Dalal Lama in JapanThe Dalai Lama is in Japan. He said he is disappointed that China refuses to be a real partner for peace and understanding between the Tibetan people and Beijing, and is pessimistic about reaching a good conclusion to he conflict: “Diplomacy has failed.” But Beijing is puzzled by the Dalai Lama’s “disappointment” and says his remarks only “add to his mistakes.”

Though his recent remarks have been tempered in statements by the government-in-exile in Dharamsala, the DL is still making friends and foes alike a bit uneasy with his recent talk.

In Japan he spoke  about the institution of the Dalai Lama:

“Dalai institution evolved 600 years ago. It happened. Then about 300 years ago, Dalai Lama institution became head of both temporal as well as spatial. At a certain time, it happened. At a certain time, it will go. It is not important,” he said.

Impermanence, indeed.

The Dalai Lama is also disappointed with French president Nicolas Sarkozy and will not be going to an event for Nobel laureates in Paris. Sarkozy, unlike Angela Merkel, chose not to greet the DL on his last visit to France, so His Holiness instead had to make small talk with First Lady of France Carla Bruni. But let’s put things in perspective. we all know the Dalai Lama is more disappointed with China than with France.

Meanwhile, China is teaching Buddhists English:

Qi said he hoped the project would serve as a beginning course to attract more Buddhist followers to learn foreign languages so that China could have more followers with a global view.

Elder Master Yicheng, president of the BAC, said that with the rise of China’s national strength, exchanges between the Chinese Buddhist circle and those elsewhere in the world had become more frequent.

It was imperative for China to train people who could spread Buddhist teachings in other languages and the program was a step in that direction, he said.

China hosted the first World Buddhist Forum in April 2006.

This seems to mean that Beijing feels Buddhists around the world don’t like China so they are training Buddhists to be ambassadors for China.

Prince Charles continues his tour of Asia. He just saw Borobodur.

[Photo: AP]

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