5 Questions: Loten Namling

Loten Namling is a Tibetan singer and peace activist who will perform on Sunday (June 2) at the Highlands Chapel in Cold Spring. 

Why did your family leave Tibet?
My parents fled to India in 1959 after the Chinese invaded and occupied Tibet [beginning in 1950]. Because of the invasion, 1.2 million Tibetans died directly and indirectly, and 6,000 monasteries were destroyed. My grandfather from my mother’s side joined the guerilla movement. One of his bodyguards was my father. When they escaped, my father and my mother fell in love and I was born in 1963. I’m in the first generation of Tibetans born in exile. 

What drew you to singing?
We Tibetans have singing and dancing for every kind of work, such as harvesting and construction. When I was a boy, my parents’ generation, they were singing so beautifully, it captivated me. It was like a transmission from a past generation to my generation. When I moved to Switzerland, people who loved my songs and my voice asked me to sing. I thought this was a good platform to talk about Tibet. So, for the last 30 years, I’ve been singing in almost every part of the world, except Tibet. I cannot go, and the Chinese government even prohibited my kids from going there.  My message is always peace, love and compassion. 

How is Tibetan culture being threatened?
One million Tibetan kids are being sent by force to Chinese schools, with the intention to destroy the Tibetan-ness, to take away religion, culture and language. They also impose on Tibetan musicians and singers to perform in this kind of kitsch — modern pop with cheap synthesizers. Wherever you are, singing is the soul of the people. We Tibetans have a saying: Behind every mountain, there is a new song. 

You often sing for the Dalai Lama. How is that experience?
Singing in front of him, I cannot describe it. It’s like singing to the gods or to some higher being. His kindness and his gentleness and compassion, you feel it immediately. Now that he cannot travel as much — he’s 88 years old — I tell the Tibetan artists and lamas that we have to take up the baton. 

What would it mean to be able to see Tibet?
It would mean so much. My parents prayed every night when I was a little boy and used to sleep on their laps. They were praying one thing: May his Holiness Dalai Lama live long, and that we would die in Tibet. My parents died and were unable to go back to Tibet. Now, I pray the same thing — that I will die in Tibet.