OttawaWatch: The Dalai Lama comes to Parliament Hill
By Lloyd Mackey
THE APRIL 21-24 visit of the Dalai Lama to Ottawa, was a carefully-choreographed mixture of politics, religion and diplomacy.
The revered and sometimes controversial leader of Tibetan Buddhism spoke to 9,000 in a Saturday morning rally in the Civic Centre arena. It was a smaller version of mass meetings he addressed in Vancouver and Toronto. On the west coast, 14,000 turned out to see him at Pacific Coliseum. In Canada's largest city, he drew 29,000 to the SkyDome.
The rest of his national capital visit, however, was a complex network of meetings in and around The Hill. David Kilgour, prodigious Presbyterian, Liberal MP and former cabinet minister responsible for foreign affairs in Asia and the Pacific facilitated many of the sessions.
For his efforts, Kilgour was the recipient of a white silk Buddhist friendship scarf known as a "kata".
Meeting planners were cognizant of the religious and political sensitivities of Canadian politicians and religious leaders, Canadians of Tibetan background -- and the Chinese government.
At issue was the Chinese opposition to Prime Minister Paul Martin meeting with the Dalai Lama, who is the long-exiled leader of Tibet. China considers the Lama to be "splittist" and has suggested Tibetan Buddhism is equivalent to Quebec separatism. The Canadian government officially endorses the "one China" policy which opposes separate political status for Tibet, Taiwan or any other region traditionally considered part of China.
The Martin-Dalai Lama meeting came about through an arrangement whereby Catholic Ottawa Archbishop Marcel Gervais hosted the two at his palace, a stone's throw from the Parliament buildings. The closed door event was billed as a "spiritual" meeting, with any political or diplomatic agenda officially off limits. Nevertheless, Martin, a practicing Catholic, told reporters that he had raised Tibetan human rights issues at the session.
To reinforce its spiritual flavor, 19 Ottawa-based clergy persons nominated by the archbishop and Ottawa Mayor Bob Chiarelli were invited to the meeting.
The clergy were drawn from Christian, First Nations, Jewish, Sikh, Bahai and Muslim groups. Protestant ministers on hand were Lutherans Joel Crouse and Barton Baglo, Presbyterian Andrew Johnston, the United Church's Steve Lawson and Anglican Archdeacon Patricia Johnston.
None of the three major Christian umbrella groups -- Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, Canadian Council of Churches or the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, had status at the meeting.
But one evangelical concern was cautiously explored during a Thursday afternoon joint session of the Commons and Senate foreign relations committee. Conservative foreign affairs critic Stockwell Day asked the Dalai Lama about "freedom of religion", a term the Buddhist leader had not used in public during his visit.
Day, a charismatic evangelical, watches religious freedom issues closely, partly because he maintains links with Watchmen for the Nations, whose leader, David Demian, periodically urges Christian politicians to speak out for Taiwan autonomy. A major Taiwanese-Chinese tension surrounds the perceived lack of religious freedom in China -- an issue of contention, as well, for the Tibetan Buddhists.
The Dalai Lama, in responding to Day, emphasized "harmony among religions", a staple in most of his Canadian speeches.
Andrew Johnston, minister of Ottawa's historic St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church told this reporter that the "harmony" theme was emphasized at the archbishop's session. Without tipping his hand to what was said, he noted a general understanding that believers of all religions in China work in a context in which religious disbelief is the official stance of the state.
The Dalai Lama's current "non-separatist" objective takes account of that reality. He believes the best for Tibet will come by China having political and economic control of the region, with Tibet managing its own spiritual and cultural destiny.
He would, he says, renounce all legitimate authority over Tibet, once he returns from his self-imposed exile.
Even that explanation had its spiritual context. Asked by a reporter during an Ottawa press conference, about his periodic reference to his being a "wounded animal in retreat", the 69-year-old said he was referring to his final work as a "simple Buddhist monk".
Reconciliation with China achieved, he could "retreat" to teach the precepts of Tibetan Buddhism, which he summarizes as: compassion, forgiveness, tolerance, contentment, simplicity and self-discipline.
Those precepts were woven into every major address and interview he gave while in Canada, including the SkyDome gathering in Toronto, which began his several-days of teaching, known as the Kalachatkra.
It is the Kalachakra that had some charismatic Christians conducting a prayer vigil in Toronto during the Dalai Lama's stay. One group, known as Canada in Prayer, maintains that the Tibetan leader's Toronto teaching could release unspecified harmful spiritual forces in Canada.
Related stories:
Lessons from the Dalai Lama
Christians have much to learn from this vibrant 69-year-old who so often seems to giggle
Lorna Dueck, Globe and Mail, May 3
