Written by Tibetan teacher Lama Lekshe and re-posted from Dekeling Community in Portland, OR:
To our mediation community, my friends, elders and companions on the path—
You may have seen the recent onslaught of social media reaction videos and ‘news stories’ about the Dalai Lama, reporting that he apparently requested a child to ‘suck his tongue’ after kissing the child on the cheek and then lips, after the child had, much to the chagrin of his very watchful mother sitting nearby, boldly asked the Dalai Lama if he could have a hug, in front of a public audience at a graduation ceremony captured on recorded and broadcasted video.
Two months after it was recorded, an edited version of the video re-surfaced and there was an outcry of judgement and a river of instant accusations of pedophiliac behavior, based on the “evidence” of a heavily edited video a matter of seconds long. I waited for a single person—including those from other oppressed and flash-judged communities—to say, “Hey let’s check in with Tibetans to see if we are missing something.” I watched about 100 brief reaction videos, and found exactly one person who identified herself as completely culturally ignorant in the case of Tibetan culture, and who was asking herself in a Tik Tok video, “Were we missing something?”
We were. We were missing “Che Le Sa.” (“Eat my tongue”, in Tibetan)
In Tibetan culture, particularly the high and rural region of Amdo, where the Dalai Lama is from, elders easily might kiss a child directly, and even give a child a bite of food or a sweet directly from their own mouth. Then, since they have given all the affection they can, they say, “Che le sa!”
It means something like, “You got the kiss, you got the candy (or food) the only thing that’s left is my tongue…go ahead, eat that, too.” Tibetan children know “Che le sa.” It is a joyful and playful expression of the powerful love of Tibetan community elders. In Amdo, where food-scarcity, hardship, and even death from poverty was not uncommon, elders express a willingness to offer affection, food—even their very body and life for the sake of their children and grand-children in the tender expression of “Che le sa!”
Thank you, Peter. Why not publish your comments in the Times Colonist. Why has no one offered any explanation so far? We seem so ready to condemn!
I agree, Sandy. On your nudge I’ve written to the Times Colonist to gauge their interest in factual background information. Maybe they already have published something? I’ve offered to write a Letter to the Editor (with Lama Lekshe’s consent, of course) or pen an Opinion piece. Both options are available to readers of the paper. We’ll see.
I leave a. Note of Quaker silence
Thanks for the helpful very clarifying and needed extra context.
btw, when I tried the ‘click here for the full text’ nothing happened.
thanks, Lana.
Fixed it: https://dekeling.community/che-le-sa/
Thank you for sharing this Peter, I’ve been passing it along to family and friends.
All voices welcome here. Silence welcome, too. This series of events has produced such an interesting set of questions for me. I am never as interested in answers as I am in the questions that arise when I or others are suffering.
Adding valuable insight, always, Peter. I hadn’t heard anything about this, but glad to learn about it within an accurate context. Thank you.
Nor had I, dear friend. But since I have, every person I asked while walking the neighbourhood, has “heard” — mostly snippets, the “scandalous” bits. Clear speech is a rare commodity. We must protect and practice it with every breath.