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Coping and Resilience in the Tibetan Exile Community

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Coping and Resilience in the Tibetan Exile Community Spacious Minds, Empty Selves: Coping and Resilience in the Tibetan Exile Community Sara E. Lewis Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy under the Executive Committee of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2014 © 2014 Sara E. Lewis All rights reserved ABSTRACT Spacious Minds, Empty Selves: Coping and Resilience in the Tibetan Exile Community Sara E. Lewis Mental health in the Tibetan refugee community has been studied extensively; but like most research on political violence, these studies focus almost exclusively on trauma. We know little about those who manage to thrive and what kinds of sociocultural practices enhance their resilience. This dissertation, “Spacious Minds, Empty Selves: Coping and Resilience in the Tibetan Exile Community” investigates how Buddhism and other sociocultural factors support coping and resilience among Tibetan refugees living in Dharamsala, India. In contrast to other work that focuses exclusively on trauma, the aim of this project was to examine the broad range of reactions to political violence, exploring how people thrive in the face of adversity. Drawing on 14 months of extended participant observation and 80 in-depth interviews conducted in the Tibetan language, this project investigates how communities through social processes cope in the context of political violence and resettlement. The study draws upon and aims to extend theory in three distinct but overlapping areas: 1) trauma and resilience; 2) the anthropology of memory and temporality; and 3) the transferability of interventions across cultures. The dissertation argues that the Tibetan concept of resilience is more an active process than a personality attribute. Seeing emotions as impermanent and changing, Tibetans living in exile are reticent to dwell on distress, which seems only to stagnate or prolong suffering. Rather than processing the details of traumatic events, members of this community attempt to transform distress through cultural practices that emphasize compassion and impermanence. Many forms of coping in Dharamsala work to create a greater sense of spaciousness, openness and flexibility within the mind— qualities associated with resilience and wellbeing. In practicing flexibility, the durability of negative emotions is diminished, such that the encoding of trauma is derailed and disrupted. The contribution I make involves using a “resilience imaginary” as a fruitful site for pushing the boundaries of how we understand human freedom and agency. TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Charts, Graphs and Illustrations…………………………...…….…………………iii 1) Introduction…………………………………………………...…………………………….1 Introduction to Research Problem……………………………………………………………...4 Literature Review……………………………...…………………………………………...…..5 Study Design and Methods………………………………………...………………………….24 Introduction to Chapters……………………………………..………………………………..37 Significance of Project………………………………………………………………………...40 2) Little Lhasa: Identity and Meaning in India……………...………………………………43 Tibetan Political History……………………………………...………………………………44 Political Protest……………………………………………………………………………….54 Life in Dharamsala…………………………………………...……………………………….57 Self-Immolations………………………………………………………………………...……63 Identity and Meaning in Exile…………...……………………………………………………72 Tibetan Medicine and Local Healing Practices……………………………………………….73 3) Trauma and the Making of Flexible Minds……………………………………………….86 The Birth of PTSD……….……………………………………………...……………………87 Looping Effects……………...………………………………………………………………..90 Making of Flexible Minds..……..………………………………………...…………………103 Theoretical Model……………………..…………………..…………...……………………108 Technologies of Resilience…………………..…………………………...…………………109 Karma as Doxa…………………………………………………….………………………..131 4) Theories of Mind, Memory and Temporality……..……………………………………..138 i Trauma and Memory Studies…………………………………..……………………………140 The (Im)persistence of Memory……………….……………………..……………………..146 Freedom from Fixation…………………………………………………...………………….150 Theory of Self and Mind…………………...…………………………..……………………157 5) Globalizing Mental Health……….………………..……………………………………..162 Volunteers and NGOs……………………………………………………………………….163 Human Rights Discourse……………………………………..………………………...……167 Think Locally, Act Globally?……………………………….……………………………….176 Contribution to a Critical Global Health…………….………………………………………181 6) Discussion and Conclusion: Agency and the Open Sky of Mind.……….……………..186 Review of Therapeutic Uses of Meditation and Mindfulness…………………...…………..187 Can Tricks of Culture be on Loan?………………….………………………………………189 Therapeutic Implications of Project……………………….……………………...…………198 Moving Beyond Social Suffering………………………………...…………………...……..201 Conclusion……………………………………………...……………………………………209 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………….…..218 Appendices Appendix A: Community Member Interview Guide (English and Tibetan versions)…….…243 Appendix B: Expert Informant Interview Guide (English and Tibetan versions)………...…251 th Appendix C: Open Letter from 17 Karmapa………………………………………….……259 ii LIST OF CHARTS, GRAPHS, ILLUSTRATIONS Table 1: Sampling Matrix Figure 1: Dharamsala Figure 2: Map of Tibet Figure 3: Monks renewing visas Figure 4: Candlelight Vigil Figure 5: Self-Immolation, New Delhi Figure 6: Jamphel Yeshe’s funeral, Dharamsala Figure 7: Monks in Dharamsala Figure 8: Comprehensive Soldier and Family Fitness newsletter Figure 9: GuChuSum services Figure 10: Theoretical Model of Resilience Figure 11: Nuns in retreat Figure 12: Palden Gyatso iii Acknowledgements It is impossible to imagine my doctoral training, culminating in this dissertation, without the support of Kim Hopper. It is even more impossible to convey my gratitude. His sharp insight made him a great adviser, but it was his unwavering confidence in me, as a person, that made him a mentor. What can be said when you know that someone will forever remain one of most influential people in your life. A tremendous thank you, as well, to my other committee members. To Ana Abraido-Lanza for ongoing support and encouragement over the past seven years. I hold Jack Saul’s work as an example of excellence in the area of resilience, and benefitted greatly from his expertise. I wish to thank Vincanne Adams, who graciously joined my dissertation committee from afar. She was an invaluable committee member not only because of her expertise, but as a source of encouragement as my project developed. To Lesley Sharp: it must have been my good karma to find myself in your writing group. There is an idea in Buddhist culture that the right teacher appears at the right time; I am exceedingly grateful to be in her mandala. I also wish to thank my deputy director of graduate studies, Jennifer Hirsch for her fierce encouragement—the kind of encouragement where you can falter and doubt yourself because she holds the space until you come back. This research would not have been possible without generous support from the Lemelson Society for Psychological Anthropology Fund, FLAS, Fulbright IIE, Weatherhead East Asian Institute and the Mellon Foundation. Thank you, as well, to Ted Lowe, editor of Ethos and the Condon Prize committee for helpful suggestion in the early development of the project. I also wish to thank my friends and neighbors in Dharamsala. Thank you, especially, to all the Tibetan grannies for your endless scoldings on proper Tibetan grammar and the dangers iv of cold drinks. Thank you for finally nodding with approval when I wore no less than seven sweaters and a large piece of sheep’s wool tied around my waist (to protect my organs from getting cold). And thank you to my young Tibetan friends for falling down with laughter at the sight of my “granny apparel.” I have immense gratitude for my research assistant, whom I will not name to protect his security; additional translation assistance (and lovely homemade butter lamps) was provided by Aksel Lyderson. Thank you to Gen Dekyi, my dearest friends, Josh and Nicolette and to Ruth Sonam and the late Geshe Sonam Rinchen. I have immense gratitude for Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche. Writing a dissertation, as difficult as it was, also provided a unique opportunity to count the blessings in my life. The support of my wonderful friends and classmates sustained me in this process through hugs, cookies, and pep-talks, as well as truly invaluable collegial support and inspiration. Special thanks to Anne, Brendan, Erick, Hillary, Ronna, Siri, Alison, Ericka, Whitney, Kelly, Ian, Robert, Siri and Brooke. Finally, thank you to my parents and my sister. To know that wherever I go and whatever I do, there is a Sara-sized place in the world, sustains me through it all. Sometimes the unquestioned, unconditional, and unwavering spaces in life are another name for home. v Dedication This dissertation is dedicated to the memory of my undergraduate mentor, Professor Ali Pomponio (1953-2012); I will forever remember our weekly meetings and her fierce encouragement. I think she would appreciate this gesture—but only if there are not too many grammatical errors. vi NOTE ON TRANSLITERATION Most Tibetan scholars use a method of transliteration called the Wylie system, which corresponds to the spelling rather than pronunciation of Tibetan words. For example, the word “Kagyu” (a school of Tibetan Buddhism), is shown below in Tibetan. The Wylie transliteration is: bka' brgyud. Wylie is a standardized and convenient method for those who know Tibetan. For non-Tibetan speakers it is largely unintelligible. Therefore, in this dissertation I use a mixture of Wylie (bka' brgyud)
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