14 July 2016 I went to a morning session and an afternoon session of the celebration at Choling monastery (in Bir). It was very helpful to have Pema explain what was going on in the morning. The lamas were “incarnating” or visualizing female deities, which explained the elaborate skirts and long-haired wigs. The session was interrupted by Scott’s dog bite. That dog was definitely rabid. [As a side note, I went to the clinic with Scott to have the bite treated. Fifteen minutes and $5 later, he had received the first of four rabies shots. Glad I didn’t spend $300 per shot in the U.S. before I went!!] In the afternoon I stuck around for two hours. Some Tibetan ladies gave me cardboard to sit on, and were very concerned that I was re-using my cup for tea. I couldn’t follow what was happening: it was like watching a foreign film without subtitles. I did recognize Padmasambhava—score! [Padmasambhava took Buddhism to Tibet and is considered a kind of second Buddha.] And then it looked like there was kind of a battle of the bands between two sets of deities. I liked those masks: big smiling Buddha-heads, which I kind of wish students would wear to class, since it looks like they’re really interested. Walking around town today I saw a sign for a Sakya monastery, so it looks like 3 of the 4 branches are represented. Saw Lama Pema at the event. His monastery (Tsering’s) paid their respects. There was a funny old holy man sitting on a stool on the grass. People would come up to him and put a kata around his neck as a sign of respect. He would accept it, namaste them, and then when they had turned to go, take it off and throw it on the ground. The crowd found this pretty funny. So did I. 13 July 2016
Starting to get a bit better handle on the four types of Tibetan Buddhism. Repetition has helps: the John Powers’ book, Michael’s lecture, then two lectures by Tsering at the two monasteries—Palyul Nyingma Gompa [Tsering’s home monastery in Bir] and Sherab Ling. Nyingma is the oldest branch. Yet, after reading about these various branches, their origins are just as sketchy as the Book of Mormon. I think Kagyu is the one that says certain teachings could not be found until the time was right, or the appropriate teacher appeared. Going to get the book. So Powers says differences have been emphasized but the four have more in common than not. Tsering said Kagyu had adopted 50 or 60% of Nyingma teachings and practice. It appears that tantra is the distinguishing feature of Tibetan Buddhism, which I understand as ritual practice. Interestingly, though, I have heard of Naropa (Naropa Institute) and Milarepa, but not really of the other masters in various lineages. There is a Sakya monastery on San Juan Island, though the rinpoche (a woman) lives in Vancouver and has a center there: http://sakyakachodcholing.org/. The brother of Tenzin Rinpoche (I think her name is) is the head honcho of Sakya branch. [Correction: Her Eminence Sakya Jetsun Chimey Luding Rinpoche, the highest and most thoroughly trained female Buddhist teacher in the West, was born into the Drolma Podrang, or Tara Palace of the Sakya Khon family in 1938, the year of the earth tiger.] Finally, I had not known that H.H. was of the Gelukpa Order. Thus the extent of my ignorance of Tibetan Buddhism tempered somewhat by our studies here. Odd fact: No discussion of the sexual imagery (or “sexual” imagery) in the Temple at Tsering’s monastery. I know the theory about this but silence spoke louder than words. 11 July 2016
Well, two almost crying moments today: 1) when told of my learning partner working in an open pit coal mine when she was fourteen; 2) puja performed by Tsering’s sister Chokey. On the first: we were practicing English and talking about school: primary, middle, secondary or vocational. Tai Chi [name changed] has more schooling, completing vocational school in computers and secretarial school—except their school had no computers so they just read about them out of books. Qi Gong [name changed] only completed primary school. She had to return home to take care of siblings (cook, clean, garden) when her parents were in India. Her father apparently was sick. She then had to go to work in the mine, which involved shoveling coal into some sort of coal crusher. She was paid 25 ren per day, not much. Her boss knew of her home situation so would give her 2 or 3 ren extra. She worked at the mine for a year, until her brother returned home and began to support the family. She continued to work in her family’s vegetable garden. I asked both why they left Tibet, and both said the same thing: they had a dream, or dreams, that the Dalai Lama told them to come. Tai Chi’s dream had H.H. standing with open arms to welcome her. Qi Gong’s had him in yellow robes wearing his pointy lama hat. I bought them some little books by H.H. to take with them on their train trip to New Delhi [to obtain legal documents for traveling outside of India] . . . We were fortunate to see Chokey [Lama Tsering’s sister] set up a puja at her home altar. She explained the seven offering bowls of water, the butter lamp, said her prayers, but is too crippled with rheumatoid arthritis to do prostrations. She blessed Dan and me with a leaf from the bodhi tree, the one where the Buddha received enlightenment. She also gave us special coins from holy places in Nepal. Las of all, though perhaps it should be first, Tsering gave Dan and me threads blessed by H.H. He expertly tied them on our wrists. All in all an amazingly religious day. [Photo is of Dan Parker, my partner in this amazingly religious day] July 10
Went to Tibet Museum with our learning partners. I’m not sure that was such a good idea. Of course, it was shockingly informative, with very graphic news footage of Chinese abuse of Tibetans (including a man being strangled with a rope). One of our partners was riveted (though she had been to the museum before), but I went upstairs with my own partner to look at the “good news” or rather positive depictions of Tibet. Interestingly, there was a photo of the Dalai Lama taken at UC San Diego at an event I attended. We talked about the whole Chinese invasion afterwards. Our partners showed us on the map where they were from. Since they grew up under Chinese rule, they don’t have memories of the horrors, and apparently did not have any relatives harmed (though it’s hard to tell due to our possibly misunderstanding). One partner said she did not know there was a flag for Tibet until she arrived here in India. She also knew no Tibetan language. The whole Chinese takeover reminds me of the American “conquest” of the West: the extermination of Native Americans, eradication of language, culture, religions, etc. I wonder if that is the future of Tibet: small reservations here and there in India, where the people and culture are preserved, but no sovereign nation. |
Author Rebecca Moore is Professor Emerita of Religious Studies at San Diego State University. She is currently Reviews Editor for Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions and Co-Director of The Jonestown Institute. Archives
December 2021
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