I am a LITTLE upset with CHINA right now!

Why? Well, because of PERSECUTION!!

Not long ago, Lobsang told us of a video he received of a Chinese soldier shooting down Tibetan refugees, just like they were little targets on a shooting range. Bang. Bang. Bang. Then, he sat down under a tree and had lunch.

Lobsang talked for a while about compassion and truly cherishing all sentient beings. Someone asked how to cherish that Chinese soldier. He pondered, and told us to remember that the soldier acted as he did because of causes and conditions that brought him to that place. Perhaps he didn't have loving support as a child, or was tortured, or we can't know. When it's reallly hard to cherish someone that has done horrible things, he suggested thinking of the person as a baby. Suddenly that changed the whole feeling tone of the situation. I trey to remember that thought.

Then the SECOND reason I'm upset with CHINA is more PERSECUTION!

I was at the amazing Wears + Wares (www.wearsandwares.com) artisans market in Boston (which continues on Saturdays through December). On my way back, through the common, there was this group of people doing tai chi. They had presentation boards about torture and imprisonment in China of practitioners of Falun Gong.

Now, these 4 people were doing the Falun Gong exercises. A series of 5 Qi Gong exercises that are slow, peaceful, and harmless. Apparently if you do that in China, you can get arrested, imprisoned, and well, it gets really ugly... Visit www.falundafa.org for instruction on how to do the exercises, and/or political updates.

Seems like thousands of people have been disappeared for practicing this. I don't really understand why, but Amnesty International confirms the persecution. Maybe it's becasue millions of people practiced these exercises, and got together in groups to do it. (I'm thinking China doesn't really like people assembling on their own.)

Anyway, I have been practicing tai chi for 25 years now, and have thought it would be nice to practice in China sometime. Think again Sister! It's hard to grasp that my own activities would be reason for torture in another country.

So, that's why I am a little upset with China right now.