June 8

Through My Eyes

Sunday June 8

( I haven't found Sarangerel's book Chosen by the Spirits yet in the rubble of my stuff so let's continue on from Ganden!)

"The storm over Ganden increased, the wind picked up, and the heavy snow continued to fall. Within seconds the air was thick with leaf sized snowflakes. The two monks, running in front of me, hustled me into their quarters, where they sat me down on a carpeted floor and gave me a cup of that ubiquitous and fatty national drink, yak butter tea. In truth, butter tea is more a salted, cheesy soup than a refreshing drink.

With the horns and the chanting from a nearby temple filtering through the blowing snow, I happily sipped my butter tea. One of the young monks stood up and went to an altar in the corner of his room, and from behind a picture of the Dalai Lama, he pulled out a small pink plastic transistor radio. Placing it by the window, the monk turned the dial until it landed on a clear transmission.

I could not believe my ears, or my bad luck. There I was , trapped high in a Tibetan monastery, during a snowstorm, with Kenny G drowning out the haunting horns of praying monks.

Several months later, on May 7, 1996, tragedy struck Ganden. At 10 P.M., after the monks of Ganden had refused to remove their photographs of the Dalai Lama following the orders of the Lhassa city religious bureau chief, Chinese soldiers sent flares into the air and began shooting at the unarmed monks. Two monks were killed, and over the next few days, ninety monks were arrested. One monk, a fifteen -year-old, was shot and arrested. He was never seen again. I often wonder if he was the same young monk who kept his pink plastic radio hidden behind a photo of the Dalai Lama.

Monks at Ganden belong to the Gelugpa order. In fact, the head of the Gelugpas is the senior abbot of Ganden Monastery, not His Holiness the Dalai Lama, as is often assumed . The Dalai Lama is the head of state but not the Gelugpa Tripa or head. The Gelugpa order is the most disciplined, academic and hierarchical of the four orders of Tibetan Buddhism. To be a Gelugpa monk is to be contained within an intellectual and spiritual life, a celibate monasticism that forms the largest Buddhist order in Tibet. In 1642, through the institutional leadership of the Dalai Lamas, Gelugpa monks became the rulers of central Tibet. To this day, they are the political and spiritual heart of Tibet.( We'll spend a bit more time in Ganden and then journey to a market in Lhassa)"

I promise to add more tomorrow...

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

* This is once again from Art Perry's book the Tibetans.

( The spinning continues. Please click here to see.)

(Today I worked on little repair jobs mostly as it was once again to wet to work in the Grove. The multiflora have begun to bloom beside Mom's garden and the deer are browsing the pear trees. They can't hurt them much as the trees are quite tall now. I made sure the fence by the strawberries was firmly in place however. (Deer love strawberry leaves). I've managed to install Tibetan fonts on my computer as part of a free offering from one website: http://www.nitartha.org/acip.html that is given to help look at sacred texts on another : http://www.asianclassics.org. Here's a sample:

Pretty awesome isn't it? It's the first two lines from a text entitled: Sutra on the Vows of Individual Freedom. The situation with the written language is complicated in that the characters have to be transliterated, to figure out what sounds they make,as well as translated as to their meaning. Also, there are different font styles that were introduced by different people at different times for particular purposes. We'll sort this out as we learn. The written language was created by Tibetans who went to India and obtained scripts for the purpose. I hope you liked the map. I made it smaller so it is easier for you to download for now.

I'll make a larger one when it is time to create the pages for a Windhorse project. It would be great to read more about the work of the people in the Secret Life of Plants wouldn't it? I'm going to look up more about the history of Findhorn for starters to inspire us. There is another book by the same authors called Secrets of the Soil which is good too. I'm also going to find some Native American writings that I've seen to inspire us.( You may know some of them!) I'm going to add to our wildflowers now so we can visit them again.

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 Sunday June 8 ( I haven't found Sarangerel's book Chosen by the Spirits yet in the rubble of my stuff so let's continue on from Ganden!) "The storm over Ganden increased, the wind picked up, and the heavy snow continued to fall. Within seconds the air was thick with leaf sized snowflakes. The two monks, running in front of me, hustled me into their quarters, where they sat me down on a carpeted floor and gave me a cup of that ubiquitous and fatty national drink, yak butter tea. In truth, butter tea is more a salted, cheesy soup than a refreshing drink. With the horns and the chanting from a nearby temple filtering through the blowing snow, I happily sipped my butter tea. One of the young monks stood up and went to an altar in the corner of his room, and from behind a picture of the Dalai Lama, he pulled out a small pink plastic transistor radio. Placing it by the window, the monk turned the dial until it landed on a clear transmission. I could not believe my ears, or my bad luck. There I was , trapped high in a Tibetan monastery, during a snowstorm, with Kenny G drowning out the haunting horns of praying monks. Several months later, on May 7, 1996, tragedy struck Ganden. At 10 P.M., after the monks of Ganden had refused to remove their photographs of the Dalai Lama following the orders of the Lhassa city religious bureau chief, Chinese soldiers sent flares into the air and began shooting at the unarmed monks. Two monks were killed, and over the next few days, ninety monks were arrested. One monk, a fifteen -year-old, was shot and arrested. He was never seen again. I often wonder if he was the same young monk who kept his pink plastic radio hidden behind a photo of the Dalai Lama. Monks at Ganden belong to the Gelugpa order. In fact, the head of the Gelugpas is the senior abbot of Ganden Monastery, not His Holiness the Dalai Lama, as is often assumed . The Dalai Lama is the head of state but not the Gelugpa Tripa or head. The Gelugpa order is the most disciplined, academic and hierarchical of the four orders of Tibetan Buddhism. To be a Gelugpa monk is to be contained within an intellectual and spiritual life, a celibate monasticism that forms the largest Buddhist order in Tibet. In 1642, through the institutional leadership of the Dalai Lamas, Gelugpa monks became the rulers of central Tibet. To this day, they are the political and spiritual heart of Tibet.( We'll spend a bit more time in Ganden and then journey to a market in Lhassa)" I promise to add more tomorrow... ( please click here to read of the day with me ) This is once again from Art Perry's book the Tibetans. ( The spinning continues. Please click here to see.) (Today I worked on little repair jobs mostly as it was once again to wet to work in the Grove. The multiflora have begun to bloom beside Mom's garden and the deer are browsing the pear trees. They can't hurt them much as the trees are quite tall now. I made sure the fence by the strawberries was firmly in place however. (Deer love strawberry leaves). I've managed to install Tibetan fonts on my computer as part of a free offering from one website: http://www.nitartha.org/acip.html that is given to help look at sacred texts on another : http://www.asianclassics.org. Here's a sample: Pretty awesome isn't it? It's the first two lines from a text entitled: Sutra on the Vows of Individual Freedom. The situation with the written language is complicated in that the characters have to be transliterated, to figure out what sounds they make,as well as translated as to their meaning. Also, there are different font styles that were introduced by different people at different times for particular purposes. We'll sort this out as we learn. The written language was created by Tibetans who went to India and obtained scripts for the purpose. I hope you liked the map. I made it smaller so it is easier for you to download for now. I'll make a larger one when it is time to create the pages for a Windhorse project. It would be great to read more about the work of the people in the Secret Life of Plants wouldn't it? I'm going to look up more about the history of Findhorn for starters to inspire us. There is another book by the same authors called Secrets of the Soil which is good too. I'm also going to find some Native American writings that I've seen to inspire us.( You may know some of them!) I'm going to add to our wildflowers now so we can visit them again. 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!)