June 7

Through My Eyes

Saturday June 7

( We continue at Ganden!)

"Faith is said to move mountains; it can also rebuild them. At the top of the road, many monks were busy doing construction work. Two young monks, impish with curiosity, followed me around. They showed me the vista over the valley and the lingkhor, or pilgrim's circuit, that went around the ridge. We stood, still and in silence, looking toward a distant line of snow covered mountains. Overhead, a snowstorm was approaching. Within moments, huge flakes of ice whirled around us as the young monks burst into laughter, pulled their robes over their faces, and began running toward a cluster of nearby buildings.

Ganden is a monastery of intense power and position. Monks here believe in the geomancy or geographic divinity, of Ganden's high-altitude landscape. Many of the sites and rocks on this ridge are places of healing and magic. For example, the lingkhor around the monastery is a walk through supernatural landforms. The first site along the path is Vision Rock. Pilgrims stand in front of the rock, their fists curled and held tight to their eyes as mock telescopes. This focused view is sand to bring forth unearthly visions.

Further along the lingkhor is Ganden's sky-burial site. In Tibet, because the ground is frozen much of the year and because wood is extremely scarce, both interments and cremations are replaced by a ritual called sky-burial. this is a simple process of sectioning up the body of the deceased into many pieces by a tomden, or yogin butcher, who spreads these fragments over the hillside for the vultures to pick clean. As the birds descend, the tomden yells, "Shey! Shey! - Eat! Eat!" Often the stripped bones are pulverized with a stone mallet and mixed with tsampa (roasted barley flour) and once more fed to the vultures. Sometimes the defleshed bones are collected by the monks; musical instruments are fashioned from leg bones and bowls from human skulls. Somehow I find it comforting to think that our mortal remains could be recycled into a Tibetan horn.

Ganden's sky -burial site is a place for pilgrims to roll on the ground and to rub away bad karma accumulated from past sins. A bit further down the lingkhor is the Gauge of Sin, which checks if pilgrims have rubbed the ground hard enough. Squeezing through this narrow opening in the rock, pilgrims can breathe easy if they come out the other side. If they get stuck, they are too fat with sin.

In a place like Ganden Monastery, a rock that generates supernatural visions, a section of ground that rubs off sins, and a narrow geological gauge of bad behavior do not seem so far-fetched. Often in Tibet, I found that I could suspend my empirical mind-set and open up to the Tibetan world of wonder. Magic is not a trick in Tibet; it is a truth." I promise to add more tomorrow...

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

* map courtesy of www.tibetmap.com. icon courtesy of our A Luminous Diamond (Bright) Crystal Show productions.

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

( I've been sleeping a lot! Gandhi once said that sometimes the only thing to do was to rest in bed for a solid week. I know the feeling right now. Sometimes you just have to stop and completely rest for a few days to deal with the accumulated fatigue that builds up over time. Also, I allowed myself to get out of condition over the winter; all of the work comes at once when the ground thaws ( I might have had just a bit of difficulty getting through the Gauge of Sin. You wouldn't though!) But then, I spent the time sharing with you so it was worth it. The season is a lot different this year that's for sure. With all the rain, I'm suspecting the fungal diseases may actually be less, as the trees leaves won't be as weakened by the intense heat. The aphids don't seem to be as much of a problem either with all the rain. In any case , I can't do anything about it whatsoever! I'm going to go do some more research for us online tonight. I recently got America online as an internet service, I don't like it very much because it kicks me off while I'm reading or thinking. Annoying! It does have a good feature though in that it lets me know that I have a call when I'm online. Anyway, here's a little map of Tibet!

Tibet has 5 regions, or at least did before the Chinese occupation Ngari, Tsang, Ü ( I don't know how to pronounce this yet),Kham, and Amdo.The Chang Tang Plateau is where we were reading about earlier together. Ganden, as we read together last week is near Lhassa in the Tsang-U region. ( I've shown us on the map travelling!)There are many salted lakes and another one of the ways of eking out a living up there is by gathering the salt and selling it. We'll learn more of the other places later.

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

my one gentle beautiful patient dream bright

long dark mane in sunlight

so for now I bid goodnight!)


	Through My Eyes Saturday June 7 ( We continue at Ganden!) "Faith is said to move mountains; it can also rebuild them. At the top of the road, many monks were busy doing construction work. Two young monks, impish with curiosity, followed me around. They showed me the vista over the valley and the lingkhor, or pilgrim's circuit, that went around the ridge. We stood, still and in silence, looking toward a distant line of snow covered mountains. Overhead, a snowstorm was approaching. Within moments, huge flakes of ice whirled around us as the young monks burst into laughter, pulled their robes over their faces, and began running toward a cluster of nearby buildings. Ganden is a monastery of intense power and position. Monks here believe in the geomancy or geographic divinity, of Ganden's high-altitude landscape. Many of the sites and rocks on this ridge are places of healing and magic. For example, the lingkhor around the monastery is a walk through supernatural landforms. The first site along the path is Vision Rock. Pilgrims stand in front of the rock, their fists curled and held tight to their eyes as mock telescopes. This focused view is sand to bring forth unearthly visions. Further along the lingkhor is Ganden's sky-burial site. In Tibet, because the ground is frozen much of the year and because wood is extremely scarce, both interments and cremations are replaced by a ritual called sky-burial. this is a simple process of sectioning up the body of the deceased into many pieces by a tomden, or yogin butcher, who spreads these fragments over the hillside for the vultures to pick clean. As the birds descend, the tomden yells, "Shey! Shey! - Eat! Eat!" Often the stripped bones are pulverized with a stone mallet and mixed with tsampa (roasted barley flour) and once more fed to the vultures. Sometimes the defleshed bones are collected by the monks; musical instruments are fashioned from leg bones and bowls from human skulls. Somehow I find it comforting to think that our mortal remains could be recycled into a Tibetan horn. Ganden's sky -burial site is a place for pilgrims to roll on the ground and to rub away bad karma accumulated from past sins. A bit further down the lingkhor is the Gauge of Sin, which checks if pilgrims have rubbed the ground hard enough. Squeezing through this narrow opening in the rock, pilgrims can breathe easy if they come out the other side. If they get stuck, they are too fat with sin. In a place like Ganden Monastery, a rock that generates supernatural visions, a section of ground that rubs off sins, and a narrow geological gauge of bad behavior do not seem so far-fetched. Often in Tibet, I found that I could suspend my empirical mind-set and open up to the Tibetan world of wonder. Magic is not a trick in Tibet; it is a truth." I promise to add more tomorrow... ( please click here to read of the day with me ) map courtesy of www.tibetmap.com. icon courtesy of our A Luminous Diamond (Bright) Crystal Show productions. ( I've made more progress. Please click here to see!) ( I've been sleeping a lot! Gandhi once said that sometimes the only thing to do was to rest in bed for a solid week. I know the feeling right now. Sometimes you just have to stop and completely rest for a few days to deal with the accumulated fatigue that builds up over time. Also, I allowed myself to get out of condition over the winter; all of the work comes at once when the ground thaws ( I might have had just a bit of difficulty getting through the Gauge of Sin. You wouldn't though!) But then, I spent the time sharing with you so it was worth it. The season is a lot different this year that's for sure. With all the rain, I'm suspecting the fungal diseases may actually be less, as the trees leaves won't be as weakened by the intense heat. The aphids don't seem to be as much of a problem either with all the rain. In any case , I can't do anything about it whatsoever! I'm going to go do some more research for us online tonight. I recently got America online as an internet service, I don't like it very much because it kicks me off while I'm reading or thinking. Annoying! It does have a good feature though in that it lets me know that I have a call when I'm online. Anyway, here's a little map of Tibet! * Tibet has 5 regions, or at least did before the Chinese occupation Ngari, Tsang, Ü ( I don't know how to pronounce this yet),Kham, and Amdo.The Chang Tang Plateau is where we were reading about earlier together. Ganden, as we read together last week is near Lhassa in the Tsang-U region. ( I've shown us on the map travelling!)There are many salted lakes and another one of the ways of eking out a living up there is by gathering the salt and selling it. We'll learn more of the other places later. And so, as always we'll continue two as one on to tomorrow my one gentle beautiful patient dream bright long dark mane in sunlight so for now I bid goodnight!)