"My Life in Forbidden Lhasa" (1955) republished by Nat Geo
Marilyn Terrell says:
LinkAustrian soldier Heinrich Harrer escaped from a British POW camp in India in World War II and ended up as the young Dalai Lama's tutor in Tibet. Harrer wrote about his cultural immersion for the July 1955 edition of National Geographic. Republished in the May 2008 special issue on China.
See also:
• Dream to have Dalai Lama carry the Olympic Torch
the latest
latest episodes
Heinrich Harrer also wrote the book Seven Years in Tibet which was the basis for the 1997 film starring Brad Pitt.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_years_in_Tibet
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Years_in_Tibet_%281997_film%29
Wonderful article by Harrer.
Urban Naturalist,
Please put your website in your profile, not your posts. Thanks.
Harrer apparently takes marvelous photographs as well.
Harrer was awesome. He also wrote "The White Spider" about the first successful ascent of the north face of the Eiger, which he was a part of. This book is highly recommended even if you don't climb. He really knew how to write.
He was so stoked on Tibetan culture that he built a small Tibetan monastery in his home country of Austria.
In his later life he was harrassed by idiots in Germany for being a former Nazi. He was forced to join back in the 1930's but got out as quick as he could.
Long live his memory and his enlightened view of life.
Harrer's escape partner Peter Aufschnaiter, deeply loved Tibet and had his own perspective on it, 'Eight Years in Tibet', published posthumously-
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/9745240125/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top
He spent the rest of his life in Nepal and India using his engineering talent to improve quality of life there.
i prefer another book a little later from this period: anna louise strong's "when serfs stood up in tibet". no matter what your beliefs are on this topic, the first hand accounts of the backwards, feudal times filled with tales of serfs, slavery and torture should really upset you.
Cool article.
But that would be Lhasa, not Llasa (as in the post title).
No, no. Llasa is where the Dalai Llama comes from.
ohh! Wales then.
That was an engaging read. Going to have to check out more of Herr Harrer's works. Thanks Mark! This is just one of those moments where I am thrilled to read BB.
Heinrich Harrer was a member of the SS, a group that no one was "forced" to join. He said it was a "stupid mistake" when his past was made public—make of that what you will. He seems to have been very comfortable with Tibet's feudal system.
Heinrich Harrer joined the Underground-SA in 1933 long before Austria was occupied by the 3rd Reich.
As Will Shetterly said, no one forced him to join.
He joined the SS shortly after the "Anschluss" in 1938.
The Austrian Mountaineers used to have strong sympathies for the Nazi-Ideology.
I got it wrong! This 1955 article does not appear in the current print issue of National Geographic; it's available only online on the NatGeo website, along with another republished article, Audrey Topping's "Return to Changing China," originally published in the December 1971 issue. Canadian-born Topping first lived in China as a college student in the late 1940s (her dad was Canadian diplomat Chester Ronning), and she vividly contrasts her recollections of pre-Communist China with the changes she noticed on her visit in 1971, after Mao's Cultural Revolution. It's a long story (16 pages), but pretty fascinating:
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/05/china/changing-china-1971/topping-text
Hey Takuan,
I heard a rumor that the Dalai Lama wants to rule the entire world so that he can sodomize babies and gouge poor people's eyes out for fun. It must be true. I mean all of those European countries with royal heads of state still have dungeons full of people being tortured on racks and in iron maidens. I heard that King Juan Carlos of Spain still personally deflowers every virgin in the whole country.
I mean, just because feudalism once existed in a country, that means that it can't ever change, right. Unless the great, glorious and correct Chinese Communist Party takes over to protect the people from The Bad Things. That makes everything all right. Somebody should suggest that to the EU. I'm certain that they'd be grateful to receive such a gift of benevolent and enlightened administration. And if they don't want to be ruled by China, they can just be 're-educated'. For their own benefit, of course. Sometimes people are just too stupid and primitive to make good decisions for themselves.
Antinuous, when you suggest that people either believe the Dalai Lama is perfect or China is, you're doing a great disservice to your cause. I've never seen anyone suggest that the Dalai Lama or any of his supporters currently hope to restore the feudal theocracy that existed before the Chinese invaded. Nor have I seen anyone say that China's policies don't need improvement. Michael Peretti, who is often damned by the Dalai Lama's most extreme supporters, is quite scathing in what he says about China.
I've never seen anyone suggest that the Dalai Lama or any of his supporters currently hope to restore the feudal theocracy that existed before the Chinese invaded.
Then you don't read these threads carefully. Also, doing it passive aggressively doesn't really fool anybody.
at this moment, in Tibet, those locked down in the monasteries are being denied food. By the PRC.
To kill them.
Antinuous, when I was younger, I liked flames in debates, but now I'm old enough to find them boring. And I'm old enough to forgive you for suggesting that polite disagreement is passive-aggressive--I'm sure I've done my share of attacking the messenger when I couldn't attack the message. If you can point to an example of someone saying the Dalai Lama or any of his supporters hope to restore slavery in Tibet, please support your claim. If I'm wrong, I'd like to know it. There's enough misinformation on the web.
@ 19 Mr. Shetterly,
Antinous is young at heart. Forgive him. I'll forgive you for your belief that "when I was younger, I liked flames in debates, but now I'm old enough to find them boring" is anything but a passive-aggressive flame... Condescension, even.
If you disapprove of the way -he- argues, I would suggest you not fan the flames, so to speak, by suggesting he is behaving as a child.
- BB's resident child.
Cheers, Tenn!
Tenn, I just hate being called passive-aggressive. I've indulged in pure verbal aggression in my day, and the fighter is not deep in my heart. Politeness and passive-aggressiveness are only the same thing to people who live in binary worlds.
I do see how forgiving him might seem condescending to some people, but surely a follower of the Dalai Lama would appreciate that it is better to forgive than to fight.
And I think the contest for BB's resident child isn't over yet! *g*
Yo, Antinuous! Still waiting for you to substantiate your claim.
Ain't nothing passive about that, eh?
And don't be afraid to show me I'm wrong. I'm quick to apologize when I am, and far from being angry with people who point out my mistakes, I'm both grateful to them and filled with respect for them.
The clock is ticking....
I recollect a number of posts from various propagandists claiming the Dalai Lama wished to restore feudalism.
I have an old friend from Tibet whom I discovered years after meeting him was linked to old Tibetan landholding family. Not once, in any way whatsoever has he ever said or done anything that would make me think he harboured any thought of reclaiming those land privileges. Rather, it has always been about freedom for all the people of Tibet. In my own lineages, there are other examples of land and titles lost in war. I spend little time plotting overthrows and revolutions for personal gain.
My basic position is this: I am quite satisfied that any who claim the Dalai Lama is motivated by restoring feudalism is either too stupid or lazy to collect facts or is deliberately lying on behalf of a Chinese government conspiracy. That is my absolute position.
The clock is ticking....
And a sense of entitlement. I owe you no explanation, nor am I planning to provide one. You can read through all the Tibet threads and come to your own conclusion. If you don't agree with me, then have a nice day anyway. Everything that you've written on this subject here and on your blog seems disingenuous and passive aggressive to me. If that makes you unhappy, you have my condolences, but no more.
Antinuous, I understand your concern about passive aggressiveness, so I'm doing my best to leave out anything that might smack of the passive: You have nothing, but you won't admit it.
If anything I've said here or on my blog is "disingenuous," point it out. I cite sources. I prefer facts to prejudice. I have a great deal of sympathy for the Tibetan people, who were first abused by their feudal overlords and are now abused by China. Their situation is not made better by anyone obscuring the past for the benefit of either side.