By Ignacio Gil
2 March 2018
The door of the Casa del Tíbet in the center of Barcelona opens and the smell of incense and the red and orange color of the walls immerse you almost without wanting it in another world.. In a world impregnated with humanity and serenity. And the meeting with Thubten Wangchen is magical. The warmth of his gaze conquers you instantly. In its depth one sees a serene and patient wisdom..
Thubten Wangchen. ©Ignacio Gil
was born ago 63 years in Kyirong within a large family. When he was only four years old, the Chinese army invaded his native Tibet.. They kidnapped his mother, She was placed in a labor camp where she was shot to death shortly after.. His father did not hesitate, He chose to undertake the long and difficult path of exile, fleeing to India, crossing the icy Himalayan mountains on foot with his three eldest children. Wangchen still remembers it, He was so small and so weak that his father carried him on his shoulders much of the way.. “Many died on the journey.”, upon being discovered by the Chinese army or simply due to exhaustion”. They left everything behind, going out with what's on.
The first seven years in India he slept precariously on the streets and had to beg to survive.. Those years that he does not forget left their mark on him because they taught him fundamental things like “being happy having little.” fundamental thought in Buddhist philosophy. He will always be grateful to India for that good reception and the opportunity it gave him and his exiled compatriots to obtain training and grow in values and knowledge..
Thubten Wangchen with his father and brothers. ©Ignacio Gil
At the age of sixteen he decided to enter the Namgyal Monastery., where he lived with the Dalai Lama for eleven years, Tenzin Gyatso. What stands out about him is “his coherence, your joy, his sense of humor, and his leadership skills, “away from the lust for power that corrupts so many other politicians.”.
From 1994 who founded the House of Tibet lives in Barcelona and is a Spanish citizen. In April 2011 He was elected member of the Tibetan Parliament in exile.
He defines himself as “optimistic.”, ¡Tibetans are!” and advocates for a peaceful solution to his nation's conflict. “Truth and non-violence will win” assures.
So many decades of occupation in Tibet produce painful death tolls, exile and repression even so, the refugee and beggar child, became a wise monk, has hope and trusts that “difficult things just take longer”” but they end up being resolved.
