I’m Not Happy
Namchak (literally ‘Sky Metal’) is the oldest and the most famous Tibetan rock band. They have released three albums. The band members are: Tenzin Dawa, Sonam Nyandak, Phurbu Nyudup, Tashi Phuntsok, Sonam Tenzin and Sonam Nyima. The band members write and perform their own music, and they are especially popular among the younger generation. In general, “Namchak” is translated as “Vajra”, which is a religious device that tantric masters use when they perform rituals. There is an interesting story about “Namchak” in Tibetan oral literature. Many Tibetans (religious Tibetans) believed that there was a dragon in the sky. Every time
Milarepa
Milarepa is the 11th century Tibetan saint who is revered for having attained enlightenment in one lifetime. He left behind a rich tradition of mgur, spontaneous songs of realization that are also religious poems. Milarepa Singer: Jamyang Gyatso Composer: Yonten Gyatso Lyricist: Jigme Nubpa You saved your father’s wealth in your mind Kept your mother’s words in your heart You wore your pilgrim’s progress on your body You woke the Yarlung of Samadhi from its sleep The yogi from Mangyul Gungthang Whose name was Milarepa Who left his footprint in the rock Who touched the rock with his forehead Milarepa,
A Special Feeling
Rongwo Gedun Lhundup is a well known poet for his free verse. Born in Amdo, he studied Buddhism as a monk in Rongwo, Labrang and Serta Monasteries. He has published five books of poetry. They are “The Sound of the Yak and the Wild Yak”; “The Poem of the Great Deity”; “The Black Rosary”; “The Melody of Life” and “The White Volume” (གླེགས་བམ་དཀར་པོ). He blogs on Tsanpo, Gedun Chophel and Tso Ngonpo. A Special Feeling By Rongwo Gedun Lhundup I am special, I am a monk who only writes poetry. In the heart of the mirror of my poem’s Inside
Is Nationalism a Good Thing?
Shokjang is a leading intellectual of his generation. He was born in Labrang in Amdo. He studied Tibetan literature at the Northwest Nationalities University in Lanzhou. He has published four books: The Courage of the Path (ལམ་གྱི་སྙིང་སྟོབས།); The Pen’s Strength (སྙུ་གུའི་སྟོབས།); For Freedom I Have No Regrets (རང་དབང་གི་དོན་དུ། ང་ལ་བློ་འགྱོད་མེད་།); and The Courage of Rangdrol (རང་གྲོལ་སྙིང་སྟོབས།). He writes on Tsenpo and Samsara. In the following piece, posted on Samsara in May 2014, he makes a very strong defense for the individual’s right and freedom. Is Nationalism a Good Thing? By Shokjang Over these last many years, the nationalism of the Tibetan
-
I’m Not Happy
Namchak (literally ‘Sky Metal’) is the oldest and the most famous Tibetan rock band. They have released three albums. The band members are: Tenzin Dawa, Sonam Nyandak, Phurbu Nyudup, Tashi -
Milarepa
Milarepa is the 11th century Tibetan saint who is revered for having attained enlightenment in one lifetime. He left behind a rich tradition of mgur, spontaneous songs of realization that are also rel -
A Special Feeling
Rongwo Gedun Lhundup is a well known poet for his free verse. Born in Amdo, he studied Buddhism as a monk in Rongwo, Labrang and Serta Monasteries. He has published five books of poetry. They are R -
Is Nationalism a Good Thing?
Shokjang is a leading intellectual of his generation. He was born in Labrang in Amdo. He studied Tibetan literature at the Northwest Nationalities University in Lanzhou. He has published four books: T -
Shut Your Dog’s Mouth
Chen Metak (གཅན་མེ་སྟག) is a very well-known Tibetan writer from Amdo. The poem “Shut Your Dog’s Mouth” is a sarcastic poem written to criticize a certain unnamed person. It -
An Old Thangka
Thopa Rangdrol writes under the pen name Shoklung (Morning Wind). He was born in Amdo Golok in the 1980s. He has studied at Serta Monastry and Rongwo monastery in Tibet. His writings were published on -
Who Is The Hero Who Carries Half the Sky?
Boshuk Kyi is from Trika, south of the Kokonor in Amdo. She works at the Qinghai Research Center for Tibetan Medicine (མཚོ་སྔོན་བོད་ཀྱི་གསོ་རིག་ཞི
How contemporary Tibet might’ve been seen by a Tang dynasty historian
Gurgon Kyab was born in Chentsa in Amdo, Tibet, part of Qinghai province. He is a historian, writer and scholar. He graduated with a Master’s degree in History from Qinghai Nationalities University in Xining in 2004. He compiled a Tibetan language text book in 2008 for university students and has published two books since then – “The Literary Tradition” (རྩོམ་རིག་གཞུང་ལུགས) in 2010 and “The Loan of Gratitude” (དྲིན་གྱི་བུ་ལོན), a commentary on Gedun Choephel’s famous history “The White Annals”, in 2011. He blogs on Tsenpo and Samsara. Gedun Choephel’s observation that more foreigners have written about our customs, lifestyle, and behavior