Lama Lobsang – a Social Worker
By Ben Byrne / September 1, 2021
Since 2019, Lama Lobsang has been a regular on the circumambulation route around His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s temple in McLeod Ganj. He hauls his big muscular frame along the route nine times a day, all the while greeting friends and saying his prayers. When India closed its borders in read more →
Dr Richard J Davidson’s Wake-up Call
By Paulina Wrotynska / June 25, 2021
“Why can’t you use the same tools of neuroscience to study kindness and compassion that you use to study anxiety and depression?” The question posed by His Holiness disrupted and restructured Dr Davidson’s* life’s work. “And I did not have a very good answer for him”, he admits. Yet Dr read more →
Lhasang Tsering: Guerilla, Activist and Poet
By Ben Byrne / April 8, 2021
Listen to the recording of this interview here : Lhasang Tsering has been an outspoken advocate for Tibetan independence for half a century. Since turning down the opportunity to become a doctor in the United States in the early 1970s, Lhasang has gone on to live a kaleidoscopic existence worthy read more →
A Friend Remembered
By Jenny James / February 22, 2021
Tsering Wangyal – 6 March 1949 – 24 November 2000 Editor – Tibetan Review – Sep 1976 to Aug 1996 Author – Another Place – OUT NOW! I was lucky enough to call Tsering Wangyal – always affectionately known as Editor – a friend around 35 years ago. To me, he was read more →
Dhargye’s story: Singing for the love of it
By Ben Byrne / October 9, 2020
Thousands of people are gathered at an outdoor arena on the Tibetan plateau. School children sit waving Chinese flags. Tibetan prayer flags billow in a soft breeze. Among a throng of elated Tibetans stands a stone-faced Chinese police officer. On stage, entertaining them all, is Sherten, the famous Tibetan singer read more →
“Focus on the Teachings!”
By Ben Byrne / September 7, 2020
Bhante Dikshabhoomi is a Theravada monk from Nagpur in Maharashtra. Since 2018 he has travelled throughout India spreading the messages of Free Tibet and Universal Compassion. Recently he came to Dharamshala and spoke to Contact magazine. Bhante was born into a Buddhist family in the Mahar caste. He became a read more →
A Nomadic Feminist
By Ben Byrne / April 11, 2020
Sonam Paldon was born in Ngabring County in U-Tsang province in Tibet. Basking in the shadow of Mount Everest, 4,500 metres above sea level on the rugged plains between the Tsangpo and Chichu rivers, Sonam was raised in a semi-nomadic family. She was one of eight children, four girls and read more →
Amchi Thokmey’s Story
By Tenzin Samten / January 20, 2020
Amchi Thokmey [Amchi is the Tibetan word for Doctor] has become a household name at Dr Lobsang Dolma’s Memorial Clinic. I went to see him at the clinic at Dolma Chowk, McLeod Ganj, Dharamashala. The small clinic is always buzzing with patients from all parts of India and local Tibetans read more →
Tibet’s Future at Stake: Message from an Activist
By Ben Byrne / December 28, 2019
LobsangYangtso is the Asia region campaign coordinator at the International Tibet Network in Dharamshala. She agreed to meet me to tell me about her work, which involves organising climate strikes and raising international and local awareness of issues relating to the Tibetan environment. Lobsang was born in the shadows of read more →
Secular Ethics for a Changing Tibet with Kunchok Tenzin
By Okechukwu Onwunli / September 13, 2019
For a culture and diaspora under rapid change, we look at the role of secular ethics for Tibetans inside and outside of Tibet. Okechukwu Onwunli – Contact‘s writer met with Kunchok Tenzin to speak about his research into secular ethics, supported by Lha Charitable Trust and the Tibet Fund. Contact: read more →