In Lhasa I joined great streams of Tibetans circumambulating
the sacred Jokhang Temple, falling in next to an ambling elderly nomad who had
taken his best friend – a goat on a leash, its snout covered with a
pink-crocheted mouthguard – on the circumambulation in an attempt to rid of its
bad karma so it could climb higher up the species ladder to be reborn a human.
Throughout India, I’ve learned, every donut looks good and
tastes bad.
Tibetans embraced Buddhism so strongly that, before the
Chinese arrived, one in ten people was a monk or a nun. One of the first things
Tibetans did when they went into exile was to rebuild their three largest
monasteries so monks could immediately continue their study. But they too old
habits with them. The nuns were forgotten. Many faded into obscurity and
poverty, their traditions dying with them.
Tara is among the most loved of the Buddhis deities and is
said to be the mother of all the Buddhas. She was born from a tear that fell
down the cheek of Chenrezig, the God of Compassion, after his realization that
sentient beings were locked into a cycle of suffering. Her image represents
enlightened activity.……..Tara has a reputation for fast action.
…….that peculiar Indian stench of rotting vegetables mixed
with kerosene.
Prior to the Chinese invasion, of the three provinces, Amdo,
Kham and U-Tsang, the government in Lhasa had effective political authority
only in U-Tsang.
…..the long-haired charismatic Amdo boys who break into
beautiful song at the slightest provocation and see the world as artists do.
Khampa people tend to be the most direct and toughest of all Tibetans; their
reputation as people who, once riled, will fight to the death frightens even
other Tibetans. It was the Khampas, pa
meaning people or person, who escorted the Dalai Lama to exile in 1959 and who,
in those early years, formed the CIA-trained Four Rivers Six Ranges, the
guerilla group that was the backbone of armed resistance to the Chinese
occupation. Those from U-Tsang or Central Tibet tend to be worldlier. Unlike
Amdos they don’t need a singing voice that will carry across distant valleys
and they have long since filed down the rough edges of the Khampas. Other
Tibetans will secretly whisper that Lhasa people smile at you, uttering soft
words as they poison your drink.
Tibetans have never experienced women’s liberation. Society
is essentially conservative. Wives still honour and obey their husbands. A
wife’s behavior reflects tenfold on her husband. In this world the best thing a
wife can do for a harmonious relationship is to be observant of traditions,
subdued and shy in public and accommodating in private …….
In a typically Tibetan manner, he wanted to know, ‘Does she
have a good heart?’ In my experience one of the most refreshing things about
Tibetan men is their attitude to female beauty. While it is given the highest
currency in the western world, in Tibet it is simply not that relevant. It is a
person’s heart, and their mind that count.
When Tibetans are sick they like company.
Lamas are always reminding students to contemplate that
death – the gateway to reincarnation – can come at any time……..Death is used as
a constant reminder both to value life and to be vigilant.
The difficulties he has experienced would be enough to throw
most western people into despair. It seems to be a Tibetan trait to be
perceptive yet angst-free. Unlike many of us raised in the west it would never
occur to Choying that his self-esteem would go up and down according to his
fortunes or that he should judge himself by comparing to others. His deep
acceptance of the law of karma, that whatever happens to him in this life is
the result of his past actions, gives him an ease of being that I find
refreshing.
…….in Tibetan culture there is little notion of dating and
once a couple are in a relationship they are automatically referred to as
husband and wife.
……having at least one monk or nun in the family is a matter
of pride for most Tibetans.
By 1962 ninety-seven per cent of monasteries and nunneries
in the area designated by China the Tibet Autonomous Region (and up to
ninety-nine per cent in areas outside TAR but inside Tibet’s historical
territory) lay in ruins. The people of Tibet suffered a devastating famine
during the Great Leap Forward and numerous disastrous social and political
experiments.
….the Dalai Lama’s previous incarnation, the thirteenth
Dalai Lama, starkly warned Tibetans of the threat shortly before he died. He
was very specific, announcing, ‘In my lifetime conditions will be as they are
now, peaceful and quiet. But the future holds darkness and misery. I have
warned you of these things.’ He further prophesised:
It will not be long
before we find the red onslaught at your own front door.
Despite the Dalai Lama urging restraint and a new push for
vegetarianism, most Tibetans I know, having come from a place of scarce
vegetation, are devoted meat-eaters and any occasion that calls for a
celebration is judged successful or otherwise by the amount of mutton and
chicken on offer.
Tenzin Palmo ….. ‘………Women on the whole are better at
meditation, many senior meditation teachers have told me. Women have a natural
affinity with meditation, they are much more intuitive. Men as a whole tend to
be more analytical and pragmatic, going one step at a time. Women are more able
to take a leap – they don’t feel threatened by something which is beyond words.’
……….my flight to Kathmandu, one of the most stunning air
descents in the world.
While Tibetans are generally a tidy people they often have
little concern for bathroom hygiene, coming as they do from a country like a
refrigerator.
Tibetans are a very social people but there is, I’ve
noticed, no need for small talk. Just to visit and sit quietly is enough – as
long as you eat the host’s food you’ve done the right thing.
Posts
