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Lodi Gyaltsen Gyari spent decades drawing attention to the plight of the Tibetan people and striving for resolution of the Tibetan-Chinese conflict. He was the Dalai Lama’s Special Envoy and chief negotiator with the People’s Republic of China in the formal negotiations over the status of Tibet. In this revealing memoir, Gyari chronicles his lifetime of service to the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan cause.
Gyari recounts his work conducting formal dialogue with the Chinese leadership from 2002 to 2012, as well as his efforts during the many years of quiet diplomacy preceding these historic negotiations. He details the fits and starts of the parties’ relationship, addressing successes as well as failures and highlighting misperceptions, missteps, and missed opportunities by both sides. Gyari grounds his recollections of his time as Special Envoy in his life experience, providing a powerful account of the personal side of Tibet’s struggles. He describes the Tibetan resistance to the Chinese invasion and the tumultuous early years of the Tibetan community in exile as well as his family’s history and spiritual lineage. A reincarnated Tibetan Buddhist lama forced to flee Tibet during the Chinese invasion, Gyari illuminates how his political efforts fulfilled his spiritual calling.
Informed by his unparalleled experiences, Gyari offers realizable—but provocative—recommendations for restarting the Tibetan-Chinese dialogue to achieve a mutually beneficial resolution of the issue. For all readers interested in Tibet’s complex modern history, this book offers an incomparable look inside the decades-long effort to achieve the Dalai Lama’s vision of a reunited Tibet.
Lodi Gyaltsen Gyari has written a fascinating account of a remarkable life, or should I say incarnation, dedicated to the service of Tibet. His narrative combines personal reminiscence, an insider’s description of the modern history of Tibet, and an examination of his role in negotiating with the People’s Republic of China on behalf of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Living through this particularly troubled and turbulent phase of Tibet’s history, Gyari shows remarkable composure, objectivity, and lack of malice toward those whom he encountered, many of whom harmed or made difficult the preservation of Tibetan culture and the transmission of Tibetan Buddhism. The book is an evocative history of a vanished time. At the same time, what it says about the fate and future of Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism is topical and relevant when Tibet once again faces forks in the road ahead. This is a book for anyone with an interest in Tibet, Tibetan Buddhism, the diplomacy and minority policy of the PRC, or the sheer power and strength of the human spirit when faced with adversity. I trust that it will find a wide audience and strongly recommend it.
Gratitude
Preface
Homage
Entering the City of Omniscience
Foreword, by Michael J. Green
Part I. Land of My Ancestors
1. History of Nyarong, Kham, My Birthplace
2. The Gyari Family: Descendants of Nyarong Gönpo Namgyal
3. My Spiritual Lineage: The Mindrolling Tradition and Lumorab Monastery
4. The Gyaritsang’s Involvement in the Tibetan Resistance
5. Our Flight from Nyarong
6. The Journey to Lhasa
7. From Mindrolling to Exile in India
Part II. Tibet Restored: Reuniting the Tibetan People
8. A Unified Tibet: Centerpiece of the Tibetan Struggle
9. Tibetan Exile Organizations: Too Often Compromised by Conflicting Agendas and Personality Disputes
10. Repercussions from Divisions Within the Tibetan Community in Exile
11. Tibetans Inside Tibet: Flag Bearers of a Unified Tibet
Part III. Thirty Years of Engagement with the PRC
12. The Early Years: 1979–1984
13. Tibet’s Rise to Prominence on the International Stage: Adoption of the Middle Way Approach
14. Developing United States Support for Tibet
15. India, Our Home Away from Home
16. Assistance from Other Asian Nations, Europe, Nongovernmental Organizations, and Dharma Centers
17. The 1990s: Renewal of Efforts to Engage Beijing
18. Fits and Starts: Reengaging the United Front
19. Formal Dialogue Begins
20. Nine Rounds of Dialogue
21. Status of Relationship, Obstacles to Reconnection, and Recommendations
Appendix A. Na-gan Thumo and The Great Oath of Unity
Appendix B. Tibetan Policy Act
Appendix C. Selected Press Releases
Appendix D. Memorandum on Genuine Autonomy for the Tibetan People
Appendix E. Note on the Memorandum on Genuine Autonomy for the Tibetan People
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index