The Secret Tibet (The Forbidden world)

Dharamshala: The Tibet Post International-UK based spiritual organization "Knights Templar of Britannia" claims it is planning assist in the struggle for Tibetan rights. TPI's Y.C Dhardhowa talked to Lord Christopher Macklin, a senior council member of The Knights Templar of Britannia, who is involved in coordinating the project.

 

The recent discovery of a nail by Lord Macklin's organisation, claimed to be used to crucify Jesus Christ, has attracted media attention in the UK.

Conspiracy theories concerning the Knights Templar have been rife since the publication of Dan Brown's immensely popular, though critically panned, The Da Vinci Code franchise, and the resulting critically panned Hollywood blockbusters.

Modern organisations with links to the Knights Templar are frequently implicated in these conspiracy theories, and are often looked upon with a substantial amount of skepticism.

Lord Macklin has travelled to Dharamsala to seek an audience with His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet.

TPI: Can you introduce yourself briefly?

Lord Christopher Macklin: Certainly, my name's Lord Christopher Macklin, I'm a council member at the top of the Knights Templar of Britannia. This is one of 36 orders throughout England which the Vatican has studied in the past, and in fact our order is the only order which has a grandmaster that has ancestral links to the ancient grandmasters of before. So it is a proper order and we therefore have ancient knowledge that the Knights Templars had going back thousands of years, and also artifacts which we have kept secret up until now.

What is the purpose of the Knights Templar of Britannia? Is it devoted to a religious or spiritual cause?

The Knights Templars are historically spiritual. They are originally the Knights of the Temples, and these 'Temples' were the pyramids. The Knights Templar used to guard the pyramids. These pyramids were very special to the Knights Templar and we are going to release the reasons why in the future.

What are the intentions of the current Knights Templar?

The Knights Templar are basically very spiritual people. They have complete integrity. They do many good works throughout the world. They get involved in humanitarian projects, and also within the order we have many different projects in England.

[People] have to have integrity when they join the Knights Templar. People, if they want to, can be trained as a Knight. To be trained they have to become spiritual. [There are] many different aspects of becoming a Knight, which are spiritual abilities, for example manifestations.

When was the organisation established?

It was established a long time ago. It's been around for many years - I think it's 700 years old. It comes from the ancient Knights Templar. In 1300 the Knights Templar disbanded. Because of the order of the pope, the grandmaster at the time, Jacques de Molay, was slow-roasted at the stake. The pope ordered this because the King of France put pressure on the pope to disband the Knights Templars, because he had borrowed so much money from them that he couldn't afford to pay it back.

That's why, once the grandmaster was killed, some Knights Templars disbanded into the Knights Hospitalice, and others jumped onto ships and set sail with all the artifacts and all the gold they had and dispersed throughout the world.

And who are the employers of the Knight Templars?

Er... there's no employment. It's a spiritual organization which is completely charitable. People get involved in the Knights Templar on a charitable basis.

How do people get involved in the Knights Templar of Britannia?

Some are very involved and have missions out all over the world in Africa. There are things going on in America - some are looking after soup kitchens. People get involved all over the world, but people can be as involved or uninvolved as they like.

But are there any conditions to join? Any requirements, Christianity?

No. It's not a Christian organization - it's a spiritual organization. We understand how all the religions come together, and how everything fits together. That's why we're looking at writing a book about the Knights templar. We recognize all religions.

How are the Knights Templar of Britannia interested in Tibetan issues?

We don't like to see the humanitarian problems which Tibet is having at the moment, and therefore we support His Holiness and the Tibetan people to try and free themselves of their problems. We're hoping to release a big fund of money in the next three or four months. One thing you'll learn about the Knights Templar is that the determination [that we have] is huge. Once we set a goal we achieve it. Part of Buddhist teaching is that if you believe something and you manifest it, it will happen. I believe, along with my colleagues at the Knights Templar, that we are going to make this fund available. [We] have manifested it and it will happen.

700 years of history is not a short period of time, so what have been your main successes in the 21st century?

We've had many successes. What we realize is that there's a lot of darkness at the moment which is engineered from monetary greed. This seems to be controlling the world at the moment. Greed seems to have manifested within people all over the world. What we're trying to do is educate people to step back and think "the world is not about money, it's about helping people." It's about waking the spirituality within people, to get them to start helping. That's really important to us.

You have to remember that the world's money is held by the very few, and they're pulling all the strings. It's our mission to try and turn that around, and get people feeling positive again. People live in fear at the moment, because the economic situation in the Western countries is very poor - people are in debt or can't pay their bills - and because of that, because of the fear factor and the negativity within them, they can't become spiritual. What we hope to do is to reeducate them to let go of that money-side and help them to become spiritual. We have some ideas for [doing] that in the future, which will be released.

You flew from the UK to Dharamshala to meet Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Why is it important to meet His Holiness for your organization?

It's most important because His Holiness has great wisdom, as you know. We have wisdom also, and I think [ours] is in symbiosis with His Holiness' ideas, therefore I'm very keen to meet His Holiness to get some focus on how we can help him and the Tibetan people, as well as how he can help us to move forward with the projects we are doing, of which there are many, and [which] are going to be huge.

You've mentioned that you've already met some officials from the Central Tibetan Government.

I've met the secretary who was excited to arrange a meeting with the Prime Minister in April. It's my mission to come back, because with His Holiness and the Prime Minister behind what we're doing, I think we can do some great work together.

Getting spirituality back and getting the Tibetan people to manifest for the humanitarian problems to be over is important. We're hoping to make the fund available which we're starting to manifest now in various forms, so hopefully in the next three months we'll be able to help monetary-wise as well.

If you couldn't meet with His Holiness this time, would you be discouraged?

I never get discouraged. One thing about [myself], as I said, is when I set a goal I achieve it, and I think His Holiness would back me up on this because he is a spiritual person of equal standing for myself... I think we're two people with the ability to perform some amazing things in the future, and that's why I'm very excited to meet his Holiness. I know His Holiness will meet me in the future, for sure, because he is a very beautiful spirit.

You've had some media attention over the discovery of a "Holy Nail", could you tell us about that?

When Jack de Molay was slow-roasted at the stake, and [the Knights Templar's] ships set sail all over the world, one of the fleet went via Madeira, and they set new commandries up all over the world to keep the Knights' Temple alive. Our order manifested out of that. The "Holy Nail" was in a box with particular Temple symbols which [corresponds] to our records. We identified the nail as Christ's crucifixion nail, which we've been guarding for over 2000 years.

Now we've got joint ownership with the Prince of Pontinha, so we're very excited about this find. I think it's one of our momentous finds.

Is that the photo [of the nail] in your hand?

It is. It's about four inches long.

Yeah, I can see that in the photo.

When Christ was crucified, not many people know this, but with crucifixion what they normally did was they strapped [the victim's] arms up, then put the nail through the bottom part of the arm to cause more pain.

Archaeologists confirm that the nail is from the first or second century, and also that it had been handled in a careful way by many people over a long period of time. Obviously they can't confirm that it was Christ's nail, but from our records we can confirm that it was the nail which was lost in the fleet.

And where is the nail now?

Well, I can't really tell you! It's with our security.

Dharamshala: TPI-Giving a discourse on the importance of promoting Ahimsa (non-violence), compassion and religious harmony, Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama on Friday also urged Indian to play an active role in the heritage of ancient Indian tradition.

"Buddhism comes from India. So, it is also their religion. I usually describe Indian as our guru. We are its chelas (students)" His Holiness said, "So, I am a student of the India guru. And all my thoughts, my ideas, actually come from India's tradition. Therefore, I consider, and I also introduce myself, when I visit other countries, as a messenger of India. At the level of messenger, I am quite active promoting Ahimsa, compassion and religious harmony. So, now the time comes that my boss, my Indian guru now must meet an active role regarding the promotion".

His Holiness the Dalai Lama was speaking at the international seminar on ‘Buddhist Heritage in Gujarat' being held at the Maharaja Sayajirao University, in Vadodara. The seminar was also attended by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi who, in his inaugural speech earlier, had said that he wanted to build in Gujarat the country's biggest Buddhist temple with a centre for studies in Buddhism. And Tibetan spiritual leader supported the idea strongly, sating "That's very very essential. In America and also in Europe there are some Universities where Buddhist studies can be learned. So why not India? It is home of Buddhism".

Further, the 74 year-old Nobel peace laureate emphasized on the necessity of having realistic methods and holistic perspectives to challenge the troubles in today's' world. Addressing the scholars and Buddhist leaders from Bhutan, Japan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand and as well as India, His Holiness said "we must make a distinction between faith and respect. Faith goes to one's own religion, respect, to all religions. That is very, very essential. We must appreciate the value or the immense sort of benefit to millions of people of other religion like Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism or all religions, like that".

"Buddhist science has nothing to do with Buddhist religion. Mainly Buddhist science is more about emotion, more about mind, more about the relation between the brain, neurons and mind", in terms of Buddhist science and its potential contribution to world, Tibetan leader said, "More interaction with modern scientists should bring both immense benefits. We Buddhists get a much deeper knowledge about the particles, quads (subatomic sort of particles) really useful to us. And then modern scientists get plenty of information about emotion, about the mind. So, closer interaction brings mutual benefit."

His Holiness concludes his speech by saying, "Spiritually I am Indian and physically I am Tibetan".

www.tibetnewsonline.com-"Bodhgaya: Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama yesterday arrived in Bodhgaya, the holy site in Bihar where Buddha achieved enlightenment thousands of years ago. Today His Holiness began a five-day teaching as part of the seven-day Gelug Monlam, the biggest religious festival of the Gelug sect of Tibetan Buddhism.

His Holiness proceeded to the Tibetan Mahayana Institute called Gaden Phelgyeling Namgyal Monastery after stopping at the Mahabodhi temple, where he offered prayers inside the sanctum before moving to the Bodhi tree peepal, a direct descendant of the tree under which Gautama Buddha is said to have become enlightened about 2,500 years ago. His Holiness also inaugurated a multi-media museum, where he admired new stone carvings depicting Buddha's life in the Mahavihara premises.

The exiled Tibetan leader addressed more than 50,000 Buddhist devotees who had congregated in Bodh Gaya on the importance of pure sincerity, or morality, on the part of both preachers and listeners, rather than the desire for fame or self-benefit.   Among the 50,000 who have gathered in Bodh Gaya for the Tibetan monk's annual World Peace Lecture that began today, at least 1,000 — most of them between 20 and 40 — are from non-Buddhist countries like Australia, Italy, the Czech Republic, Spain, England, Brazil and several African and Asian countries.

This afternoon, the Noble Peace Prize laureate lectured on the master Nagarjuna's “In Praise of the Transcendentall” (jigten ley depar toepa) and Atisha's “Lamp of the Path to Enlightenment” (jangchup lamdron). Over the next few days, he is scheduled to teach on Longchen Rinpoche's “Mind In Comfort and Ease”(semnyid nyelso) and Tsongkhapa's “Short Version of the Stages of the Path To Enlightenment” (lamrim dhuedhon). At the end of the five-day teaching, the Monlam organizing committee will perform a grand long-life prayer offering for His Holiness.

Dharamshala: The Tibet Post International-Representatives of Tashi Lhunpo Monastery and the Central Association of His Holiness the Panchen Lama today made a grand long-life prayer offering to His Holiness the Dalai Lama at the main temple in Dharamshala.This ceremony was meant to commemorate the 20th anniversary of His Holiness the 10th Panchen Lama, Choekyi Gyaltsen's, death. The prayers were also held in hopes to hasten the release of the 11th Panchen Lama, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, who was abducted by Chinese authorities in 1995, at the age of six.

Kachen Lobzang Tseten, Abbot of the Tashi Lhumpo Monastery in Bylakuppe addressed the gathering, speaking at length about the need to hold the memorial ceremony, and describing the 10th Panchen Lama's life and his efforts to promote the welfare of the Tibetan people, their language and culture under the harsh rule of Communist China.

The Tibetan spiritual leader opened three Tibetan books on the 10th Panchen Lama during the ceremony. Mr, Penpa Tsering, Speaker of Tibetan Parliament in exile, and Prime Minister Professor Samdhong Rinpoche were also present at the ceremony, along with other officials, NGO representatives, and almost 4000 Tibetans and foreigners.

His Holiness addressed the gathering, stating, "Today is the 20th death anniversary of the Tibetan patriot, Panchen Choekyi Gyaltsen, who sought truth for the Tibetan nation. If Panchen Rinpoche was still alive, it is very sure that living inside Tibet, he would have continued his best effort to achieve a good cause (for Tibet). When he passed way, I felt a pang of regret."

His Holiness commented on the historical conflict between the 9th Panchen Lama and 13th Dalai Lama back in the 1920s. He said, "The 9th Panchen Lama fled to China and Mongolia when the Central Tibetan Government ordered the Panchen Lama's seat, Tashi Lhunpo Monastery, to pay a large amount of taxes for the Tibetan military services. But the special teacher-student relationship and spiritual bond remained between them," through correspondence and the 9th Panchen Lama's advice during the search for the 13th Dalai Lama's reincarnation.

His Holiness praised the 10th Panchen Lama's patriotism and encouragement, particularly his meeting with the exile Tibetan delegation. "He really had a great courage for fighting the truthful struggle," the Tibetan leader commended.

His Holiness described his recognition of the 11th Panchen Lama, "When I looked at the pictures of candidates for the former Panchen Lama, I found out that Gedhun Chokyi Nyima is very adorable among them, and later the spiritual lottery test, his ball (written name of candidate inside a small) jumped from the lottery vase".

The 74 year-old Nobel laureate concluded his speech by declaring, "People inside Tibet are living under terror and we are living in a free country, but their courage and patriotism in struggling for the national rights and identity are stronger than us. It is wrong that Tibetans in free land are to be more preoccupied with livelihood rather than concerning more important issues like Tibetan struggle. We all are Tibetan, the people of the Snow Land, so we shouldn't forget the Tibetan situation".

He emphasized the importance of education and knowledge in resolving Tibetan issue, claiming, "The main goal of the work and effort of great Tibetan heroes, like the Panchen Lama, is for a common Tibetan cause, which all Tibetans should care and responsible. When the responsibilities are recognized, knowledge, education and sincerity are the key to fulfill them. Our struggle is a struggle for truth; it should be transparent."

He criticized the hypocrisy of Chinese policy, as Chinese authorities say one thing inside their territory, and something different to the world outside. His Holiness concluded that as the truth is on the Tibetan side, our struggle is should be conducted in the way of truth, transparency and nonviolence. And many people support this struggle, which Tibetans should be proud of. Furthermore, the Sino-Tibetan issue is not a "I win and you lose" type of struggle. Resolving the conflict bears a mutual benefit for both sides, and that is why many Chinese people support us [Tibetans]. Thus, there is no reason to be discouraged.

Dharamshala: The Tibet Post International-His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual and political leader, will visit the Japanese Zenkoji Temple in the city of Nagano next June, His Holiness' liaison office in Tokyo announced on 24 December.

The temple authorities declined to serve as the starting point of the Japanese leg of the Beijing Olympic torch relay in April last year, due to concerns over the Chinese crackdown on Buddhists in Tibet.

According to the liaison office, His Holiness the Dalai Lama presented a Buddhist statue to Zenkoji at a meeting in Tokyo on 6 November last year, and the temple invited him at that time.

The Zenkoji Temple hailed the old-bronze Buddha statue as an important cultural and religious symbol.

Next June, His Holiness is planning to hold a service for world peace there, and also to give a public lecture in the city.

During His Holiness’s visit to Japan in November this year, Japanese prime minister Yokio Hatoyama sent him a message through a group of Japanese lawmakers, stating that he hopes to meet with the Tibetan spiritual leader again.

The Tibet Post: Naha, Japan: "We witnessed anti-war rallies from Australia to America before the Iraq invasion. Popular peaceful movements brought down the Berlin wall. Indeed, in the 21st century, the force of peace is growing," His Holiness the Dalai Lama said, Thursday.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama was speaking next to rows of walls inscribed with names of those killed in the Battle of Okinawa at Heiwa-no-ishiji, the Cornerstone of Peace in Okinawa War Memorial Park.

Asserting that ‘violence is always unpredictable and brings only sufferings, not solutions', His Holiness urged Japan to lead the movement for non-violence and reconciliation in the world.

"This nation has experienced a lot of man-made sufferings and disastrous wars. Learning from your past experiences, you should lead the peace movement further," said His Holiness.

His Holiness then visited the Okinawa Peace Memorial Hall and offered prayers.

"Meeting with the public is my top most priority"

Over 5,000 people gave a standing ovation to His Holiness as he entered the Okinawa Kenritsu Budokan stadium, this afternoon to give a public talk on ‘Peace and a Compassionate Mind'.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama thanked the organisers for providing the ‘opportunity to share mutual experiences' and said that meeting with the public remains his top most priority.

Stating that peace is ‘not the mere absence of violence but the human ability to restrain from violence', His Holiness encouraged the audience to develop respect for each other's viewpoint by cultivating compassion.

"Compassion is not pitiness. Compassion is a genuine sense of concern and respect that can be cultivated by realising that everyone has the right to overcome suffering," said His Holiness.

Relating to his personal story, His Holiness the Dalai Lama said, "At 16, I lost my freedom. At 24, I lost my country. During the past 50 years I have heard a lot of heart-breaking news from my own land. Still, comparatively, my mind is quite peaceful because of the seed of compassion from my mother and Buddhist training and the experiences of meeting a lot of people".

Responding to a question from the audience, His Holiness the Dalai Lama advised Tibet supporters to study and follow the situation of Tibet.

"Get more information on the current situation in Tibet and study the culture and ecology of Tibet. The best thing is to go there, [Tibet]spend time and try to get free access to study the real situation."

Chairman of the organising committee, Mikio Higa, thanked His Holiness the Dalai Lama for accepting the invitation and hoped that the ‘waves of peace' that His Holiness brought will continue to bless Okinawa forever.

Hundreds of Tibetans and foreigners lined the streets of the Indian hill station of Mcleod Ganj, Lower-Upper Dharamsala, today 13 October 2009, in anticipation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama's return from his three-week visit to the US and Canada. His Holiness is scheduled to hold two sets of teachings at the Main Temple here before heading to Japan at the end of the month.

The crowd bowed and offered traditional white scarves as the vehicle carrying His Holiness passed through narrow streets decorated with prayer flags and banners with Tibetan slogans such as "Welcome Back" and "Congratulations on your successful trip." This ostentatious welcome is an integral Tibetan custom, a symbol of Tibetans' respect for and devotion to their spiritual and political leader.

According to His Holiness the Dalai Lama's official website, he will be teaching from 15 to 18 October on the Diamond Sutra, Geshe Chekewa's "Seven-Point Mind Training," and Tsongkhapa's "Three Principle Paths." On the last day of the conference, he will confer the Avalokiteshvara (Compassion Buddha) Initiation. These teachings are "at the request of Taiwanese devotees," but followers of all nationalities are welcome to attend. Around 1000 Taiwanese Buddhist followers are expected to attend the teachings.

From 20 to 22 October, His Holiness will lecture on the Four Noble Truths, as requested by a group of Southeast Asian devotees.

On 31 October, His Holiness is scheduled to commence a one-week tour of Japan with a public talk in Tokyo.

Anyone can register to attend the Dalai Lama's teachings at the Tibetan Branch Security office in Mcleod Ganj (near Hotel Tibet). The teachings can also be viewed via webcast at: http://www.dalailama.com/page.128.htm.

Dharamsala: www.tibetherald.com-Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama on Tuesday began three-day Buddhist teachings at the Main Tibetan Temple in Dharamshala at the request of Korean Buddhist followers. Each day's teachings will consist of two 2-hour sessions, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. The more than 4000 people attending today's teachings included 1400 Tibetan Buddhist monks and nuns, 1300-1500 lay Tibetans, around 250 Koreans, and over 1400 visiting tourists from over 55 western countries. These teachings are simultaneously being translated into Korean, English, Chinese, French, Japanese, and Spanish, and available on FM radio transmission.

The Tibetan spiritual leader greeted the Korean group before beginning the teachings with a discussion of the Four Noble Truths, suffering, and emptiness. "Today, we meet here again...I extend my greetings to Korean Dharma friends led by their abbot. We all are following the same teachings of the Buddha, particularly the Buddhism which developed and was practiced at the ancient Indian Nalanda University," His Holiness said. He paid respects to Korean Buddhism, which, he explained, was developed from Chinese Buddhism and actually predated the transmission of the Dharma to Tibet. He acknowledged Korean Buddhists as "senior" followers of the Buddha, while and Tibetans are "junior" followers. "However," he noted, "we are all followers of same Buddha Dharma."

The morning's teachings began with an introduction of the Four Noble Truths, emphasizing both the distinctions and connections between the first and second turning of the Dharma Wheel. In order to achieve cessation from suffering, a practitioner must have an intimate knowledge of ignorance-the ultimate root of suffering. His Holiness noted that this is achieved through a three-step process, "hearing, reception, and meditative reflection." With knowledge of ignorance, he explained, comes understanding of true reality and emptiness. His Holiness made a point of noting that the Buddhist notion of emptiness is not the same as nothingness. Buddhism values human life as a precious gift, and would never regard existence as a form of nothingness.

In the afternoon session, His Holiness touched upon the differences between Hinayana Buddhism, which was originally transmitted in the Pali language, and Mahayana Buddhism, which originated in Sanskrit, and includes Tibetan, Chinese, Korean, and Japanese Buddhists. Hinayana practitioners, who follow strictly the original words of the Buddha, reject either interpretation or expansion of the Dharma, and therefore often criticize Mahayana Buddhists as false, particularly concerning where Tantra is concerned. Mahayana recognizes Tantric practice (Vajrayana) as an integral component of Buddhism, while Hinayana dismisses it as a branch of Hinduism. His Holiness described how Mahayana Buddhists, including both Tibetan and Korean practitioners, must regularly defend their beliefs as authentic. His Holiness concluded the first day's teachings with a discussion of Nagarjuna, an early Indian Buddhist master.