ABSTRACT
In Chapter Thirteen, I considered the global networks developed by contemporary Tibetan lamas in recent years as Tibetan Buddhism has expanded into the global spiritual marketplace in the aftermath of the Chinese government's occupation of Tibet and the consequent departure from Tibet of much of its traditional spiritual elite in and after 1959. I pointed out how these networks could be seen as an extension of a traditional Tibetan Buddhist mode of operation, in wh ich lamas and monasteries competed for followers, particularly in the 'marginal' areas at the edge of the ethnically Tibetan world. They could also be seen as part of the political strategy of the Tibetan refugee community in its resistance to Chinese rule in Tibet.
