May 24

Through My Eyes

Saturday May 24

( We venture into a Tibetan shrine.)

" Everything in these Tibetan shrines is coated with layers of burned yak butter. At first you are unable to see that the floor, the walls, the hanging tangkas (cloth paintings) around the room are blackened and slick with grease. As you step, cautiously, your feet slip and slide on the buttered stones underfoot, and the low light cast by the huge brass bowls flickers from many burning wicks as you find your way. The light is golden and touches the equally golden faces of the surrounding statues of the surrounding statues of Sakyamuni (the historical Buddha) and Tibetan deities. Visiting pilgrims enter the shrines with their chalice lamps and drip melted butter into larger candles stationed by the altars. These pilgrims navigate the rounded steps in soft, leather-soled boots, never slipping on the waxy stones. Many of the pillars and sections of the walls of these shrines have coins and small pieces of paper money pressed into their yielding, buttery surfaces. Candlelight catches them and the coins seem to be tumbling through the darkness. Nearby, floor-to-ceiling shelves of manuscripts are also black with fatty soot. The overall sensation is one of an alchemists study: very secretive, very private, an inner sanctum.

The occupying Chinese do not respect the Tibetan people, their spirituality, their land or their culture. Since 1959, China's Cultural Articles Preservations Commission has been systematically cataloging every item of any value in Tibet's monasteries for eventual shipment to China. Thousands of scriptures the commission considered worthless were set ablaze in public bonfires, and those that were not burned were used as wrapping paper in shops or as padding for shoes. Some sacred texts were used blasphemously as toilet paper.

In 1995, when I visited the Tibetan monasteries near Lhasa, I wrote in my journal, "Photos of the Dalai Lama are everywhere. Some have American dollar bills stuck to their cheap frames with butter or bits of wire. Pilgrims who cannot give money, give rice or corn as offering" By 1997, when I returned, the Chinese government had made it a crime against the state to display photographs of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Ironically, the Chinese left images of Mahakala, the Tibetan deity of wrathful suffering, who wears a crown of human skulls and often holds a raw human heart in his hand" ( Sad isn't it? Unimaginable wisdom lost. Mandalas or paintings of Mahakala aren't as fearsome as they sound. They were to convey the tenets of Tibetan Buddhism and actually create a state of mental peace when you look at them.)I promise to add more tomorrow...

*( please click here to read of the day with me )

Through my eyes

( I've made more progress. Please click here to see!)

( You'll notice the usual slight change in address, the website file was once again getting huge. It's been so busy that I haven't had a chance yet to note it but we've been seeing together for 217 days, almost 8 months! Our prayer flag first rose to the wind 166 days ago. It has been just a little over 2 months since the coming of the Spring and the warm and bright day is another week closer! With all the rain, I wasn't able to do much outside today. I did scythe grass for mulch; it can be done even in the rain. It was outside the studio so Mom will use it in the garden. While I was there, I took a picture of more wildflowers that I will bring to us tomorrow. I haven't yet gotten anything more done on the banner but I have begun spinning for you! It's a bit tricky with cotton but I'm getting better at it.

And so, as always we'll continue on to tomorrow

my one dream bright

so for now I bid goodnight!)


	Through My Eyes Saturday May 24 ( We venture into a Tibetan shrine.) " Everything in these Tibetan shrines is coated with layers of burned yak butter. At first you are unable to see that the floor, the walls, the hanging tangkas (cloth paintings) around the room are blackened and slick with grease. As you step, cautiously, your feet slip and slide on the buttered stones underfoot, and the low light cast by the huge brass bowls flickers from many burning wicks as you find your way. The light is golden and touches the equally golden faces of the surrounding statues of the surrounding statues of Sakyamuni (the historical Buddha) and Tibetan deities. Visiting pilgrims enter the shrines with their chalice lamps and drip melted butter into larger candles stationed by the altars. These pilgrims navigate the rounded steps in soft, leather-soled boots, never slipping on the waxy stones. Many of the pillars and sections of the walls of these shrines have coins and small pieces of paper money pressed into their yielding, buttery surfaces. Candlelight catches them and the coins seem to be tumbling through the darkness. Nearby, floor-to-ceiling shelves of manuscripts are also black with fatty soot. The overall sensation is one of an alchemists study: very secretive, very private, an inner sanctum. The occupying Chinese do not respect the Tibetan people, their spirituality, their land or their culture. Since 1959, China's Cultural Articles Preservations Commission has been systematically cataloging every item of any value in Tibet's monasteries for eventual shipment to China. Thousands of scriptures the commission considered worthless were set ablaze in public bonfires, and those that were not burned were used as wrapping paper in shops or as padding for shoes. Some sacred texts were used blasphemously as toilet paper. In 1995, when I visited the Tibetan monasteries near Lhasa, I wrote in my journal, "Photos of the Dalai Lama are everywhere. Some have American dollar bills stuck to their cheap frames with butter or bits of wire. Pilgrims who cannot give money, give rice or corn as offering" By 1997, when I returned, the Chinese government had made it a crime against the state to display photographs of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Ironically, the Chinese left images of Mahakala, the Tibetan deity of wrathful suffering, who wears a crown of human skulls and often holds a raw human heart in his hand" ( Sad isn't it? Unimaginable wisdom lost. Mandalas or paintings of Mahakala aren't as fearsome as they sound. They were to convey the tenets of Tibetan Buddhism and actually create a state of mental peace when you look at them.)I promise to add more tomorrow... ( please click here to read of the day with me ) Through my eyes ( I've made more progress. Please click here to see!)* ( You'll notice the usual slight change in address, the website file was once again getting huge. It's been so busy that I haven't had a chance yet to note it but we've been seeing together for 217 days, almost 8 months! Our prayer flag first rose to the wind 166 days ago. It has been just a little over 2 months since the coming of the Spring and the warm and bright day is another week closer! With all the rain, I wasn't able to do much outside today. I did scythe grass for mulch; it can be done even in the rain. It was outside the studio so Mom will use it in the garden. While I was there, I took a picture of more wildflowers that I will bring to us tomorrow. I haven't yet gotten anything more done on the banner but I have begun spinning for you! It's a bit tricky with cotton but I'm getting better at it. And so, as always we'll continue on to tomorrow my one dream bright so for now I bid goodnight!)