Tibet (Honoring Gyatsho Tshering)

From the Album Don’t Stand Still

I was born in a beautiful country
In the mountains of Tibet
In the land of the Dalai Lama
In the land of Consciousness
Growing up along the border
Beneath a ripe orange tree
Sitting with my grandfather
Words of kindnesshe taught me

Shewa, Zopa, Ning-ja
Peace, Loving-Kindness, Compassion

Through 14 Dalai Lamas
We were taught to do one thing
At a time with five senses
A diplomat I chose to be
Then from across the border
Like a colony of ants
We could smell dead bodies burning
For days and days after that

Shewa, Zopa, Ning-ja
Peace, Loving-Kindness, Compassion

Burning books by the millions
They took everything they could steal
Destroyed 6,000 monasteries
Beneath clothing we concealed

The sacred text of our people
Held tightly against our chest
As we fled across the border
To India from Tibet

Shewa, Zopa, Ning-ja
Peace, Loving-Kindness, Compassion

Without land, without a country
One hundred thousand refugees
One million killed, so many orphaned
The Dalai Lama called for me

Will you be there to help the children
To build schools, clinics, libraries
Will you be there to help the people
Serving others, I agreed

Shewa, Zopa, Ning-ja
Peace, Loving-Kindness, Compassion

What can we do but to be mindful
Where can we go but to be kind
Compassionate; soothe those who suffer
To keep hope alive
For Tibet; for the children
For those in whom, yet to arise
May love grow; may love prosper
May Tibet never die

Shewa, Zopa, Ning-ja
Peace, Loving-Kindness, Compassion

Words & music by Larry Long
Copyright Larry Long 2008 | BMI

*Lyrics collectively written with students in Columbia Heights, Minnesota through the Elders’ Wisdom, Children’s Song program. Honoring Gyatsho Tshering: Tibetan Scholar and Author. Born: 1935 in Sikkim, China.

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