In need of Tibetan wisdom
As Chinese tourists begin entering Lhasa in big numbers via the new rail link, John Vincent Bellezza looks on with interest. Professor Bellezza is a member of the Bon Translation Project at Oxford University and has spent 23 years researching archaeology sites related to the Bon religion in Tibet. He has written five books on the subject.
Professor Bellezza has seen far more of Tibet than any tourist. An expert on Tibet's lost Zhang Zhung civilisation, which lasted from 1000BC to 700AD, he sees parallels between then and now - and draws lessons as to how civilisations cause their own extinction.
'Climatic change made the environment colder and dryer, leading to the economic collapse of the means of production,' Professor Bellezza said in a recent interview. 'The average tourist will be looking at a bunch of rocks and ruins, but there is an object lesson that can be learned here. Climatic change can lead to the demise of even very powerful civilisations. Even those with strong military and technological capabilities, like Zhang Zhung.
'Although civilisation is now globalised, it could potentially suffer the same fate. So we should take the lessons of Zhang Zhung seriously. We need to work quickly to ameliorate the negative impact that our societies are having in the modern world.'
Is it realistic to think that China could take the lead in the global fight against environmental degradation? 'I think China can,' argued Professor Bellezza. '[It] possesses many of the world's most important ecosystems and, at the same time, it's developing rapidly.
'Thus China is in an excellent position to affect the environmental quality of the planet in the decades to come - through protection of its biodiversity and natural habitats, and safeguarding its ethnic minority cultures, whose lifestyle is integral to environmental protection.'
Tibet had an important role to play in this process because it possessed 'not less than four or five world-class ecosystems', said Professor Bellezza.
To protect both Tibet's delicate ecosystem and cultural heritage, China must look back to its ancient traditions of Taoism and Buddhism, where harmony with nature and society are supreme values, he said.
Professor Bellezza suggested that by protecting Tibetan heritage, China might find a path forward by creating its own new-age ethos. 'Tibetan Buddhism can prove of great efficacy,' he said. 'In Tibetan Buddhism, all physical and biological aspects of the world are seen as interconnected. The plants, animals and people constitute sentient beings, possessing intrinsic spiritual value.'
This is a concept very alien to the Han Chinese. 'According to this view, even such an insignificant living creature as an ant or worm has the same right to exist as a human being. [That's] because it is thought that, since the beginning of time, these living beings have all undergone this process of cyclical evolution. This means everybody is dependent upon each other.'
Could this be the formula for a harmonious society that President Hu Jintao is looking for? 'In resuscitating Tibetan Buddhist values, China may well find the way to again cultivate a deep sense of oneness with all life forms,' Professor Bellezza said. 'This in turn could become the basis for a value system that creates a new sense of purpose in the conservation of China's environment.'
The result could go beyond protecting the physical environment, and 'potentially serve as the guarantor of social stability', he said. 'With a new realisation that all beings are interconnected and each person has his own inherent value relevant to each other - this could be the greatest antibiotic to the discord and growing tensions in Chinese society, if applied in a modern and purposeful way.'
Laurence Brahm is a political economist, author, filmmaker and founder of Shambhala Foundation
