"It was a cold morning in Lhasa. Temperatures tend to be in the low teens through the alti-plano nights but warms up to a bright and sunny 35 during the day. The light is so beautiful that it is a visual treat not normally seen in the higher latitudes. The heat was turned off as we were the only guests in a rather large hotel structure. The Gurkha waiter had to be woken up for our promised tea and toast. The young Nepali Hindu brought joy to my heart and fantastic thoughts travelled through my mind ;a Hindu man in a Buddhist land keeping the promise of the ancient religions bound through the trials of time. Unfortunately on quick questioning I found out that he had capitulated to the Han attraction and married a Chinese peasant girl.
The Jokhang temple awaited us. It is the first Buddhist temple in Tibet built by Songtsen Gampo in 642. It is the holiest of holy sites visited by Buddhists of every sect all over Tibet and China. A world Heritage Site, it was a spiritual roller coaster to watch the pilgrims going about their rituals. Upon approach from the heavily guarded Jokhang square one sees incense smoke wafting through the air. In this smoke darkened atmosphere one hears wood board claps, plastic swishes and metallic whirls amidst a flurry of human movements. Upon closer approach we were astounded to see hundreds of pilgrims performing ritual prostrations-'surya namaskaram' for hours at a time .Some do 'prostration circumambulation' around the 6 acre complex. The clapping sounds heard were the wooden boards worn in their hands to prevent wear of their gloves, plastic sleeves worn during prostrations which consist of a back stroke motion against the cold ground and the metallic whirls from prayer wheels carried by all pilgrims as they circumambulate the complex 108 times, every morning. This goes on 365 days of the year for 20 hours a day or more. A human surrender to the great Sakyamuni Buddha. These are not prescibed by books, demanded by clerics nor a time table established for these practices. This is the way they choose to live, unlike other fertile crescent religious societies that are clashing each other lately.
The route for circumambulation consists of the ancient Barkhor street. Here one finds everything a Tibetan needs to live his life. This is a circular street with the temple in the middle. A great sight to see and be there amongst the pilgrims.
Entry into the temple consists of long lines akin to going to Tirupathi in India. Tourists are given priority and are allowed to enter at will. The cultural revolution in China saw thousands of monasteries destroyed. The Jokhang was relatively untouched as the daily throngs of people would not allow it. Today the Jokhang stands as the only symbol of religious foment against the Chinese. Its monks have been tortured and killed over the years. Today crack riot troops and snipers stand like a hellish presence surrounding the haven that is Jhokang.
Every alter, monks assembly rooms and the main shrine was an enervating experience. The peasants who had walked for days and weeks to be here touch every inch of the temple and place their hands on their heads. Such devotion brings tears to the onlooker. One can draw a parallel to the wailing wall of Jerusalem which unfortunately has lost its spiritual impact, at least for me. But I am sure the feeling is deep inside every Jewish pilgrim.
Monstesicm was the foundation of Buddhism in Tibet. There were over 6,000 monasteries in Tibet, but nearly all were ransacked and destroyed by the Red guards during the cultural revolution Most of the major ones have been at least partially re-established but many still remain in ruins. This I welcome as the Chinese government seems to have redeemed itself. Here is the bad news. In 1951 Tibet had 1.5 million citizens with 35% of the male population as monks. Today Tibet has a population of 2.5 million with 95% adhering to Buddhism and a few thousand monks.
Chinese policy has been one of patience. They have restricted the number of monks to a few hundred in every monastery.They have encouraged inter-marriage. They have introduced the one child policy in the 3 big cities and restricted country folk to have 2 children. In the next 50 years the Tibet will be totally integrated into Han China. Interestingly they have also brought a lot of comforts to this harsh land. The older Tibetans do not complain as they have electricity, phones, good transportation and access to medicines. The younger ones are waiting for China to become a democracy so that all these policies can be reversed.
I believe they have a chance. I pray for that to happen." Om Mani padme Hum
To be continued..........................................................
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Reflections on Tibet-Part 1
Ramdas Iyer ,Feb 2011
As one gets older the 11 hour jet-lags seem to linger longer than in the past. So at 4:00 Am today I decided to share my thoughts and experiences during our Tibet trip earlier. As an Indian at heart, Tibet holds a lofty place. It is the abode of our Gods (Mt. Kailas), the roof of the world and the land of snows. Yes, I have an affinity for snowy places. It has been a subject of many British adventures during the great game of the 1860s, when England was paranoid about Russia invading India and therefore wanted a beachhead in Lhasa to monitor them. (Read The Great Game by Peter Hopkirk).During my childhood and thereafter I have been a great fan of the Dalai Lama and have been closely following China policy in Tibet with some revulsion.
So what is Tibet today? how are the Tibetans faring?, what is China up to in Tibet? Are the few questions I am trying to answer in this article.
First let me explain the geography of this land. A vast land, it is bordered by Nepal & Sikkim, India in the south, Qinghai and Sichuan provinces in the east and Xinjiang province to the north. My earlier travels in Nepal (1997), Sichuan (2004) and Xinjiang (2007) were always about Buddhism and by default Tibet’s spiritual influence on those regions.
Pre Buddhist religion of Tibet was known as “Phon”, an animist religion until the local kings invited Indian scholars from Bengal to educate the king, teach the masses, create an alphabet and spread Buddhism as a state religion around the 7th century This happened during the reign of Songtsen Gampo, their greatest ruler who presided over their golden age. ( I just realized that the Tang Dynasty in Xian was also at its Zenith in the 7th century with Buddhism as the state religion).. Pre-history dates Tibetan rulers from 2nd BCE and real emperors from the 7th century AD. Great scholars like Padmasambhava & Chandrasekhara moved to Tibet from India and are still revered there like Gods. At one brief moment in history the Tibetan empire reached Bengal, encompassing all the Himalayan states including Siliguri and Kalimpong in North Bengal. Even today, any trinket or object from India is first placed on their head as a holy relic by older Tibetans.
We flew over some spectacular ice fields and ice peaks before we landed in Lhasa. The air was heavy and our movements strained upon landing. There was a heavy military presence at the airport with pointed machine guns. An intimidating presence for the visitors to remember during their short and well monitored journeys. Expecting Lhasa to be a hamlet as indicated in Heinrich Heirers novel “Seven years in Tibet”, we came upon a growing metropolis of modern buildings, good roads, clean surroundings. However upon further investigation and time walking in Lhasa one finds the Tibet of yore around the temples, markets and in the Tibetans themselves. China which has built a spectacular railroad for 1800 km on permafrost is currently transporting18 train loads of fortune seekers into Tibet daily. Lhasa has grown from 100000 denizens to 350,000 in 10 years.
I wondered why that with 6 billion people on earth, let us make it 5 by subtracting the Chinese, we were the only non mongoloid people in all of Lhasa, barring an occasional European or two. The beauty of travel at this time of the year especially in Tibet is that all the local people from various provinces and villages make their annual pilgrimage to Lhasa and the Jokhang Temple, the mother of monasteries for the Gelugpa (yellow hat sect). This affords us a unique opportunity to watch and learn the religious and spiritual side of Tibet. Tibetan Buddhism evolved from the red hat sect to the Black hats and since the 14th century the yellow hats. They followed different philosophies there and often collided in the past making many monasteries very war like in medieval times. Most of the great monasteries have walls and ramparts around them. Today the red and yellow hats co-exist with the former a minority.
The Potala palace a medieval fort and eventually the spiritual and imperial seat of Tibet is truly a marvel in architecture. The treasures inside, the tombs of the Dalai Lamas, the 1000 plus alters and shrines. Most people including me are not aware that Tibet had a long imperial lineage where State and religion were separate. In the 14th century during civil strife the Head of the Gelupa sect was asked by the various chieftains to take the mantle of State and religion. Around this time Altan Khan, the king of the Mongols invited Sonam Gyatso,the head of the Gelupa sect to Hohot to teach Buddhism to the Mongols. He named him “Dalai Lama” in mongol meaning Ocean of knowledge. This enhanced the power of the Gelupas and the Dalai Lama lineage began. The 14th Dalai lama whom we adore is actually named Tenzing Gyatso( Tenzing meaning Protector of Dharma and Gyatso meaning river of knowledge).( Altan King's son became the 4th Dalai Lama)
It is indeed one great world heritage site. During summer months the government restricts visits to 1000 visitors per day with a one hour cap on the tour. Tour guides are punished 1000 Yuan($150) for violations. It is almost impossible to see anything let alone climb the hill with altitude sickness!. All the tickets have a time stamp. We on the other hand spent 4 hours inside the Potala and drank the air of spirituality until we decided to descend. The elating (and sad) sight every morning is to see Tibetans with their prayer wheel walk many times around the Potal praying and worshiping the last sign of their ancient religion, the home of their Dalai Lama, their spiritual leader.
To be continued………
Ramdas Iyer ,Feb 2011
As one gets older the 11 hour jet-lags seem to linger longer than in the past. So at 4:00 Am today I decided to share my thoughts and experiences during our Tibet trip earlier. As an Indian at heart, Tibet holds a lofty place. It is the abode of our Gods (Mt. Kailas), the roof of the world and the land of snows. Yes, I have an affinity for snowy places. It has been a subject of many British adventures during the great game of the 1860s, when England was paranoid about Russia invading India and therefore wanted a beachhead in Lhasa to monitor them. (Read The Great Game by Peter Hopkirk).During my childhood and thereafter I have been a great fan of the Dalai Lama and have been closely following China policy in Tibet with some revulsion.
So what is Tibet today? how are the Tibetans faring?, what is China up to in Tibet? Are the few questions I am trying to answer in this article.
First let me explain the geography of this land. A vast land, it is bordered by Nepal & Sikkim, India in the south, Qinghai and Sichuan provinces in the east and Xinjiang province to the north. My earlier travels in Nepal (1997), Sichuan (2004) and Xinjiang (2007) were always about Buddhism and by default Tibet’s spiritual influence on those regions.
Pre Buddhist religion of Tibet was known as “Phon”, an animist religion until the local kings invited Indian scholars from Bengal to educate the king, teach the masses, create an alphabet and spread Buddhism as a state religion around the 7th century This happened during the reign of Songtsen Gampo, their greatest ruler who presided over their golden age. ( I just realized that the Tang Dynasty in Xian was also at its Zenith in the 7th century with Buddhism as the state religion).. Pre-history dates Tibetan rulers from 2nd BCE and real emperors from the 7th century AD. Great scholars like Padmasambhava & Chandrasekhara moved to Tibet from India and are still revered there like Gods. At one brief moment in history the Tibetan empire reached Bengal, encompassing all the Himalayan states including Siliguri and Kalimpong in North Bengal. Even today, any trinket or object from India is first placed on their head as a holy relic by older Tibetans.
We flew over some spectacular ice fields and ice peaks before we landed in Lhasa. The air was heavy and our movements strained upon landing. There was a heavy military presence at the airport with pointed machine guns. An intimidating presence for the visitors to remember during their short and well monitored journeys. Expecting Lhasa to be a hamlet as indicated in Heinrich Heirers novel “Seven years in Tibet”, we came upon a growing metropolis of modern buildings, good roads, clean surroundings. However upon further investigation and time walking in Lhasa one finds the Tibet of yore around the temples, markets and in the Tibetans themselves. China which has built a spectacular railroad for 1800 km on permafrost is currently transporting18 train loads of fortune seekers into Tibet daily. Lhasa has grown from 100000 denizens to 350,000 in 10 years.
I wondered why that with 6 billion people on earth, let us make it 5 by subtracting the Chinese, we were the only non mongoloid people in all of Lhasa, barring an occasional European or two. The beauty of travel at this time of the year especially in Tibet is that all the local people from various provinces and villages make their annual pilgrimage to Lhasa and the Jokhang Temple, the mother of monasteries for the Gelugpa (yellow hat sect). This affords us a unique opportunity to watch and learn the religious and spiritual side of Tibet. Tibetan Buddhism evolved from the red hat sect to the Black hats and since the 14th century the yellow hats. They followed different philosophies there and often collided in the past making many monasteries very war like in medieval times. Most of the great monasteries have walls and ramparts around them. Today the red and yellow hats co-exist with the former a minority.
The Potala palace a medieval fort and eventually the spiritual and imperial seat of Tibet is truly a marvel in architecture. The treasures inside, the tombs of the Dalai Lamas, the 1000 plus alters and shrines. Most people including me are not aware that Tibet had a long imperial lineage where State and religion were separate. In the 14th century during civil strife the Head of the Gelupa sect was asked by the various chieftains to take the mantle of State and religion. Around this time Altan Khan, the king of the Mongols invited Sonam Gyatso,the head of the Gelupa sect to Hohot to teach Buddhism to the Mongols. He named him “Dalai Lama” in mongol meaning Ocean of knowledge. This enhanced the power of the Gelupas and the Dalai Lama lineage began. The 14th Dalai lama whom we adore is actually named Tenzing Gyatso( Tenzing meaning Protector of Dharma and Gyatso meaning river of knowledge).( Altan King's son became the 4th Dalai Lama)
It is indeed one great world heritage site. During summer months the government restricts visits to 1000 visitors per day with a one hour cap on the tour. Tour guides are punished 1000 Yuan($150) for violations. It is almost impossible to see anything let alone climb the hill with altitude sickness!. All the tickets have a time stamp. We on the other hand spent 4 hours inside the Potala and drank the air of spirituality until we decided to descend. The elating (and sad) sight every morning is to see Tibetans with their prayer wheel walk many times around the Potal praying and worshiping the last sign of their ancient religion, the home of their Dalai Lama, their spiritual leader.
To be continued………
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)