Telo Tulku Rinpoche raising the Tibetan national flag at the Winter Olympics in South Korea
The world has rejoiced to see the cooperation between North and South Korea in the Winter Olympics this year as the two countries marched together in the opening ceremony and fielded a joint ice hockey team. And Tibetans have particular cause for celebration because their flag has flown in South Korea at the Olympics!
Telo Tulku Rinpoche, the Honorary representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Russia, Mongolia and CIS countries, attended the Opening Ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea as a special guest.
He tells the story of entering the hall for the ceremony and seeing rows of flags of free nations. Although he had assumed he could not fly the Tibetan flag he had come prepared and “pulled out the Tibet flag and started to wave and cheer for the athletes and scream and shout in support with the rest of the spectators. No one ever came to me and said the Tibet flag is forbidden or not allowed. Nor was I removed, arrested, detained or interrogated”.
Rinpoche tells of how he spoke to people around him, telling them the flag is Tibetan and found people friendly and supportive, wishing him “good luck”. When he left he handed it to some nearby spectators and asked them to keep it flying during the games. “To my surprise”, said Rinpoche, “They said, ‘we were waving the same Tibet flag with fellow Tibetans in 2016 at a Rally in Europe’”.
He continued, “I know the sun on the Tibet Flag will continue to shine on the ongoing 2018 Winter Olympics […] My hopes and dreams are to see a winter Olympic games being held in Tibet.”
In 2014 Rinpoche was invited to attend the opening ceremony in Sochi, Russia as a VIP guest but was then excluded from the ceremony and forbidden to attend any games as a spectator because the Chinese President was in attendance.
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