concrete when the Chinese constructed a hydraulic energy station there. Ironically, his village had no electricity even after this transformation.
Lama Kunga Thartse’s father was arrested in 1959 after the collapse of the central Tibetan government and he and his brother escaped to Nepal. When his father was released from prison in 1980, Lama Kunga Thartse visited Tibet and was reunited with his father after a period of 20 years. During his visit to Tibet, he was very touched by the difficult, poverty-stricken condition of the Tibetan people. Some pleaded with him, “Please do something. Help me.”
Lama Kunga arrived in the USA in 1962 and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he established the Ewam Choden Tibetan Buddhist Center.Topics Discussed:
Utsang, childhood memories, monastic life, imprisonment and forced labor, Chinese oppression, brutality, escape experiences.
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Tsewang Khangsar, who is from Yancho Tangkar in the south central part of Tibet, lost his father at an early age. He and his sister were brought up by their mother, who faced many challenges in raising her children by herself.
Tsewang Khangsar gives a vivid, in-depth account of Tibetan people’s beliefs, customs, language and their unique characteristics as “human beings.” He describes the Bon religion and it’s influence on Tibetan culture.
Tsewang Khangsar describes how Tibetans held on to their sanity despite the suffering and trauma that they underwent from the Chinese occupation of Tibet. He discusses the Chinese invasion and the subsequent cultural, ecological, historical, religious and social annihilation of the Tibetan identity. He presents his ideas on how the Tibetan people can meet these difficult challenges. He also explains his theory about why Tibetans have the strength to endure such hardships and deal with their anger towards the Chinese.
Tsewang Khangsar served as a teacher, headmaster and principal of Tibetan Children’s Village in Dharamsala, India, for 20 years before immigrating to the United States.Topics Discussed:
Childhood memories, Bon, first appearance of Chinese, life under Chinese rule, brutality, oppression, escape experiences, life as a refugee in India.
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Ngawang Chosang was born in the village of Gerdha in Utsang province. His family was a tenant of the Lhatse Chodhe Monastery and, as a form of tax, they sent Ngawang Chosang to the monastery to become a monk when he was 7 years old. His father was Chipon, the keeper of the horses of the monastery.
At the monastery Ngawang Chosang learned the Tibetan language and basic Buddhist scriptures. When he reached 13 years of age, he started studying Buddhist philosophical debates, which became the main focus of his education. At the age of 28, he went to Lhasa and enrolled in Sera Monastery. After the Chinese invasion, he witnessed the arrest and public beatings of many monks. Ngawang Chosang returned to his village after Lhasa was attacked in 1959.
Ngawang Chosang made his escape to India in 1962 with three other monks. Initially, Ngawang Chosang worked on road construction and later settled in Bylakuppe where he joined 300 other monks who labored to build Sera Monastery in Bylakuppe.
Topics Discussed:
Childhood memories, monastic life, first appearance of Chinese, life under Chinese rule, thamzin, escape experiences, life as a refugee in India, early life in Bylakuppe.
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