"Tears and smiles for the tibet" by vinc_bilb

After the debate, the place for the visit: the spiritual guide of the Tibetans had a visit of 12 days in France, in August,during the the Olympic Games in China...
This visit was planned for a long time: before the incidents in the Tibet, before the debate on the meeting between the Dalai Lama and the president Sarkozy... It is the just repair of a meeting missed with France: in July, 2006, the Tibetan leader had to cancel his visit for reasons of health.

This visit was marked by an interview with Foreign Secretary, Bernard Kouchner, in a Buddhist temple of the Hérault.
During this essentially religious meeting, the Dalai Lama, age 73, Nobel Peace Prize and world figure of the nonviolence, denounced the "rough" Chinese repression which reigns in the Tibet, at the same time as the Olympic Games.

The Tibetan spiritual leader also received the first lady of France, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, as well as the Secretary of State of Human Rights, Rama Yade.
It was about the only meeting between representatives of the French government and the Tibetan spiritual leader during its visit in France.

The Elysee had indicated that the president Nicolas Sarkozy would not receive the Dalai Lama in this occasion, what aroused the critics of the French political opposition.
The Tibetan leader had begun his stay on August 12th with a visit in the pagoda of the Vietnamese congregation of Evry, the vastest of Europe (4.000 m2), where 1.500 believers welcomed him.
In Nantes the Dalai Lama also distributed a cycle of educations of five days, and pronounced in front of more than 9.000 persons a conference on the subject of the world peace.

Reporters Without Borders acted yesterday like a commando, with support from French peoples against Police, in the spirit of "Asterix le Gaulois".

Extract from http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=26475
Stages major protests for Olympic torch relay in Paris despite massive police presence

Reporters Without Borders hails the extensive demonstrations in support of human rights and press freedom that were staged today in Paris as relay runners carried the Olympic torch around the city.

The press freedom organisation managed to unfurl gigantic flags with its Beijing 2008 campaign motif of the Olympic rings turned handcuffs in seven locations: the Eiffel Tower, Avenue Marceau, the Champs-Elysées, the Pont des Arts, the Quai Malaquais, the facade of the cathedral of Notre Dame and near the Charléty Stadium (headquarters of the National Olympic Committee).

France: embassy demonstration in front of the Chineese embassy (March 17). The guy who replaced the Chinese flag by the Tibetan one was arrested by the French police.
Source: http://www.tibet-info.net/www/Manifestation-a-Paris-en-photos-16.html

Source: http://www.paperblog.fr/551923/manifestation-a-paris-contre-la-repression-chinoise-au-tibet/

Matthieu Ricard is a Buddhist monk who resides in Nepal, closed from the for the Dalai Lama.
He have one of the most shining aura, personnality I've neither seen.
He is the son of a renowned French philosopher, worked for a Ph.D. degree in molecular genetics at the Institut Pasteur and finally decided to forsake his scientific career and concentrate on the practice of Tibetan Buddhism. He lived in the Himalayas studying with the Kangyur Rinpoche and some other great masters of that tradition and became the close student and attendant of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche until his passing in 1991. Since then, Mr. Ricard has dedicated his activities to fulfilling Khyentse Rinpoche’s vision.

His books (The Monk and the Philosopher,...) were best sellers in Europe reflecting his long-standing interest in science and Buddhism.
He is deeply engaged in the research on the effect of mind training on the brain, at Madison-Wisconsin, Princeton and Berkeley.
He received the French National Order of Merit for his humanitarian work in the East. For the last few years, Mr. Ricard has dedicated his effort and the royalites of his books to various charitable projects in Asia

More under http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathieu_Ricard
Please, visit http://www.karuna.org/
Photos source: http://www.shechen.org/ (Dilgo Khyentsé Rinpoche, Khyents angsi Rinppoche, Sh Rabjam Rinpoche and Matthieu Ricard)

When the tibet flag will fly on the Potala. As far as I know, I'll neither go to Lhasa before

Photos source: http://www.shechen.org

A rainbow symbol during hard time for Tibetans peoples.