Timeless Tibetan Arts and Cultural<3

ShyAngel

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Beautiful song of Tenzin Silnon tribute to His Holiness The Dalai lama and His Holiness The Panchen Lama<3 Actually the original song was composed by my uncle in 1960s and became super duper hit. Love the lyrics, so emotional. The video of this music video shows the footage of when the last time His Holiness The Dalai Lama was in Tibet with His Holiness The Panchen Lama and Mao Tsedong.
YouTube - Tenzin Silnon--Two Brothers
Enjoyyyyyy
 

Pintu

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A beautiful thread you have started Sis, I am really liking it and decided to download the video, so much I can learn from Rich Ancient Tibetan Culture.

Regards
 

ShyAngel

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One of my old time fav painting of our gorgeous tibetan women from back in the days !

 

ShyAngel

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Timeless history of Tibet the most beautiful nation on earth<3

Ok I find Tibetan cultural more interesting then chinese. I didn't get anything interesting out of chinese cultural and civilization from that so call chinese thread. They has nothing to talk on apart from to show some pix of chinese house and cheap trains and some lady with mask on her face. I find my tibetan civilization more dramatic, interesting, and adventures, and mythical as Indian civilization. Ok I'm going to start from beginning part :eek:ne!


PART:ONE


The First Tibetans
Until recently, little was known about the very early history of Tibet. No written accounts have been found before the seventh century AD, when Buddhism was adopted by the Kings of Tibet. However, work by Tibetan scholars and Chinese archeologists has revealed some startling new facts about where the Tibetans came from and how they lived at the dawning of time.

Perhaps the most popular tale among Tibetans is the story of how they were descended from a monkey and an ogress. The monkey - believed by the Buddhists to be a manifestation of Chenresig, Lord of Compassion- was content to lead a life of quiet prayer and meditation. But the ogress - a manifestation of Tara - grew lonely living on her own. Her sad crying filled the monkey with compassion, and so he agreed to marry her. They had six children- from whom all Tibetans are said to be descended. Certainly, caves inhabited by a primitive monkey people have been found in the U-Tsang region of Tibet, so this popular story may be more than just legend.



The Tibetans lived in villages like this around 5,000 years ago.This picture is based on the finds of Chinese archaeologists at the village of Karub in eastern Tibet.
A careful study of old Indian and Chinese manuscripts by Tibetan scholars has brought to light a number of other stories about the origins of the Tibetan people. Some scholars believe that the Tibetans are descended from the followers of an old Indian king, called Ripati, who is said to have fled across the Himalayas disguised as a woman, after his army was defeated in battle. There is a letter written by the Indian teacher, Shankara Pati, in the fifth century BC, which describes Ripati’s flight. Other scholars believe that the Tibetans may owe their origins to a group of Turkhara tribesmen. They are thought to have escaped from western Asia around 150 BC, after a defeat by the fierce Hun people. Another popular theory is that the Chiang people represent the first recognizable Tibetans. This group of people still live and flourish in north-eastern Tibet today. Finally, some historians believe that the Tufan tribes of western Tibet are the most likely ancestors of the Tibetan people. However it is possible that there were people living in Tibet before any of these different races arrived there.

Recently, Chinese archeologists have made some discoveries, which suggest that there were people living in Tibet much earlier than historians had previously thought. While digging in the hills around the settlements of Sure in southern Tibet, and Luling in central Tibet, archeologists discovered a large collection of stone tools and a number of broken jars and pots. By using scientific methods of dating, the archeologists were able to tell that people were living in these areas at least 50,000 years ago. One of the reasons why primitive man was able to survive the harsh environment of Tibet so long ago, is that the weather there may have been milder at that time.



Even more startling is the discovery by the Chinese of a complete New Stone Age village at a place called Karub, near the town of Chamdo in eastern Tibet. By examining the remains of the houses, and the many stone tools and bits of pottery found in them, we are able to get a very clear picture of how these people lived and worked about 4,600 years ago. Their houses were made from clay and wood, and were quite strong. Each house contained a cooking stove placed in the center, and long stone slabs framed the doors. Streets paved with stones ran between different houses of the village. Many tools were found, cleverly chipped from stone- spades, hoes, ploughs, axes, knives, and millstones. Even the remains of corn seeds, nearly 5,000 years old, were found among pieces of the beautifully shaped pots in which they were stored. These finds show that these early villagers were farmers as well as hunters.

A number of other New Stone Age villages have been found in different parts of Tibet. Archeologists have also discovered evidence of early nomadic life. In the wild and remote areas of north and western Tibet, stone tools have been found which date back many thousands of years. It seems that the nomads too, were wandering the mountain pastures of Tibet much earlier than was previously supposed.

These fascinating discoveries about life in early Tibet are only the beginnings. Undoubtedly, there are settlements, villages - perhaps even towns, yet to be found.



The Fort at Yarlung is believed to be the oldest Castle in Tibet.
The Yarlung Kings
In the past, traditional accounts of Tibetan history have tended to dismiss the years before King Songtsen Gampo, and the arrival of Buddhism in Tibet, as a time of darkness and barbarity. This is partly because most of the early histories were written by Buddhists, who naturally wished to show that it was Buddhism that brought civilization to the Tibetans. Another reason is that these early writers relied on Chinese information about the Tibetans. The Chinese, at this time, regarded all foreigners as barbaric, and the Tibetans were no exception, so their writings should be treated skeptically. In fact, there is much evidence to suggest that the centuries before the arrival of Buddhism saw a flourishing civilization growing in Tibet. By the time the first known history books were written, Tibet was already a strong and powerful country. Such countries do not grow up overnight.

The first kings of Tibet lived in the southern province of Yarlung, on the border with Bhutan. There are many tales about the origin of the first king. The oldest tales describe him as a god-like being who descended from the sky using a kind of rope ladder. Today, though many historians believe he came from inside Tibet itself. Some Buddhist stories, however, speak of him as the son of a royal Indian family who wandered over the high mountain peaks to Tibet. There he met some herdsmen grazing their yaks. These simple nomads thought that the young man must have come down from the heavens, so they carried him on their shoulders and made him their king. He was named Nyartri Tsenpo, which means ’neck-enthroned king.’ One reason why Buddhist legend describes the first king of Tibet as coming from India, may be that they wished to suggest that he was a relative of the Buddha.

The first seven kings of the Tibet are said to have returend to heaven by means of a kind of rope-lader. The story goes that the lader was cut by one of the royal minister in the time of the eighth king, Drigum
The old tales say that Nyatri Tsenpo, and the six kings who followed him, did not die. No tombs for them have been found anywhere in Tibet. The story goes that they climbed back into the sky using the same rope-ladder with which Nyatri Tsenpo first descended. (This story was probably a simple way of explaining how the spirits of the kings went to heaven.) The eighth king, Drigum, carried a different fate. He quarreled with one of his ministers. The ministers conjured up some terrible magic against him and cut the ladder between heaven and earth. After this, the kings were buried in tombs near the capital of Yarlung.

It is possible that the story of the cutting of the heavenly ladder refers to the defeat and death of Drigum by a group of disloyal nobles. Drigum’s son, Podegunngyal, eventually became the ninth king after a period of exile. It was at about this time that certain changes took place in the Yarlung kingdom. Podegungyal introduced a religion called Bon, which became very closely linked with the royal family. The kings themselves were believed to be gods, but the greater power lay with the Bon priests who conducted the all-important royal ceremonies. The most important of these took place when a king died. The Bon priests received powerful support from many of the Yarlung nobles, and increasingly from the ordinary people as well. Their influence began to spread over more and more of Tibet. In this way, and doubtless through a good many hard-fought battles as well, the different tribes of Tibet came under the rule of the kings of Yarlung and their Bon ministers. And, as more tribes were conquered, or won over, so the king’s government grew more and more efficient and well-organized.

At the beginning of the seventh century AD, all of Tibet was united under the rule of Namri Srongtsen, the thirty-second king. He had a fearsome reputation. Even the Chinese feared his ferocity in battle and the strength of his armies. His son, Songtsen Gampo, was to become the most famous king ever to rule Tibet.
 

ShyAngel

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PART: TWO

The Tibetan Empire

A Tibetan soldier at the time of the Tibetan Empire.

Songtsen Gampo


The great Songtsen Gampo, King of all of Tibet, was determined to marry the daughter of the Emperor of China. Such a great match would be fitting for a ruler of his power and prestige. But T’ai-Tsung, the Chinese Emperor, was not sure he wished his daughter to be married to the King of Tibet. He did not have a very high opinion of the Tibetans. Besides, there were others seeking his daughter’s hand- Thokiki, the tartar ruler, for example. When Songtsen Gampo heard of this, he at once sent his armies against Thokiki and defeated him. Tibetan messengers again appeared at the Chinese court. Would the Emperor now agree to give away his daughter? A golden suit of armor was presented to T’ai-Tsung in an effort to persuade him. The Emperor, however, would not agree. He decided to fight the Tibetans instead.

This proved to be a mistake. The Chinese army was no match for the fierce Tibetan horsemen of Songtsen Gampo. The Chinese suffered a crushing defeat. T’ai-Tsung, however, still hoped to outwit the Tibetans. When the Tibetan envoys, led by Songtsen Gampo’s brilliant minister, Gar Tongtsen, arrived in the Chinese capital, the Emperor announced that there were other suitors for his daughter’s hand. Whoever passed four tests of wit and wisdom would win the princess. Gar Tsongtsen passed the first three tests with ease, but the last proved to be more difficult. He was required to select the princess, who he had never seen, from five hundred beautiful girls all dressed alike. The task seemed impossible. However, Gar Tsongtsen had one clue. He managed to find out that all the girls would be wearing fake flowers in their hair, but only the real princess would wear real ones. So when the girls were brought before him, he looked for the girl that the bees were attracted to, and so picked out the Emperor’s daughter. Songtsen Gampo had finally won his queen, the beautiful Wen-ch’eng Kung-chu.



Gar Tongtsen, Songtsen Ganpo’s famous minister, at the court of the Emperorof China. He had to pass four tests before the won the hand of the Emperor’s daughter for his king.
Songtsen Gampo reigned for nineteen years from 630 AD to 649 AD. Tibetans especially love him for two main reasons. Firstly, he encouraged the growth of the Buddhist religion in Tibet. Secondly, his armies made Tibet into a mighty empire, feared and respected by all other peoples. As well as the Chinese princess, he also married a number of noble Tibetan ladies and the daughter of the King of Nepal, Princess Bhrikuti. Both of his foreign wives were devout Buddhists, and both built their own Buddhist temples in the center of Lhasa to house the many holy images they had brought with them

During his reign, Songtsen Gampo’s armies repeatedly defeated the Chinese on the eastern border of Tibet. Tibetan forces also conquered parts of Burma, and occupied Nepal for a time. Some stories even tell of a Tibetan army marching into India, defeating the Indian Emperor, Arjuna.

But Songtsen Gampo was more than just a warrior. He was also an able ruler and a learned man. He moved his capital from Yarlung to Lhasa, and built a fort where the great Potala Palace stands today.



King Songten Gampo with his Chinese and Nepalese queens.
On the advice of his minister, Gar Tsongtsen, the king appointed six governors to rule over his vast kingdom, and gave away land to his poorest subjects. But most importantly for Tibetan culture, he sent his minister, Thonmi Sambhota, and sixteen students to India to study. So unhealthy did the Tibetans find the climate of India, that all sixteen students died there. Only Thonmi Sambhota returned to Tibet. There he is said to have used his knowledge of Sanskrit and Kashmiri texts to invent the first Tibetan alphabet of thirty letters. He then began to work on translating Buddhist scriptures.

Today, however, there are many people who do not agree that Thonmi Sambhota created the very first Tibetan alphabet. They argue that there must have been a written Tibetan script before Buddhism arrived in Tibet. They point to the flourishing of the Yarlung kings, and argue that writing, which is the expression of a whole people’s culture, could never have been invented by one man, however exceptional. They believe that a simple script, called Ma-yig, based on writing used in Khotan, in eastern Turkestan, may have existed before the time of Songtsen Gampo.

Whatever the truth of this may be, it was the dedication and hard work of Thonmi Sambhota and his students that brought Buddhism and the first known written manuscripts to Tibet .



The Tibetan Empire



Tibetan armies ventured for beyond the border of Tibet during the time of the Empire.
The Expanding Empire

In the rugged mountains of what is present-day Afghanistan, a long line of horsemen wound their way across the barren hillside. Below them, snaking across the plain, lay the glittering waters of the River Oxus- today’s border between Russia and Afghanistan. One glance was enough to tell that these were fierce warriors, hardened by many years of war. Trained in the wild mountains of Tibet, these soldiers were expert horsemen, skilled in the use of the bow and the sword. Tough sports and competitions had prepared them for battle. Their leaders, it is said, were able to race the wild ass and wrestle with the wild yak.

Slowly, the horsemen descended to the plain and began to cross the River Oxus. No wonder the Arab leaders shook in their palaces. The Tibetan’s fame had already spread far and wide. The Emperor of China, it was said, trembled when he heard of the approach of the terrible Tibetan horsemen. Now they were advancing into Arab territory as well. We have some idea of how far these Tibetan armies reached, because there is a lake many miles to the north of the River Oxus which was named Al-Tubbat, which means "Little Tibetan Lake." Some writers report that a Tibetan army even battered the walls of Samarkand- deep in the heart of Arab lands.



The stone pillar outside the Potala Palace in Lhasa, on which the details of the 821 Peace Treaty between Tibet and China were wrttien down.
Songtsen Gampo’s successors all continued the expansion of the Tibetan Empire. They also gave support to the Buddhist religion, as we shall see. Tibetan armies continually fought with the Chinese on their eastern frontier. In the reign of Mangsong Mangtsen (649-676), the Chinese Emperor dismissed so many of his generals for losing battles that he soon had no one left to lead his armies! So powerful did the Tibetans become, that they forced the Chinese to pay them a yearly tribute of 50,000 rolls of silk. When the Chinese Emperor, Wang Peng Wang, refused to pay in 763, the armies of the great Tresong Detsen (755-797) advanced into China itself. The Emperor and his ministers fled in the terror, and the Tibetans occupied the Chinese capital of Chang’an. For a short time, they set up their own candidate as the new Emperor of China. The successes of Tresong Detsen’s wars with China are written down on a stone pillar in Lhasa.

In 783, a peace treaty was agreed between Tibet and China. This established the boundaries between the two counties and gave Tibet control of most of the border provinces in the east. The treaty was written down on a stone pillar in the village of Shol below the Potala, where it still exists today. A further treaty between the two countries was agreed on in 821. The terms were virtually the same as the treaty of 783, and this time they were carved on three stone pillars. One was erected outside the Chinese Emperor’s palace, one on the border between the two countries, and one in Lhasa. The significance of both of these peace treaties is that they are clearly arguments between two equal and independent countries.

Songtsen Gampo’s successors all continued the expansion of the Tibetan Empire. They also gave support to the Buddhist religion, as we shall see. Tibetan armies continually fought with the Chinese on their eastern frontier. In the reign of Mangsong Mangtsen (649-676), the Chinese Emperor dismissed so many of his generals for losing battles that he soon had no one left to lead his armies! So powerful did the Tibetans become, that they forced the Chinese to pay them a yearly tribute of 50,000 rolls of silk. When the Chinese Emperor, Wang Peng Wang, refused to pay in 763, the armies of the great Tresong Detsen (755-797) advanced into China itself. The Emperor and his ministers fled in the terror, and the Tibetans occupied the Chinese capital of Chang’an. For a short time, they set up their own candidate as the new Emperor of China. The successes of Tresong Detsen’s wars with China are written down on a stone pillar in Lhasa.

In 783, a peace treaty was agreed between Tibet and China. This established the boundaries between the two counties and gave Tibet control of most of the border provinces in the east. The treaty was written down on a stone pillar in the village of Shol below the Potala, where it still exists today. A further treaty between the two countries was agreed on in 821. The terms were virtually the same as the treaty of 783, and this time they were carved on three stone pillars. One was erected outside the Chinese Emperor’s palace, one on the border between the two countries, and one in Lhasa. The significance of both of these peace treaties is that they are clearly arguments between two equal and independent countries.

The Seeds of Decay



King Ralpachen was murdered by members of an anti-Buddhist party while drinking chang in the garden of his place.
The achievements of the Tibetans between the seventh and ninth centuries are quite remarkable. How did they manage it? It is possible that the population of Tibet was larger at that time than it is today. Some writers describe these early Tibetan kings leading armies of early half a million men - though this is probably an exaggeration.

One of the main reasons for Tibet’s success was that in the beginning the nobles and the Bon priests were united under their support for the king and his government. But as the years went by, quarrels and jealousies broke out. Rival families fought, murdered and poisoned one another in order to gain more power. Religion was the cause of many quarrels. Before the seventh century, kings, nobles, and commoners all believed in the Bon religion, which, as we have seen, was closely linked with the royal family. However, Songtsen Gampo and his successors favored Buddhism. But in supporting the new religion, they aroused great resentment in many of the people who still believed in Bon. These religious differences deeply divided Tibetans and so weakened the empire.

Another reason for Tibet’s decline was the sheer size of the empire. No effective government system had been invented in order to administer such far-flung lands. Army commanders on the borders were often thousands of kilometers from Lhasa. They could do almost as they liked. There is a story about nine army generals who commanded the northern border of the empire in the time of Tresong Detsen, which illustrates some of these difficulties. After many years of fighting in this wild and remote area, the generals sent a message to the king asking if they could return home. Tresong Detsen told them to wait until they received his orders. But these orders never came. Perhaps the messengers got lost crossing the great mountain ranges. Today, the nomadic descendants of these nine generals are still known as the Kamalok- which means, ’those who did not disobey.’


King Ralpachen was murdered by members of an anti-Buddhist party while drinking chang in the garden of his place.
At the end of the eighth century, one of the most remarkable men ever to rule his country came to the throne of Tibet. His name was Muni Tsenpo (797-804), and he was perhaps the greatest reformer Tibet has ever known. Three times he attempted to transfer wealth from the rich to the poor - not even sparing the royal family. But his attempts at equality aroused great opposition among nobles and further divided the Tibetans. Finally, he was poisoned by his own mother in order to avoid the violence his reforms were causing. Despite his failure, Muni Tsenpo is remembered for the great concern he showed for all his subjects.

Muni Tsenpo’s grandson, King Ralpachen (815-836) is also remembered with affection by the Tibetans. He was responsible for the famous peace-treaty between Tibet and China in 821. He was a devout man as well as an able ruler, and spent much of his reign encouraging Buddhism by founding temples and monasteries, and encouraging the translation of an enormous number of Buddhist texts into Tibetan. This policy may have been his undoing, for an anti-Buddhist party of nobles began to grow around the leadership of his brother, Lang Darma. One day, as Ralpachen sat drinking chang in the garden of his palace, he was strangled by assassins of the anti-Buddhist party.

Ralpachen had no son, and so was succeeded by his brother, Lang Darma (836-843)- a champion of the Bon religion. During his short reign, Buddhism was persecuted, and almost disappeared form central Tibet. Lang Darma was himself assassinated by a Buddhist monk called Lhalung Pelgye Dorjee. Some say that the origins of the Black Hat Dance can be traced to the dramatic way in which Pelgye Dorjee killed the king.

With the death of Lang Darma, the Tibetan Empire fell apart. Rival nobles and chieftains set up their own little kingdoms, and there was no longer any central authority at Lhasa. The Tibetans retreated from their empire back into their homeland. Never again would Tibetan warriors advance outside this Land of Snows to attack and conquer other people.

To be continue.....
 

ShyAngel

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PAET:THREE

Religion

The earliest religion in Tibet saw gods in the power of nature. Simple shrines were built to them on mountains and by river.
The Bon Religion
One of the difficulties of writing about the early practices of the Bon religion is that no known Bon holy scriptures existed until they were written down in the tenth century. As we have seen, many writers today believe that there may have been a Tibetan script before the time of Songtsen Gampo, but at present we have no manuscripts to prove this.

The earliest known religion of Tibet was not Bon (though some writers refer to it as ’primitive Bon’) but a simple religion, which saw gods at work in the powers of nature. Like many other primitive cultures around the world, the early Tibetans believed that trees, mountains, rivers, and valleys were all the homes of the gods. These gods had both good and bad sides- just as a river can provide life-giving water but can also destroy life in a bad flood. Simple religious practices grew up around these gods. Offerings of food, incense, and even stones were made at high passes or river crossings, where it was thought the gods lived.



Lord Buddha, The Founder of the Bon Religion.
Bon seems to have arrived in Tibet as a new religion after the death of the eighth king of Tibet. It may well have been spread by merchants and traders who came to Tibet from the west- possibly from Persia. Certainly, the scriptures written in the tenth century describe a perfect land in the west called Ol-mo-lung-ring, which was said to be in the shape of an eight-petal flower. According to the scriptures, the founder of the Bon religion was Lord Shenrab. He was one of the three heavenly brothers who wanted to relieve the suffering of all living beings. The first brother, Dagpa, took charge of the past ages, Lord Shenrab the present, and Shespa, who Bon followers believe, is still to come. In Bon holy texts, Lord Shenrab spends much of his time battling with demons. He is said to have visited Tibet in pursuit of a devil who had stolen his seven horses. Once there, he started to teach the Tibetans, but found them unready to receive his doctrines. The Bon holy scriptures were later brought to the Land of Snows by a disciple of one of Shenrab’s followers.
In practice, the Bon religion became very closely linked to the government of the Yarlung kings of Tibet. Bon priests conducted elaborate ceremonies to subdue the evil world of the spirits of dead, and to teach and show the Tibetans the path to the gods of the sky- of which the king of Tibet is believed to be one. Their funeral ceremonies were intended to free man from fear of the dead, and it was their success in doing this that brought the Bon priests their power and influence. Some writers have suggested that it may have been the chief Bon priest who held the real power in the early Tibetan kingdom.



The most elaborate Bon ceremonies took place when a king died.
It was only after the royal family adopted Buddhism in the seventh century, and the threat that this posed, that Bon emerged as a fully organized religion. Both religions borrowed or adapted many practices from each other. But they were also rivals, and each went through periods of persecution.

In the reign of King Tresong Detsen (755-797), Bon priests were banished from central Tibet and their sacred books were hidden. Many claims were later made about the rediscovery of these books in the tenth century. Whether they were rediscovered or not, the great Bon scholar, Shen Chen Kludga, worked out a doctrine of Bon religious practices, and did much to reconcile Bon with Buddhism. Four great monasteries were founded in the province of Tsang where Bon monks spent their lives in meditation and prayer. Under the Fifth Dalai Lama, Bon once more suffered persecution, but the religion could not be destroyed. Indeed, it has continued to develop, with new teachers and scholars, until the present day.



Lord Buddha preaches to his followers under the"Bodi Tree" in Bodha Gaya.
Lord Buddha
Under a spreading Banyan tree near the Indian city of Benares, there sat a holy man. His clothes were plain and simple, and a look of supreme peace was in his eyes. On the grass around him sat hundreds of his disciples and followers. The holy man spoke softly as he told the people of the sufferings of the world. He spoke of the causes of misery and the path humans should follow to release themselves from their suffering. Gently he told the crowd how they should lead their lives in order to reach enlightenment. The people sighed, caught up in a spell of his words. The holy man was the Buddha. His teachings were to change the whole history of Tibet.

Lord Buddha was born in 563 BC in the kingdom of the Sakyas, on the border of Nepal and India. His name was Prince Siddhartha, and he was the royal son of King Suddhodana. At his birth, it was prophesied that he would either become a king of kings, or a very holy man who would renounce the world. Siddhartha’s father was determined that his son should become a mighty ruler rather than a saint. He sheltered him from the sight of all suffering and unhappiness, and provided him with all the pleasures of life. In this way, the king hoped that the idea of renouncing the world would never enter Siddhartha’s mind.



After prince siddhartha was the four signs- an old man, a sick man, a corpse and a holy man- he left his wife and child they slept in order to search for enlightenment.
Yet the young prince was not content. Always, he was searching for some truth that he could never find in the endless round of pleasures at the royal court. He married Yasodhara, a beautiful princess, who bore him a son. But still he was not happy. Then, one day while out driving with his charioteer, Siddhartha saw four sights that were to change his life: an old man bent with age limped across his path, a man torn by pain and sickness lay by the side of the road, as they drove through a forest a corpse was carried out of a filthy hovel, and, finally, the prince saw a wandering holy man who had renounced the world and seemed to be at peace.

Siddhartha was greatly affected by these four sights, and he asked his charioteer what they meant. Only then did he learn the true nature of pain, old age, and death. Deeply touched by the misery of human existence, Siddhartha decided to leave home in search of a solution to the problem of suffering.



All night Siddhartha resisted the devils send to tempt him from his purpose. As dawn broke he saw the final truth and became the Buddha.
Taking leave of his wife and child while they slept, Siddhartha rode far into the forest. There, he sent his horse and fine clothes back to the palace, and cut his hair so that he no longer resembled a prince. Siddhartha now began a six-year period of study, fasting, and self-denial. The young man’s earnestness in his search for the truth inspired five disciples to join him. But Siddhartha was too strict with himself. Continual fasting brought him near death. One day, a young girl offered him a bowl of rice, as he lay sick and starving beneath a great Banyan tree. Siddhartha realized that he would never achieve enlightenment by deprivation alone, so he accepted the food. His disciples were disappointed at his weakness and left him. When he had recovered his strength, Siddhartha sat himself beneath a great tree, determined never to rise until he saw the truth. All night he battled with Mara, the evil one, who was sent to distract him from his purpose. But the young man resisted all temptations. As the night wore on, he achieved various stages on the path to enlightenment. And then, as dawn broke, he realized the final truth. He became the Buddha- the Fully Awakened One. Today, you can still see the ’Bodhi Tree’ in Bodhgaya where the Buddha reached enlightenment.

For seven weeks, the Buddha contemplated his new wisdom, and wondered whether mankind was ready to receive his teachings. Out of compassion, he decided to spread his message to the world. His five disciples were the first to join him, and it was to them that he delivered his first sermon- the Turning of the Wheel of Dharma- in the Deer Park of Saranath. Then, for more than forty years, he traveled through India preaching the Buddhist doctrines.

Over a thousand years later, his teachings reached Tibet.

Buddhism reaches Tibet
One day, so legend tells us, the twenty-eighth king of Tibet, Thori Nyantsen, was standing on the roof of his palace. Suddenly, from out of the sky came a casket, which landed at the astonished king’s feet. In the casket was a book of Buddhist scriptures. The stories say that Thori Nyantsen was unable to read at this time. But he realized this must be a holy book, so he kept it very carefully, though he had no idea what was in it. He called the book ’Nyenpo Sangwa,’ which means ’The Secret Scripture.’ Another traditional version of this story describes a Nepalese teacher arriving in Tibet and presenting Thori Nyantsen with the scriptures. The king is also said to have had a dream. In it, the Buddha appeared to him, and told him that after five generations, a king would come who would be able to read and understand this book. Songtsen Gampo was this king.

During the time of the Yarlung kings, many Tibetan merchants and traders journeyed to India and China with their goods. Such men were often the first to learn about new ideas, and to spread these ideas when they returned home. So it seems probable that some Buddhist doctrines reached Tibet before the seventh century. The importance of Songtsen Gampo’s reign is that the Buddhist religion now received official backing for the first time. As we have read, he sent Thonmi Sambhota and sixteen students to India to study. On his return, Thonmi Sambhota gathered a group of dedicated scholars around him and began translating various Buddhist texts, using the new alphabet he had devised. The achievements of these remarkable translators survive to this day - they are the real ’cultural heroes’ of Tibet.



Songtsen Gompo worked with Thonmi Sambhota and his group of scholars in translating Buddhist texts.
Songtsen Gampo himself took a great interest in the new scriptures. He became a competent scholar and was soon convinced of the truth of Buddhism. In an attempt to persuade his subjects to follow the new religion, Buddhist rules were included in the laws of the land. Songtsen Gampo also encouraged Buddhist teachers to visit Tibet from both India and China. So the slow process of education began. The Tibetan people did not become converted to Buddhism overnight. There were no monasteries as yet, and it was only within the royal family that Buddhism took a strong hold. The Bon religion still remained a very powerful force for most Tibetans. However, the foundations of the new teachings had been laid.

Songtsen Gampo’s successors also encouraged Buddhism. But, during the reign of Mes Agtshom (704-755), the new religion suffered a setback. A terrible outbreak of smallpox appeared in Lhasa. Mes Agtshom’s Chinese queen caught the disease and died of it. The Bon priests declared that the smallpox had been sent by the ancient gods of Tibet to punish the Tibetans for following the new teachings. People became excited and angry, and the king was forced to expel the Indian teachers and many of their Tibetan followers as well.



Areas Buddhism had reached by the seventh century AD Birthplace of Buddhism.
Mes Agtshom’s son was the great warrior king, Trisong Detsen. He became a devout Buddhist and was determined to reintroduce the religion in Tibet. According to tradition, the king had two ministers - one called Gos Trisang, who was pro-Buddhist, and the other, called Mashang, who was bitterly opposed to it. Gos Trisang is said to have eliminated his rival by a trick. He bribed an astrologer to prophesize that the king would die young and that a great famine would come to Tibet. The only way these disasters could be averted, declared Gos Trisang, was if the king’s two chief ministers were prepared to sacrifice themselves for their country. Gos Trisang announced that he was willing to make such a sacrifice, and Mashing, who was the king’s uncle, could not very well refuse to join him. The two men were walled up in a burial chamber, but Gos Trisang knew a secret way out. He escaped, but Mashang was left to die.

Trisong Detsen could now encourage the return of Buddhism to Tibet.



Padmasambhava-better known as Lopon Rinpoche in Tibet.
Khenchen Zhiwatso and Lopon Rinpoche
Once Mashang, the pro-Bon minister, was out of the way, King Trisong Detsen turned to India for help re-introducing Buddhism to Tibet - just has his great predecessor, Songtsen Gampo, had done over a hundred years before. The king invited the great Indian teacher, Shantirakshita, known to the Tibet as Khenchen Zhiwatso, to come and teach the Buddha’s doctrines throughout his lands. Khenchen Zhiwatso accepted the royal invitation, and began to preach to the people in Lhasa. However, opposition to the new teachings was still strong among the Bon priests and many of the nobles. When thunderbolts and floods damaged the King’s palace at Yarlung and his fort in Lhasa, they blamed the new religion for angering the ancient gods of Tibet. Khenchen Zhiwatso decided that many Tibetans were not yet ready to receive his teachings. In a secret meeting with the king, it was agreed that he should return to Nepal, but that the great Indian tantric teacher, Padmasambhava, should be invited to preach in his place. If Padmasambhava was successful, Khenchen Zhiwatso himself would return. In Tibet, Padmasambhava is better known as Lopon Rinpoche. Like the Lord Buddha, Lopon Rinpoche grew up at a royal Indian court surrounded by pleasures. But, as a young man, he renounced this life and set out into the world. He visited all the religious centers in India, and learned many secret powers. Some say that he learned to face terrifying demons. In this way he was able to gain control over evil spirits. For Lopon Rinpoche was a master of the tantric path of Buddhism. This is a shorter path to enlightenment, and by following it, Lopon Rinpoche achieved many magical powers. He was just the right teacher for Tibet at this time.



Lopon Rinpoche puts a group of young boys into a trance in order to discover the case of the thunderbolts and floods that destroyed the King’s place.
On his way to Lhasa, Lopon Rinpoche is said to have conquered twelve female deities who were opposing his entry into Tibet. Once at the king’s court, the Indian teacher asked that a number of young boys be brought before him. When the children were assembled, he sprinkled grain over them and sent them all into a deep trance. As the boys writhed and squirmed before him, Lopon Rinpoche asked each to confess what had caused the thunderbolts and the floods to destroy the king’s palaces. All the boys answered that it was the Bon spirits, who were angry because their special ceremonies had been stopped.

Lopon Rinpoche at once set about subduing the Bon spirits. Before his arrival in Tibet, Trisong Detsen and Khenchen Zhiwatso had spent some time trying to build a Buddhist monastery at Samye. But this project was bitterly opposed by the Bon priests, who were said to have conjured up fierce demons to destroy all the work on the monastery. Lopon Rinpoche gained control over these evil spirits, and Khenchen Zhiwatso, as he had promised, returned to Tibet to complete the monastery. It was designed to represent the Buddhist universe, and it was very beautiful. Although partially destroyed, you can still see it today.



Samye monastery - the first monastery to be found in Tibet.
The king and Khenchen Zhiwatso were eager to find out if the Tibetans would make good monks. Seven men were selected, and they did so well in all their tests that many more Tibetans were encouraged to become monks. Samye Monastery became the center for translating sacred scriptures. It was the first of more than 5,000 monasteries to be founded in Tibet. Meanwhile, Lopon Rinpoche traveled far and wide across Tibet, subduing evil demons, and making them work for good, rather than evil. He did not destroy all the Tibetan’s old beliefs. Rather, he adopted them to fit in with the Buddha’s teachings. There are hundreds of places in Tibet today that still have traditions and stories about Lopon Rinpoche’s visits. He is said to have hidden numerous secret doctrines in many different places during his wanderings. These were later discovered, and became an important part of the teachings of the Nyingmapa sect of Tibetan Buddhism. Lopon Rinpoche is even said to have left his hand print on four lakes in Tibet. Traditional accounts say that he stayed in the country for over fifty years, before finally flying off to what is now Sri Lanka in a sky chariot.

To be continued next..........................
 

Ray

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Great. Keep up the thread so that we can learn of ancient Tibet.
 

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PART:FOUR


Atisha- the Bengali saint who arrived in Tiber in 1042.

Persecution and Revival
The foundations of the Buddhist religion had now been laid in Tibet. However, the new religion was to suffer one serious setback before it finally took root. The last king of Tibet, Lang Darma, was totally opposed to Buddhism. During his reign (835-843) a period of persecution began. The great Buddhist temples were closed, and pictures of drunken monks were painted on their walls. Monks were forced to marry, become huntsmen, or return to the Bon religion. Those who refused were executed…

The story goes that three Buddhists monks, living in the wilderness south of Lhasa, were unaware of the persecution of their religion. One day, they were astonished to see a number of monks armed with bows and arrows hunting a deer. Learning that these monks were being forced to kill animals, contrary to the Buddha’s teachings, the three monks hurriedly strapped their sacred scriptures to their mules and fled. They eventually settled in the Amdo district near the Chinese border.

While Buddhism was being destroyed in central Tibet, this small group kept it alive in the east. They ordained a new monk called Gongpa Rabsal, and slowly, the news of their activities began to spread. When the original three monks were very old, a group of ten volunteers set out from Samye to receive teachings from them. Their return to Samya as fully ordained monks marks the first step in the revival of Buddhism in central Tibet. They were the first monks seen at Samye for seventy years.



The story goes that when Atish first arrived in Tibet, he was met by a great many Lama-chieftains. When he was all these Lamas, he asked why he was needy when there were already so many holy men in Tibet. But when the Lamas frew closer, and Atisha was all the fine cloths they were wearing, their magnificent horses and proud escots, he realized he was not part of the Buddha’s teaching.
Meanwhile, one of the heroes of the Buddhist revival in western Tibet was a monk of royal blood called Yeshe Od. He arranged for twenty-one young boys to go to Kashmir to learn Sanskrit and study Buddhism. Only two survived- Rinchen Zampo and Legpe Sherab- but they lived to become famous translators, and eventually returned to Tibet in 978, accompanied by a number of Indian teachers. The enormous number of sacred scriptures they translated did more than anything else to ensure the return of Buddhism to Tibet.

Yeshe Od also tried to persuade the foremost Buddhist teacher in India, Atisha, to come to Tibet. It was while raising gold for Atisha’s journey that he was captured by the Garlog king and thrown into prison. There he died of starvation and ill-treatment- a true martyr to his religion. But he did not die in vain, for Atisha came to Tibet.

The great Indian teacher arrived in Tibet in 1042. Although he was a master of all the great tantric teachings, he did not choose to emphasize this path of Buddhism. He was a gentle, saintly man, full of compassion and dedicated to learning. During his years in Tibet, Atisha established many new monasteries throughout the country, and insisted that the monks follow stricter rules of discipline. He worked on many sacred books in Lhasa and Samye, and still found time to travel among the country people, bringing the word of Buddha to their homes. Atisha told them that above all, a true Buddhist must love all living things. During his seventeen years in Tibet, more people turned to Buddhism than ever before. His compassion and gentleness have left their mark on Tibetan Buddhism to this day.

Mongols and Lamas

The Sakya Lama - popularly known as Sakya Pandita.
The Sakya Lama and the Mongols
For four hundred years after the death of the last king, Lang Darma, in 843, Tibet was divided into many little states, each ruled by a prince or a lama. Sometimes these states would be friendly with their neighbors; at other times they would make war with them. The only thing uniting the country during these years was the spread of Buddhism. As a result the monasteries became more powerful. These were often built like castles, with great thick stone walls to protect the monks from raiders. The monasteries began to acquire wealth and land, and the abbot, or head lama, might well rule over much of the surrounding countryside.

Then, in 1207, news reached Tibet that stuck fear into many people’s hearts. Rumors came out of the north of a man called Genghis Khan and the deeds of his fierce Mongolian soldiers. There were tales of deserted cities, of the massacre of men, women and children in cold blood, and of burned and empty villages. Nothing survived that lay in the path of the Mongol hordes, whispered the rumors.


A Mongol horseman at the time of Genghis Khan.
The Tibetan chieftains and lamas decided to hold an emergency meeting in Lhasa. It was agreed to send messengers to the Mongol camp to beg that Tibet might be spared. In return they would pay the Mongols Emperor an annual tribute. Pleased by such a humble submission to his greatness, Genghis Khan agreed, and his terrible armies did not invade Tibet.

But after the death of Genghis Khan, the Tibetans ceased to pay tribute. Angered by this breach of faith, Genghis Khan’s grandson, Prince Godan, ordered his generals to invade Tibet with 30,000 troops. His fierce horsemen raided as far south as Lhasa, killing and looting as they went. But Price Godan was not just a harsh warrior. He was greatly interested in the Buddhist religion. On hearing that the Lama of the Sakya monastery was the holiest in Tibet, he sent him a letter. ’We need a lama’, he wrote, ’to advise my ignorant people on how to conduct themselves morally and spiritually’. But the Price made it clear that he was making the Sakya Lama an order, not a request, ’ I will accept no excuses on account of your age or the rigors of the journey!’ he wrote sternly.



The Sakya Lama is received by Prince Godan at the Mongol court.
So, the Sakya Lama set out for the Mongol court. There, his wisdom and teachings deeply impressed Price Godan. It is said that he cured the Prince of a serious illness. He even managed to persuade the Mongolian chieftains to stop throwing large numbers of Chinese into the nearby river. This was most certainly against the Buddhist faith, he said, even if it did help to reduce the population. Together with his nephew, Dogon Choegyal Phagpa,

The Sakya Lama is received by Prince Godan at the Mongol court.
So, the Sakya Lama set out for the Mongol court. There, his wisdom and teachings deeply impressed Price Godan. It is said that he cured the Prince of a serious illness. He even managed to persuade the Mongolian chieftains to stop throwing large numbers of Chinese into the nearby river. This was most certainly against the Buddhist faith, he said, even if it did help to reduce the population. Together with his nephew, Dogon Choegyal Phagpa, the Sakya Lama began a translation of Buddhist scriptures into Mongolian, which at that time, was still an unwritten language.

In return for acting as his religious tutor, Prince Godan made the Sakya Lama the supreme ruler of all the little states of central ..:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:eek:ffice:smarttags" />Tibet. The Sakya Lama did not exercise this authority himself, as he never left the Mongols court, but it was later exercised by his nephew Phagpa. This was the start of a unique relationship between the Tibetan lamas and the Mongol leaders. It was an arrangement between two equal, but very different countries. The Tibetans would help and guide the Mongols in matters of religion, while the Mongols would protect and support Tibet in more worldly affairs. The same sort of relationship was later to develop between the Tibetans and Chinese Emperors.


Kublai Khan - the great Mongol chieftain who evenyually became Emperor of China.
On the banks of the Yellow River in China, a great array of horsemen was slowly moving. Clouds of dust rose from the column and the sun flashed on the glittering armour and bright swords of the Mongol horsemen. In the center of the column, mounted on magnificent white horses, rode two men. One was dressed in gorgeous robes studded with gold and pearls, and had the proud look of a fierce warrior. The other was dressed in the red and white robes of a monk, but his hat and staff proclaimed him to be a high lama from Tibet. The two men were deep in conversation. Their heads were bent earnestly together as they discussed a difficult question about the Buddha’s teachings. The man in the gorgeous robes scowled in concentration as he struggled to grasp the meaning of the scriptures. The other answered him with gentle words and explanations. For these two men were the great Kublai Khan, Mongolian leader and later Emperor of all China, and his Buddhist tutor and ruler of Tibet, Phagpa.

Phagpa had succeeded his uncle both as Lama of Sakya, and as the high lama at the Mongol court in 1251. The young man’s learning made a deep impression on Kublai Khan. The Mongol leader made Phagpa his tutor and showered honours on him. In 1254, Kublai sent his tutor a letter granting him full political power in Tibet. He wrote, "This letter grants you authority over all Tibet, enabling you to protect the religious institutions and faith of your people and to propagate the Lord Buddha’s teachings.

As the sun sank, the horsemen stopped in a meadow by the river. Fair pavilions and tents had been set up, awaiting their arrival. That night, a great feast was held, for tomorrow Phagpa would journey on to Tibet and Kublai Khan would return to Mongolia. Magnificent gifts were exchanged – precious stones, gold, and silver. All wondered at the great friendship between these two men – one the great warrior leader of the Mongols, the other the gentle monk from Tibet. In the morning they bowed and parted, one heading north, the other west.


The Sakya Monastery was said to have a golden statues of the Buddha over 35 feet high.
Although Phagpa spent much of his time at the Mongol court, Tibet was now ruled in his name from the Monastery at Sakya. His minister there was known as Ponchen, and under him were thirteen governors who ruled the provinces. The Sakya Monastery benefited greatly from these days of power. It is said that the main temple contained a golden statue of the Buddha over thirty-five feet high. When Kublai Khan increased his power by becoming Emperor of China in 1280, the power and prestige of the Sakya Lamas also increased.

The rule of the Sakya Lamas lasted until the middle of the fourteenth century. During this time, Tibet was once again loosely united under a single political and religious leadership.
 

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PART:FIVE

Changchub Gyaltsen

Changchub Gyaltsen rised an excellent army which he used to make himself ruler of Tibet
By making the Sakya Lamas their teachers and rulers of Tibet, the Mongols had re-united the country for a time. They had also given the Tibetans their first taste of government by a religious ruler. However, there were a number of different Buddhist sects in Tibet at this time, who all taught the words of Buddha in a slightly different way. You can read more about these different sects in the next section. Some of the high lamas from other monasteries, and some of the noble chieftains also, began to grow jealous of the great riches and power of the Sakya Lamas.

One lama from the Kargyupa sect, who had particular cause to dislike the rule of the Sakyas, was called Changchub Gyaltsen. He became governor of the province of Nedong in 1322, and it was while the ruler of this province that Changchub suffered a grave injustice at the hands of the assistant Ponchen from Sakya. An army was sent to remove him from his governorship. He was imprisoned and tortured. One story says that as he was being led in chains through the town of Sakya, some jeering people threw earth at him. When a well-aimed clod hit him in the mouth, Changchub cried, "I may be eating the mud of Sakya now, but soon I will be eating Sakya itself!" His chance came in 1358, when the Sakya Lama was murdered by his own chief steward. Using the excellent army he had built up in Nedong, Changchub was able to make himself ruler of all of Tibet.


Tseten Dorjee, the first King of Tsang, had a ferocious reputation. He began life as a servant of the Rinpung Princes, and was made Master of the Stables at Shigatse. He then played a trick on the Rinpung family. He asked permission to raise a tax to buy needles for mending the saddles of his horses. Now the word ’needle’ in Tibetan is very similar to the word ’armour’, so Tseten Dorjee craftily altered the word on the tax permit and collected 300 suits of armour instead. With these he built up his army and was soon chalenging the Rinpung princes as the leader of Tibet.
Changchub became a wise and resourceful ruler. He re-divided the country, and appointed more honest and efficient governors to rule the provinces. He shared out land more equally between his subjects, and built new roads and bridges. He used soldiers to defeat the robbers and bandits who were attacking travelers and pilgrims on the great caravan routes. He also tried to make the Tibetans proud of their country by re-telling the tales of the glories of the Tibetan Empire. During the New Year celebrations, for example, he dressed his officials in the costumes of the early kings. This custom was still followed until recently.

Changchub’s descendants were known as the Phamo Drupa rulers of Tibet. They ruled until 1435, after which their power and influence passed to the Rinpung princes who had been their ministers. The Rinpung rulers were replaced in their turn by the kings of Tsang who took over effective power in the middle of the sixteenth century. There are many colorful stories about the ferocity and cunning of the first of these kings, Tseten Dorjee, who was believed by many to be the son of a devil.

During these years, no outside country attempted to control what was happening in Tibet. The Mongol emperors were expelled from China in 1368 and replaced by the Ming Dynasty. Thereafter lamas and monks from important monasteries in Tibet continued to visit the Chinese court. But these visits had nothing to do with the rulers of Tibet. There is no truth in the claims of some Chinese writers that Tibet submitted to China from the time of the Mongol Emperors onwards. During the Ming Dynasty, the Chinese were much too worried by the frequent attacks of fierce Mongol tribes on their borders to worry about what was happening in Tibet.

The Origins of the Dalai Lamas
Founders of the 4 most important Buddhist sects.
Different Buddhist Sects
Over the centuries, a number of different Buddhist sects grew up in Tibet. These sects all have slightly different rules and teachings, but they all follow the words of the Lord Buddha in their own way.

As we have seen, the gentle Indian teacher, Atisha, arrived in Tibet following a period when Buddhism was persecuted there. He taught that monks should follow a purer and more disciplined path. His followers were called the Kadampa. Although there are no monks with this name today, many of the ideas of the Kadampa were later adopted by the Gelukpa sect. However, some monks chose not to follow the teachings of Atisha. These people continued to practice the older teachings of Lopon Rinpoche, and were known as the Nyingmapa, or "Old Believers".

Two of Atisha’s disciples wished to deviate slightly from their master’s teachings. They founded lineages of their own which became known as the Kargyupa and the Sakyapa sects. The Kargyupa was founded by a great translator called Marpa. One of his disciples was the much loved saint, Milarepa, whose songs and poetry are still remembered and sung by nomads and farmers to this day. The Sakya Monastery was founded by a great scholar called Khon Konchong Gyalpo. It soon became famous for its purity and learning. As we have seen, the Sakya Lamas ruled Tibet in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries with the support of the Mongols.

The Kargyupa and Sakya sects were founded in the eleventh century. It was not until nearly 400 years later that the last, and what was to become the largest Buddhist sect was founded. It was called the Gelukpa, meaning ’those who follow the path of perfect virtue’. It was from this sect that the Dalai Lamas were to come.

The Gelukpa sect was founded by a great religious teacher called Tsong Khapa. He taught purity and spirituality to his monks, very much in the same way that Atisha had done four centuries earlier. The path he taught his monks was long and hard, and he enforced strict discipline in his monasteries. Although a tantric master himself, he did not allow his monks to follow this way until they had first mastered a daunting course of studies. Tsong Khapa also taught his monks that they were an important part of the community of Tibet. Monks should travel among the people teaching the words of Buddha. They should also help in sharing out land to the peasants, and in maintaining law and order.

Tsong Khapa founded his own monastery at Gaden, where his ideas were put into practice. By the time of his death in 1419, his teachings had become so popular that two other monasteries were founded. These were called Drepung and Sera. In commemoration of this great teacher, thousands of lamps are still lit in Tibetan households on the anniversary of his death.

The First Dalai Lamas
One of Tsong Khapa’s disciples was a great Buddhist scholar called Gedun Drupa. Through his great learning and purity, he spread the Gelukpa teachings far and wide across Tibet. He built the great monastery at Tashilhunpo – ’The Mountain of Blessing’ – which housed over 3,000 monks. This was later to become the monastery of the Panchen Lamas.

Gedun Drupa died in 1474, at the age of eighty-four. On his deathbed, he whispered to his weeping disciples that he hoped to return with a new body soon, in order to carry on his work. A year later, Gedun Gyatso was born. As a boy, he showed great ability and learning, and was soon recognized as the reincarnation of Gedun Drupa. These two men were later called the First and Second Dalai Lamas.

The idea of reincarnation existed in Tibet before the time of the Dalai Lamas. The most important reason for returning to this earth in a new body is to serve and help others. Thus, although reaching liberation themselves, the Dalai Lamas chose to come back to the world for the good of religion and for the benefit of other suffering beings. This is why they are known as the manifestations of Chenresig, Lord of Compassion.

There was also a practical reason why reincarnation suited the Gelukpa sect. At this time, Tibet was torn by religious rivalry of the different sects. Sometimes monks from rival monasteries would actually come to blows, and people would be hurt. Lamas from different sects plotted and schemed to influence the rulers in Lhasa, so that their monasteries should receive the most money and support. The Gelukpa were a new sect, and therefore vulnerable. It was very important that they should be united under a single leadership. Because no Gelukpa is allowed to marry, the high lama of the order could not pass on the leadership to his son – as was practiced by the Sakya sect. The idea of reincarnation solved this problem. By returning again in a new body, each Dalai Lama is given the same reverence and loyalty as his predecessor.

During the lifetime of Gedun Gyatso, the Gelukpa sect grew in size and power. A year after his death, a child was born who showed all the signs of greatness. He was recognized as the reincarnation of Gedun Gyatso as a very early age, and was able to remember objects and people from his previous life. This child was named Sonam Gyatso. During his lifetime he was to carry the Gelukpa teachings beyond the borders of Tibet itself.
 

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PART:SIX

Sonam Gyatso and the Mongols


Sonam Gyatso preaches to Altan Khan and his Mongolian subjects.
A chilly wind blew ceaselessly across the great Mongolian plain. On the horizon, a jagged mountain range marched southwards in line upon line of snowy peaks. The plain was dotted with black felt tents – the homes of the Mongolian nomads. Standing apart from the ordinary tents, and guarded by fierce Mongol horsemen, was the magnificent silk pavilion of the Mongolian chieftain – Altan Khan. And all around, as far as the eye could see, cattle and horses grazed.

The Khan and all his subjects were gathered before a wooden platform, on which a lone man sat. Wrapping his monk’s robes tightly about him against the bitter wind, he began to speak. He told the fierce Mongols about the gentle compassion of the Buddha and his teachings. He spoke of the tyranny of life and death and how all could be saved. Gently he rebuked his listeners for the animal and human sacrifices that they were accustomed to making to their dead. Milk and butter were the right things to give he said, not blood.

When the monk had finished, Altan Khan sprang onto the platform. From this moment, he told the crowd, the Buddha’s word would become law in Mongolia. Turning to the monk, he said, ’to you, Sonam Gyatso, Lama of the Gelukpa, I give the name of Dalai Lama’ – ’Ocean of Wisdom’. For you have shown my people the truth’.

Sonam Gyatso and the Mongols (2)
It is evidence of the growing power and reputation of the Gelukpa sect that it was their leader, Sonam Gyatso, that the Mongols invited to explain the Buddha’s teachings to them. Although Kublai Khan had been converted by Phagpa 300 years before, the Mongols had since gone back to their old religion of gods and demons. Sonam Gyatso’s visit was to change all this. The Mongolians became ardent Buddhists, establishing their own monasteries throughout their lands.

Sonam Gyatso’s fame as a teacher and holy man spread throughout Tibet and beyond. He visited the Chinese court and settled a border dispute between the Mongols and the Chinese – the first purely political act carried out by a Dalai Lama. He founded many new monasteries in Tibet, including the great monastery of Kumbum on the spot where Gelukpa’s founder, Tsong Khapa, was born.

Sonam Gyatso died in 1588 as he returned from his second visit to Mongolia. While he was at the Khan’s court he had promised to return as a Mongol in his next life. Sure enough, the year after he died, a great-grandson of Altan Khan was recognized as the fourth Dalai Lama, and named Yonten Gyatso.

The Great Fifth Dalai Lama
During the life of the Fourth Dalai Lama, Yonten Gyatso, Tibet was plunged into a period of bitter religious turmoil. The different religious sects quarreled with each other and with the petty princes. The Gelukpa sect aroused great resentment and fear amongst the others because of its close alliance with the Mongols. The kings of Tsang were especially jealous of the growing power and influence of the Gelukpa, and did all they could to destroy it. This state of affairs continued during the early life of the Fifth Dalai Lama – Ngawang Losang Gyatso.

But, thanks to the work of the Third Dalai Lama, Sonam Gyatso, the Gelukpa had one firm friend – the Mongols. Fearing that their spiritual teachers might be wiped out, Gushri Khan, a Mongol prince of the Qoshot tribe, invaded Tibet. After fierce fighting, he defeated and killed the King of Tsang, and subdued the other religious sects opposed to the Gelukpa. Escorted by 600 Mongol horsemen, the Dalai Lama was enthroned in the great audience chamber of the palace of Shigatse in 1642. Gushri Khan took for himself the title of ’King’ of Tibet, but he handed over the control of the country to Ngawang Losang Gyatso. For the first time, a Dalai Lama was the real spiritual and secular ruler of Tibet.

Ngawang Losang Gyatso is called "The Great Fifth" by the Tibetans. Under his rule the country was united more completely than at any other time since the Tibetan Empire, and all the different chieftains and lamas accepted the authority of the Dalai Lama. He set up a strong central government divided equally between monks and noblemen, which lasted with few changes until the mid-twentieth century. You can read more about the government of the Dalai Lamas in the second book of this history.

The fifth Dalai Lama was received with great honour and respect by the Emperor of China.
To strengthen his position as ruler of Tibet, the Fifth Dalai Lama moved his home from the Drepung Monastery to Lhasa. There he began to build what has become one of the wonders of Tibet – indeed, one of the wonders of the world – Potala Palace. It was built on Lhasa’s Red Hill, on the very site where the great Tibetan King, Songtsen Gampo, had built a fort a thousand years before. The Potala would become known as the heavenly home of the Dalai Lamas, and thousands of pilgrims still travel from all over Tibet to visit it.

Throughout his life, the Fifth Dalai Lama maintained friendship and authority over the Mongol tribes on his borders. The new Chinese Emperors, the Manchus, also had great respect for the religious and political authority of the Dalai Lama. In 1652, the Fifth Dalai Lama visited the Emperor Shun-Chih’s court in China. He was entertained magnificently. Crowds lined the streets of Peking to greet the great Buddhist leader, and the air was filled with the scent of hundreds of flowers that had been gathered for the occasion. Beautiful and expensive gifts were exchanged between the two leaders, and the Dalai Lama was given the title, ’Preceptor of the Lord Buddha’s Doctrine, Keeper of Peace in the West, Uniter of the Buddhist Faith beneath the Sky, Superior of the Ocean, Holder of the Thunderbolt’. During his stay in China, the Dalai Lama was also requested to help reorganize the monasteries of that country.


The great Potala Palace was build by the Fifth Dalai Lama.
There has been much argument about the Fifth Dalai Lama’s visit to China. Did he go there as a vassal of the Chinese Emperor or as an independent ruler? There is no doubt that he was treated with enormous respect. China had had no real say in the affairs of Tibet for centuries, and the Dalai Lama’s authority in his own country was absolute and independent. Moreover, he alone amongst Asian leaders was able to control the fierce Mongol tribes, and it was the Mongols that the Chinese greatly feared at this time. On balance, the facts would seem to suggest that he went as an independent ruler.

But it is not just for his political authority and power that the Fifth Dalai Lama is remembered as ’Great’. He was an excellent scholar and a man of considerable holiness. He greatly extended the New Year festivities at Lhasa, and introduced the Lhasa Monlam Chenmo – the Great Prayer Festival which begins on the fourth day. It is said that the Fifth Dalai Lama once had a dream in which he saw all the beauty of the world of the Buddhas. As a result, he began the delightful butter-tower festival. Once a year, beautiful models of gleaming butter are carried around the streets, to the great excitement of everyone. This festival is still followed in Tibet to this day.

The ’Great’ Fifth Dalai Lama died in 1682. It is said that his death was concealed by his chief minister, Sangye Gyatso, for nearly fifteen years. Some say that the authority of the Fifth Dalai Lama was needed for building of the great Potala to be finished. Others claim that the minister, Sangye Gyatso, wished to gain more power for himself. In any event, the Sixth Dalai Lama was enthroned in the Potala in 1697.

Lover and Poet
Tsangyang Gyaltso - The Sixth Dalai Lama.
Dusk was falling over the city of Lhasa. As the darkness crept over the rooftops, the buzz and bustle of the bazaar, so loud during the daytime, grew muted and then fell silent. A full moon of the deepest yellow rose over the majestic shape of the great Potala. High up in the palace a door opened and closed with hardly a sound. A muffled figure began to move swiftly down the great stairway that led to the village of Shol, at the foot of the palace. When the man reached the flickering lights of the first houses, he paused, as if listening for something. From a lighted window came the sound of a flute and singing, and then a peal of high girlish laughter. The man smiled to himself and slipped quietly through the door to join the gaiety.

This man was the Sixth Dalai Lama Tsangyang Gyatso. He was quite unlike any of the other Dalai Lamas, either before or after him. He enjoyed the company of women and liked to drink chang and to dance and sing. There are still houses in Lhasa painted yellow in his honor, for these were the ones he most liked to visit. The Sixth Dalai Lama’s worldly behavior led some people to say – including the Chinese – that his choice must have been a mistake, and he could not be a real incarnation. Yet in a strange way, Tsangyang Gyatso has become greatly beloved by the Tibetans.

For he was not simply a playboy. He wrote some of the most beautiful poetry in the Tibetan language. Although not attracted to the idea of spending his life as a monk, the Sixth Dalai Lama was a man of great simplicity. He refused to wear the rich robes of his office, or to ride a horse when he left the palace. When he gave his public lectures in the park at Lhasa, he would arrive alone and dressed in the simplest clothes.

Some people have suggested that Tsangyang Gyatso should have been made a king. For it is said that before the death of the Great Fifth Dalai Lama, his ministers tried to persuade him to return as a worldly man, in order that he continue his work of uniting Tibet and making the country strong. The Sixth Dalai Lama appeared to be a ’worldly’ man, and if he had been given the kingship, many of Tibet’s subsequent problems might have been avoided. However, opposition from the religious community proved too great for this to happen.

In any event, the Sixth Dalai Lama’s life was a short and tragic one. Lhazang Khan, the grandson of the Mongol chieftain, Gushri Khan, decided to use the excuse of the Sixth Dalai Lama’s un-monkish behavior to get rid of him and his government. In this plan he was aided by the Manchu Emperor of China, K’ang-hsi. First, the chief minister, Sangye Gyatso was murdered. Then it was announced that Tsangyang Gyatso was a false incarnation and was to be deposed and exiled. The Tibetans grew very angry at this treatment of their Dalai Lama, but in the face of the Mongol horsemen, they could do nothing. In fact, it was only the intervention of the Dalai Lama himself that prevented the Drepung monks from trying to rescue him – an attempt that could only have led to much bloodshed.
 

ShyAngel

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PART:SEVEN

It is said that before he left Lhasa, the Sixth Dalai Lama wrote a poem to one of his lovers in which he showed he would be born again:

Lend me your wings, white crane;

I go no farther than Lithang;

And thence, return again;

The Sixth Dalai Lama disappeared on his way to China in the Koko Nor region of Tibet. Many folk legends grew up about his fate. Some say that he did not die, but became a goatherd and lived quietly in the mountains for the rest of his life. Others say that he became a wandering holy man and eventually returned to Lhasa, where he was recognized by a number of people.

Having got rid of the Sixth Dalai Lama, Lhazang Khan appointed one of his own followers in his place. But he was never accepted by the Tibetans. Instead, they found a child of their own who came from Lithang, just as the Sixth Dalai Lama had predicted.
 

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PART:EIGHT

Foreign Intervention:

When the Chinese marched in to Lhasa in 1720 they brought with them the Seventh Dalai Lama, who was entroned in the Potala.

The years following the death, or disappearance of the Sixth Dalai Lama are ones of some confusion in Tibet. The Dalai Lama appointed by Lhazang Khan was not accepted by the Tibetans. As we have seen, they appointed their own child in the usual manner. Unfortunately, this child was in the hands of the Emperor of China.

Lhazang Khan’s government in Lhasa was very unpopular, and trouble was not long in coming. In 1717, a Mongol tribe called the Dzungars invaded Tibet, supposedly to put the right Dalai Lama on the throne, although they did not have the child with them. They attacked Lhasa and captured and killed Lhazang Khan. In these actions they had the support of most Tibetans. But when the Tibetans realized that the Dzungars did not have the rightful Dalai Lama with them, they began to grow angry. And when the Dzungars started to plunder the Buddhist temples – stealing the gold images and ordering the monks around – this anger turned to hatred. The Tibetans began to look for help from China.

In 1718, The Chinese Emperor sent an army to Tibet, which was bloodily defeated by the Dzungars outside Lhasa. In 1720 he tried again, and this time his army was successful. The Dzungars were driven out of Tibet and the longed-for Dalai Lama was escorted to the Holy City. The Chinese generals helped to restore order and set up a new government. This government remained entirely in Tibetan hands. You can read more about the government of the Dalai Lamas in the second book of this history.

The Chinese invasion of 1720 had taken place without any opposition from the Tibetans. But for almost 200 years – from 1720 to 1912 – the Chinese were to exert a certain amount of influence in Tibetan affairs. To begin with, a garrison of 2,000 Chinese soldiers was left in Lhasa. Later, these soldiers were replaced by two Chinese officials, known as Ambans with a small escort of troops. These officials had little say in Tibetan affairs, but the Chinese were later to claim that they did. Indeed, the Chinese Communists used the presence of the Ambans in Lhasa as one of their arguments in claiming that Tibet had always been a part of China. You can read more about Tibet’s relations with China, and the events that were to lead up to the tragedy of the mid-twentieth century in the next book.

Daily Life
The Roof of the World
Tibet is a vast and beautiful country. It is bounded on three sides by some of the highest mountains in the world – the rugged Karakorams and Ladakh mountains in the west, the wild and remote Chang Tang range to the north, and the great rock barrier of the Himalayas that runs for 2,400 kilometers along Tibet’s southern border. No wonder Tibet has been called the ’Roof of the World’, for the average height of the land is around 4,500 meters.

In the past, Tibet’s encircling of mountains has acted like a kind of fortress. Conquering armies were dismayed by the soaring mountain precipices, the bitter winds and snow and the absence of roads. This is one of the reasons why Tibet was spared by the fierce Mongol warriors of Genghis Khan. Even in the east, where there are no high mountains, the country is rugged and barren and the distances are enormous – it is over 1,200 kilometers from Lhasa to the Chinese frontier. So geography protected Tibet and her people. This is one of the reasons why the way of life of the people remained so little changed for hundreds of years. The nomad’s life, for example, was almost the same in 1940 as it was in the time of the First Dalai Lama – the only difference perhaps, was that by the later date he might have exchanged his sword for a rifle.

In the following pages you can read about the lives and customs of Tibetans. We will look at some of the different people – at the nomads and their wanderings over the high mountain pastures; at the peasant farmers tilling the soil on the fertile plateaus – for Tibet is not all wild and barren. You can read about life in the monasteries and in the Holy City of Lhasa, and about the pastimes, sports and festivals of the people. For history is not just about dates and the lives of famous people. It is also about ordinary men and women – how they lived, worked, married and passed their time.

A Peasant Village
As the first rays of the morning sun turned the mountains pink, faint wisps of smoke could be seen rising from the tiny village in the valley. It was not a large settlement. No more than nine or ten stone and brick houses clustered together on the hillside – each with its little central courtyard and its simple Buddhist shrine. At first light, Lhamo aged nine and her little brother, Dorjee, of six would throw back their yak-skin rugs and follow their mother onto the flat roof of the house. There the mother lit a small fire of yak-dung and made an offering of tsampa, butter and juniper wood. Then the family would pray together. All across the valley came the sweet smell of burning juniper and the singing of prayers. Every morning began like this.

Lhamo and Dorjee’s family was not rich. They owned several strips of field around the village – some good and others bad. All day, their father worked in the fields tending his crops of barley. Spring was a busy time when he harnessed his two yaks and ploughed the field and sowed the seed. When summer came, and the weeds began to sprout, everyone, even little Dorjee, helped to pull them up. Then came autumn, and the harvest had to be safely gathered in.

Lhamo often helped her mother in the house. There was barley to roast to make tsampa, and milk to churn to make butter. In winter, when the days were short and dark her mother would take some of the wool she had bought from the nomads and weave it into beautiful carpets. Life in the village was hard and simple, but everyone was friendly. Most of the men in the village called each other ’brother’, and Lhamo and Dorjee had about six ’grandmothers’. Sometimes friends and relatives would arrive from a neighboring village. Then there would be feasting and merrymaking. The chang would be passed around and old tales told by the fireside. Occasionally monks would visit from the nearby monastery. They would say prayers by the family shrine and read from religious books – for few people in the village knew their letters.


The day begins with offering and prayers in Lhamo and Dorjee’s village.
Not every peasant was as lucky as the family of Lhamo and Dorjee. Most of the richest farmland in Tibet was owned by the great monasteries and the nobility. On these great estates the peasant might own a plot of land for his own use, but he also had to farm the rest of his landlord’s fields, and provide various services, such as free transport, work on roads, etc. In most cases, it would seem that the monasteries and nobles dealt justly with their peasants and helped them in times of shortage. But there must have been instances of ill treatment in such a system, and there was no one, save the Dalai Lama, perhaps hundreds of kilometers away in Lhasa, to whom the peasant could appeal for help. One of the present Dalai Lama’s great hopes was to change the landowning system to make it fairer, but events overtook him before he could carry this out.

Lhamo always knew when autumn had arrived. As the days began to shorten, she would climb to the roof of the house and look expectantly northwards, towards the mountains. Sure enough, on the third day of her watch, she saw a cloud of dust moving slowly down from the mountain pass. Soon a great herd of yaks could be seen descending into the valley. Here and there Lhamo could make out the tiny figure of a horseman circling around the great herd. Distant cries rang out across the valley as the animals were coaxed down the right path. Lhamo smiled to herself. The nomads had come home for the winter.

In the past, nearly half the population of Tibet lived as wandering mountain nomads. Most lived in the wild Amdo and Kham regions of northeast Tibet, though there were others on the great plains in the north, and in the remoter mountains of the west as well. It was hard but vigorous life. As soon as the snows on the high plateaus melted, the nomadic tribe, usually of three or four families, would climb into the mountains with their yaks and sheep. Each family lived in a black, yak-fur tent, often guarded by a fierce dog that would attack and kill anyone who approached. Before dawn, the women would rise and milk the female yaks, called dris. Then, they would serve hot buttered tea to their families, and as in the villages, a small offering of food and juniper was made on a simple stone alter outside the tent. To end the morning prayers, an old woman might sprinkle a few drops of tea in the air and the nomads would give a great shout which echoed around the camp.

All day, the men tended the herds on the great open pastures. They had to be watchful, because brigands, as well as some wild animals might attack their animals. Some of the men also went hunting. Although devout Buddhists, they would kill wild antelope and gazelles, as well as their own yaks, for the nomads needed meat to survive. Most simply accepted that they must have done many bad deeds in past lives, and this had condemned them to kill other living things. The women and small children stayed behind in the camps with the dogs to guard them. They passed the day making butter and cheese and weaving wool for clothes and blankets.

As the summer months wore on, the nomads might change their camp five or six times in their search for fresh pastures for their animals. But when the first bitter winds of autumn brought snow to the grazing grounds, the wandering people moved down from the heights and established their winter camp in the foothills. Lhamo waited for this event with great excitement every year.

Lhamo and Dorjee knew a great deal about the nomads. Their winter camp lay across the river on the other side of the valley from the village. One of Lhamo’s first memories was watching the whole tribe making yak-dung walls to protect their tents from the winter winds. To begin with, she had been frightened by their dark, sunburned faces, and the long, sharp swords which were piled outside the tents. And when her mother unpacked their lunch of spinach and potatoes, the nomad children laughed. ’Why do you eat grass?’ they cried, for they had never seen anyone eating vegetables before. But they soon became friends. Lhamo had a special friend called Dolma. Together they would sit outside her tent, and Dolma would tell of the clear dawns in the mountains and the pastures carpeted with spring flowers. Lhamo hoped she might go with her friend one day. As soon as they saw the nomads arrive, she and Dorjee would cross the valley and help them set up camp. Little Dorjee grew so excited about building yak-dung walls, that when he got home he tried to build one around their house. It was pulled down hurriedly after one of their ’grandmothers’ had fallen over it twice.

The coming of the nomads was the beginning of one of the busiest and most enjoyable times for the villagers. Everyone – farmers, nomads, traders, would set out for the great market – two days journey down the valley. Lhamo’s father would load his two mules with the barley from the year’s crop. If it was a good year, he might even hire a third mule to carry the extra barley. The market was a place of great excitement. All day the men bargained and haggled over their goods. The nomads arrived with butter, cheese, meat and wool to sell. In exchange they bought barley, rice and fruit and everyday things that they could not get in the mountains, like needles and cooking pots. The nomad’s wool was eagerly bought up by the traders. The richer ones had great caravans of mules which they would load up with wool to take over the high Himalayas to India. In the market the Tibetans could buy everything that they needed – for Tibet did not need to import many goods from other countries. The only exceptions were tea, sugar and cotton cloth for making prayer flags.

The market was also a place for meeting old friends. The days were taken by business, but in the evenings there was feasting and merry making. And when all the goods had been bought and sold, there were sports to watch or join in. The nomads would perform amazing acrobatic feats on the backs of their sturdy hill ponies. Then there was a horse race to the top of the nearest peak and back. One year, Lhamo’s father lost a whole mule-load of barley by betting it on the wrong horse!

Marriage and Death
Autumn was the season for nomad marriages, and this year Dolma’s sister, Nyima was to marry a nomad boy from a neighboring tribe. They had herded yaks together, and in the beauty of the summer pastures their friendship had turned to love. Most marriages in Tibet are arranged between the two families, but love matches are also common – if the parents are agreeable. All through the summer the two families had visited each other and exchanged gifts. They had also consulted an astrologer to decide the date of the wedding, for it was very important that the day should be lucky.
 

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PART:NINE

When the great day came, all Nyima’ friends and relatives were gathered around her tent. Lhamo and Dorjee came from the village dressed in their best clothes, though Dorjee’s were a little damp as he had fallen into the river on the way. Just after dawn, a party of horsemen could be seen descending the steep mountain path, leading a splendid white yak, saddled and decorated in bright colors. As the party approached, Nyima’s parents went out and began to shout at them, ’Who are those ragged people’, they cried, ’Why, they are just a bunch of robbers and brigands.’ The bridegroom and his party smiled and inquired where the people were to receive them, for they could only see a bunch of beggars. This joking and insulting went on all day, but it was meant in fun, and was the custom at all nomad weddings.

As evening drew near, Nyima was helped on to the yak, and the two parties set off back up the hill to the bridegroom’s camp. There, they were met by the bridegroom’s mother who presented the young bride with a bucket of milk. Nyima burst into tears and begged to be taken home again. Actually, she was very much in love with her new husband, but brides are expected to cry at their weddings. After Dolma and Lhamo had comforted her, everyone went inside the main tent where a great feast had been prepared. No religious ceremony was preformed – indeed many Tibetans believe it is unlucky to have a monk at a marriage. The feasting and drinking went on all night, and it was morning before Lhamo and Dolma stumbled wearily back to their village and their beds. The bodies of the dead were usually fed to the veltures.
The status of women in Tibet was better than in most other Asian countries. For the peasants and nomads, marriage meant a working partnership between two people, with the wife in full control of the home. If the couple did not get on, they could get a divorce. This carried no shame and divorced women would marry again quite easily. Among the nomads it was not uncommon for two brothers to share the same wife. In this way the yak and sheep herds were kept in the same family. In contrast, a nobleman might marry two sisters, though one wife was more usual.

The Tibetans had a very open and direct way of dealing with death. When a person died, they were taken to a special place – usually high up in the mountains – where the body was hacked to pieces with an axe. Incense was burnt to attract the vultures, and the flesh was then fed to them to the sound of a drum beat and prayers of the mourners. Even the bones were broken up and fed to the birds. If a poor family could not afford to hire men to cut up the body, the corpse was thrown in the river, where it was eaten by fish. For Buddhists believe that it is the mind which is important, not the physical body. So the best thing that can be done with a corpse is to feed it to the other living creatures. Only the bodies of holy lamas or incarnations were burnt or, in very rare cases, embalmed.

Lhamo and Dorjee had been in a state of suppressed excitement for weeks – they were going to Lhasa! For years their father had dreamed of making the pilgrimage to the Holy City for the New Year Festival. Now at last the family had saved enough money to make the journey. All that winter, when the wind howled and the snow blew under the door, they made their plans and talked of all the wonders they would see. Little Dorjee grew so excited when he heard that some pilgrims prostrated the length of their bodies all the way to Lhasa, that he decided to set off at once. By evening he had got as far as the river, where he had to be rescued with very sore knees. . . . .

The family had to make very careful preparations, for the journey would be long and hard. They would be traveling in the dead of winter in order to arrive at Lhasa in time for the New Year Festival. As autumn turned to winter Lhamo and her mother were busy sewing extra clothes – warm sheepskin jackets, and tough felt boots. Food had to be collected and prepared. Bags of tsampa and dried meat would be their main diet, washed down with endless brews of buttered tea. Their one mule and two yaks were fattened up for the journey, and their father spent long hours mending the saddles and the harnesses.

At last all was ready. On a cold clear dawn in December, the pack animals stood saddled and loaded in the courtyard. The whole village turned out to see them off. A glass of chang was drunk by all to wish them luck, scarves were exchanged, and the last requests for souvenirs from the Holy City were made. Then the expedition set off down the valley, father and mother leading the yaks while Lhamo and Dorjee bounced up and down on the back of the mule. Two days journey away, at the market place, they had arranged to meet up with a great caravan of tea merchants bound for Lhasa – for it was unsafe to travel far alone in these wild hills.

Before the middle of the twentieth century, there were no proper roads in Tibet. The great caravan routes were little more than rough tracks, so pack animals were essential for any long journey. In western Tibet, sheep were often used, but in other areas horses, mules and yaks were more common. Relays of pack animals were kept at special stations for the use of government officials, but the traders and merchants had to use their own. When Lhamo and Dorjee’s family reached the market place they found several hundred people and over a thousand yaks and mules gathered in the small town. Little Dorjee had never seen so many people in his life. Hoarse cries and curses filled the air as the mules were strapped and loaded. Then slowly the great caravan began to move, on its way to Lhasa.

Vivid memories of that journey would remain with Lhamo and Dorjee for the rest of their lives. Every morning they rose before dawn and loaded the animals. Then they would travel for four or five hours before stopping at special places known to the merchants. Firewood was collected and tea and tsampa prepared. Then they would journey on, pausing once more for tea before finally stopping for the night. The nights were bitterly cold and there was often snow on the ground. Everyone slept outside, huddled up with the animals for warmth.

Everything was strange and new to Lhamo and Dorjee. They passed great monasteries, built like fortresses on the mountainsides, and little, sleepy villages in the valleys. They crossed high passes where the snow lay thick and deep, and the whole world seemed to lie like a map at their feet. They passed through swampland and great rolling plains and crossed great rivers. At this time of the year, the rivers were usually frozen and everyone walked across the ice. But sometimes the waters were wide and fast-flowing and the caravan had to cross by boat. Often, these were large, flat-bottomed ferries that could hold both people and animals. At other times, the yaks and mules were made to swim while Lhamo and Dorjee crossed in little round boats made of yak skin, paddled by sturdy boatmen. They met few people on the journey. Once they saw a group of men standing on the horizon. The merchants said they were brigands, but the caravan was too large for them to dare attack. Occasionally a mail runner would pass them, carrying a bad of letters and a stout spear to protect himself from wild animals and robbers. These men would run for eight kilometers before handing over the mail to the next runner.

At last the great caravan was nearing the end of its journey. Villages and settlements became more frequent, and they met other merchants and pilgrims hurrying towards Lhasa. Finally, they climbed the last hill before the Holy City. There, gleaming in the morning sunshine, were the golden roofs of the great Potala Palace. Lhamo and Dorjee sat wide-eyed with wonder. Then everyone climbed down from their pack animals and prostrated themselves on the ground. They had arrived. . . .
 

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PART:TEN

The Holy City
Lhamo and Dorjee’s two months in Lhasa passed in a whirl of color, pageantry and excitement. The Holy City was seething with people. Indeed, during the New Year Festival its population almost doubled, as monks and pilgrims flocked there from the countryside. From the fourth day of the New Year, the crowds were controlled by the hefty monks from the Drepung monastery, armed with heavy wooden sticks. They had a fearsome reputation, and some people sought to avoid a nasty knock on the head by dressing in fine clothes, and pretending to be important government officials!

Lhamo and Dorjee’s family stayed with an old friend of the family in a small house above the main street in Lhasa called the Barkhor. From their window above the street, the children could watch the daily life of Lhasa unfolding like a story. Hawkers and traders thronged the streets shouting their wares. You could buy anything in Lhasa. Here a nomad was exchanging a length of woolen cloth for some cooking pots, while nearby a noble lady was pouring excitedly over mountains of silk dresses. An important looking official might walk by, flanked by his servants, or a group of chattering monks might pass, their maroon robes adding to the color of the streets.

The Barkhor was a circular road that went round the great cathedral of Lhasa. As soon as they arrived in the Holy City, the whole family prostrated themselves around the road. Even Dorjee managed it. He was very pleased to have made up for only getting as far as the river last time. Then the family entered the cathedral. Inside it was dark, except for the thousands of butter lamps that lit up the statues of Buddhist saints. The family bowed low before the golden image of the Buddha – brought to Tibet by the Chinese wife of Songtsen Gampo – and made a small offering of tsampa cakes and butter for the lamps.

A few days after Lhamo and Dorjee’s arrival in Lhasa, the New Year festivities began. The first three days were devoted to merrymaking – as they were all over Tibet. The whole family rose well before dawn and put on special new clothes that their mother had prepared the previous winter. Then there were pastries and sweets to eat, and their mother poured their father what was to be the first of many glasses of chang. The Cathedral was thronged with people lighting incense and offering prayers for a prosperous new year. And far into the night, dancers whirled and twisted in the streets.

On the fourth day of New Year the Monlam Chenmo – the Great Prayer Festival – began. Lhamo had never seen so many monks. From dawn until dusk, they packed the Cathedral, and their solemn chanting rose above the din of the streets. Learned debates took place between the most scholarly monks, for this was the time when the highest degrees were granted to the best scholars in Tibet.

On the fifteenth day of the month the great butter-tower festival took place on the Barkhor. Lhamo and Dorjee had a magnificent view of the events below from their bedroom window. Soon after sunset, huge beautiful statues of the Buddhist saints carved from butter were paraded down the street. The crowd gasped in wonder. As the darkness grew thousands of twinkling butter lamps lit up the faces of the statues, which seemed to take of a life of their own. From their window, the children sat entranced, gazing on the dreamlike scene. Then suddenly, the great doors of the Cathedral opened and the Dalai Lama himself stepped out. The crowd bowed to the ground as one person. Flanked by the abbots of the great monasteries, and followed by a glittering array of nobles, officials, and colorfully dressed members of his bodyguard, the living Buddha began his slow circuit of the Cathedral. Every now and then he would pause and examine one of the butter statues – for later, prizes would be given for the best, and the Dalai Lama was the judge. The crowd was frozen in awe. It was a scene Lhamo would never forget for the rest of her life.

A year had passed since Lhamo and Dorjee’s visit to Lhasa. Life in the village resumed its steady, unchanging rhythm, only varying with the seasons and the weather. It was almost as though they had never been away. A few minor disasters occurred. Once, the rains failed and the rainmaker was called to the village. The children stared wide-eyed as the man prayed before the village spring and made offerings to the water spirits. Rain would come, he said, but he didn’t say when. A week later it rained. Everyone in the village was very impressed, though Lhamo did wonder just a little if it might not have rained anyway, rainmaker or no rainmaker. . . .

Then one day, something happened that was to change the lives of the family forever. Early one hot June morning a group of horsemen could be seen approaching the village. As they drew nearer, Lhamo made out the abbot of the local monastery riding with an escort of monks. The monastery was quite a large one, and lay twelve kilometers further up the valley from the village. Lhamo and her family had visited it several times at New Year, to light incense in the temple and to pray.

When the monks reached the village, the abbot asked to speak with Lhamo’s father. He told him that the high lama of the monastery had died over seven years ago. Before he died, the lama said he would be reborn somewhere in the neighborhood of the village. So, for the past few years a careful watch had been kept on all the boy children born in the year of the lama’s death. Visiting monks had taken a special interest in little Dorjee. They noted his quickness of thought, and his devotion. They even knew about his attempt to prostrate himself all the way to Lhasa. In short, concluded the abbot, they had decided that little Dorjee was an incarnation.

Dorjee’s parents were very happy at this honor done to them, and Dorjee himself was wildly excited. Only Lhamo looked thoughtful and a little sad. She would miss her brother. Did he really want to be a monk for the rest of his life, she wondered. The abbot presented the family with gifts and told them that a party would arrive to escort Dorjee to the monastery in six months time.

Life in a Monastery
A huge procession of monks – brilliant in their purple robes – wound its way up the valley. Local people from all the nearby villages lined the route, bowing reverently as the procession passed. As the towering walls of the monastery approached, a fresh party of monks came out carrying brightly colored banners. Some made noisy music with trumpets and great long horns, nearly ten feet long, and richly decorated with silver and turquoise. Solemnly, the abbot led a small boy through the great monastic gate. Little Dorjee, the new lama, had come home to his monastery.

Anyone could become a monk in Tibet. Most joined a monastery as boys, but it was also possible to be admitted later. They could also leave at any time if they felt they were unsuited to monastic life. Each boy needed a sponsor to arrange a teacher for him and pay for his food and lodging in the monastery. Parents or relatives were the usual sponsors, for every family felt it an honor to offer one son to a monastery. It was thought to guarantee the boy a secure future, and to bring great benefit for him in this life and the next. Girls could also devote their lives to religion by joining a convent.

When little Dorjee stepped through the great gate of the monastery, he entered a new world. He saw hundreds of buildings of all shapes and sizes, separated by a maze of streets and alleys. It was like a small town. Not all monasteries in Tibet were as large as this. Some were just made up of three or four houses clustered around a temple. Others, such as the great Drepung Monastery outside Lhasa, housed over 8,000 monks. These big monasteries were usually divided up into semi-independent colleges, each with its own sleeping quarters, kitchen, guest rooms, stables, assembly halls, storerooms, and meditation cells. In the center of the monastery was the main temple, which was used by all the monks. This was a highly decorated building with beautiful carvings and a priceless image of the Buddha.

As an incarnate lama, Dorjee was given five rooms to live in, though they were furnished in the simplest way. The ordinary monks each had a tiny cell with a plain bed. They owned nothing except their butter lamps and maybe a holy painting or charm box.

Little Dorjee now began a period of study and prayer that did not leave much time for playing. Monasteries were the main sources of education in Tibet, though there were day schools for the children of nobles and traders in the larger towns. In theory, the schools were open to all children on the payment of a small fee, but in practice, the children of peasants and nomads were needed at home to help their parents. Not all monks studied, however. Many become cooks, builders, or carpenters – for the monastery employed nobody from the outside to do all the daily chores.

Dorjee studied from dawn to dusk, for he was keen to learn. After he had been at the monastery for nearly a year, he took his first vows. His head was shaved, all except a small lock which was left on top. He then went before the abbot who asked him if he was quite sure he wanted to take the vows. When Dorjee replied that he did, the abbot cut off the last lock of hair that bound the boy to the world. They then went through the vows together, and Dorjee agreed to follow each one. He was now a Getsul or junior monk. When he reached the age of 20, he would take the remaining vows – 253 in all – and become a Gelong, or full monk. But to complete all his studies would take much longer. For an intelligent scholar it could take from twenty-five to thirty years to obtain the highest degree. Very few scholars managed this, but those that did might become assistant tutors to the Dalai Lama himself.

There used to be over 5,000 monasteries in Tibet. Some of these were enormously rich, owned great estates as well as receiving grants from the government and support from pilgrims. As we have seen, the present Dalai Lama wished to reform this land owning system. Today, there are probably less than 100 monasteries left in Tibet. Great changes have taken place in the past thirty years. Much of the traditional way of life of the Tibetan people that we have read about in these pages, has tragically disappeared forever.
 

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