Meeting His Holiness the Dalai Lama

Awasthi Cyber Cafe, McLeod Ganj, Dharamsala
Where to start! We finished our 6 day trek yesterday, and what a luxury it was to have a hot shower after all that time of hard physical exertion most days, with just a bowl of warm water for a wash in the morning. But more of the trek later, and the wonderful madness and chaos of Delhi.

Today has been the most extraordinary day. Last night when we arrived, Paul Bourke from the Australia Tibet Council informed us that we would be able to meet His Holiness this morning as he walked from his residence to the teachings he is giving currently. Some of the group had felt for a long time that such a meeting would happen. I had wondered and hoped,but not known whether it would really happen. So it was a time of excitement for us all to have that great privilege to meet His Holiness this morning. While we were there, His Holiness suggested to his staff that we meet with some recently arrived Tibetan political prisoners, and that happened at 5pm today.

It was extraordinarily powerful for us to sit opposite a table and hear the stories of these brave men and women, persecuted, tortured and jailed by the Chinese authorities for simply asking for justice for their people. There were many tears from members of our group, deeply moved by the stories we heard, and especially the grief of Ka-nying Lobsang Dekyl, who escaped from Tibet in 1985 - her father was jailed for 18 years.

I have heard some of the stories of Tibetan political prisoners previously, from the Australia Tibet Council and other sources, but nothing can compare with hearing it directly from somebody who has experienced that torture and deprivation.

Enough for now. I'm emotionally exhausted after the two hours of that meeting, but also inspired, as I think all of us there were, to do all we can to publicise the plight of the Tibetan people and the outrageous behaviour of the Chinese authorities.