Tuesday, January 04, 2022

The Miracle of Laughing at Yourself

 

A few days after writing about the friendship between the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama, (As it Should Be) I received a lovely snippet of the interaction between these two old men from my mother. The video clip is below:

 

What becomes very clear about the relationship is that the friendship between the two men is genuine and if you forget the fact that both men (or in the case of the archbishop was) were very old (over 80) and representing two different faiths, you would imagine that they were school boys or at least trying to relive their school days. They spend a good portion of the clip ribbing each other in the way that only real friends can (think of the way that they both call each other mischievous and when asked about how they see death, the archbishop says that the Dalai Lama doesn’t worry because he can always reincarnate).

The banter and the obvious pleasure that they take in each other’s company is part and parcel of what makes these men so great. Both the Archbishop and the Dalai Lama fought for their respective people against forces that were far more “powerful” in the material sense of the word and have not only survived but become glorified as a result.

Like it or not, we live in a world where might is inevitably right. Why, for example, does the world turn a blind eye when American troops march into Middle Eastern countries? Does anyone seriously think that the world is actually going to do anything meaningful about China’s mistreatment of its ethnic minorities? The answer is obvious – nobody is going to risk getting on the wrong side of the big elephant of geopolitics.

We can talk all we want about “World Order” and the “Rules based System,” but when the elephants want to do something that contravenes the rules, nobody is going to stop them. American military and economic protection are often vital to the survival of nations. Being able to access the Chinese market and getting Chinese investment are increasingly vital to nations too, so damn the rules-based system because, might is inevitably right. As Stalin is reported to have once said when talking about the Pope – “How many divisions does the Pope have?”  Apartheid was brought to an end for a simple reason – nobody wanted to deal with a rogue regime on the Southern tip of Africa. Unfortunately for Tibetans and Uighurs, China is an economic powerhouse and its military is getting stronger. Even American Presidents keep conflicts with China to the verbal.

However, whilst might (military and economic) counts, its not everything and simple morality has a way of twisting the mightiest of beings and showing up their limits. Let’s remember, India got its independence from the Empire that the sun never set on because “A hundred thousand Englishmen cannot rule 300 million Indians, if the Indians simply refuse to be ruled.” Whilst Indian independence was not free of violence, it was actually remarkably peaceful.

Both Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama have become figures of reverence because they were willing to take on the far more powerful adversaries without turning nasty. These men are like Aikido masters in combat in as much as they are the non-aggressive guys who make a mockery of their more powerful adversaries (it pains me to admit it as a former karate student, but Aikido masters have a way of making mockery of Karate techniques).

Take the Dalai Lama is an example. Whilst he is acknowledged as the leader of the Tibetan government in exile, he is to all intents and purposes a refuge. Whilst his circumstances are better than the average refugee, you could argue that his actual geopolitical clout is zero. Yet, he is regarded as one of the great modern-day saints. Part of his stature is due to the fact that he is who is. However, another part of his stature is due to his “opponents” in the Communist Party in the People’s Republic of China. If there’s anyone whom the Chinese Communist Party hates more than the any particular democratically elected president of Taiwan, it is the Dalai Lama, whom they’ve gone so far as to describe as a “Wolf Wrapped in Monks Cloths.”

On paper, the Chinese have won hands down. Geographic Tibet is theirs. Thanks to mass migration, native Tibetans are now a minority in their own country. Tibetans have reached a stage where they not only a minority but an annoying minority in their own country. China has money and as mentioned earlier, not even American Presidents will take their “conflicts” with China between the talk stage. More importantly, the Dalai Lama no longer calls for “independence” for Tibet but for “autonomy” within the People’s Republic (a case of – since you call us “autonomous,” give us real autonomy).

So, on paper, China is winning. However, despite its apparent victory, the Dalai Lama has uncanny ability to annoy China’s leadership. If China is a school yard bully, the Dalai Lama is the annoying kid that gets smacked down but bounces us to continue annoying you. The best part is that his ability to annoy is based on nothing more than an ability not to be intimidated. Just look at this interview he gave to the comedian John Oliver as an example of how the Dalai Lama is the living example of “Word never hurt me.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLY45o6rHm0

 


 Let’s go back to Stalin’s “How many divisions does the Pope have.” You have the Dalai Lama with no divisions (even as an independent country, the Tibetans never really have an army to speak of) and you have President Xi Jinping, who is China’s most powerful leader since Mao Zedong. President Xi commands the world’s second largest economy, and the world’s largest army, which is getting ever more advanced. Yet it’s the guy with no divisions to speak of, who sits down with an interviewer who calls him “arrogant” at one stage who is scaring the guy with so much more. President Xi, despite all his power (rated in the top three of the world’s most powerful people year after year) bans “Winnie the Poh” from China because someone on the internet said he looked like Winnie.

How badly has China’s almighty machine been scared? Well, as John Oliver argues, its at a stage where they’re trying to create knock off lamas the way they create knock off handbags. Given that they Dalai Lama is at an age where dying is an expectation, they CCP is going to the ridiculous stage of trying to control the reincarnation – or to get the Dalai Lama beyond the grave. Just look at the following link:

http://m.tibet.cn/eng/culture/tibetan/201512/t20151203_5775742.html

The nail got a good whack on the head in 2016 when the Chinese Communist party went and decried the Dalai Lama for disrespecting …. wait till you hear it – “Buddhist Tradition as seen in the following report from the Daily Mail.”

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3512583/High-ranking-Chinese-official-says-Dalai-Lama-making-fool-Buddhism-suggested-reincarnated-bee-mischievous-blond-girl.html

 


 The irony being that he managed to turn a Communist regime which is set up on the premise of destroying anything resembling the supernatural into a defender of the belief in reincarnation.

Think about it, this old man has got under the skin of one of the most powerful regimes on the planet in a way that no one else has by not taking them too seriously and in the process making them look ridiculous.

Think of the Stephen King novel and movie “It” where the kids finally defeat the alien monster by laughing at it. Nothing else worked except laughter.

Nothing hurts a bully more than ridicule. The China-Dalai Lama is one example. In the Western World one of the most prominent forces in keeping the powerful in check has been comedians, as was most prominently underscored during the Trump Administration had a field day.

Nothing exposes weakness more than the inability to laugh at one’s self. I think of Singaporean politicians who become so in love with being politicians that they sue at anyone who “hurts” their feelings. The only beneficiaries being the lawyers and newspapers. Why does the machinery of state need to be involved in solving hurt feelings? How strong are you if you need to bring so much money and power to get over having your feelings hurt? BY contrast, the man who can laugh at himself can take on the world.

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Maira Gall