Our Tibetan Journey
by Ashleea Nielsen

In Tibet, one of the symbolic offerings is made in the form of water, preferably water brought from a power place, and then poured into seven bowls. The ritual states that the first is water for the Buddha to drink, the second is for washing his hands and feet, the third represents flowers to adorn his head or hair, the fourth represents incense to please his sense of smell, the fifth represents a butter lamp to please his eyes, the sixth represents perfumed water to sprinkle on his body, the seventh represents food to please his sense of taste. The bowls are drained and stacked in the evening in readiness for the morning rite. These bowls are seen in front of all of the statues of deities.

I was fascinated with reading about Tibetan lore and especially about the mystical kingdoms of Shambala and Agarthi where extraordinary beings live ruled by the "King of the World." These places are secretly hidden away somewhere in the Himalayan Mountains, and the legends state that these places are where peace reign. Those who have taken the Kalachakra initiation....often given by His Holiness the Dalai Lama...are the ones who will meet again in Shambala. There is supposedly a door inside the Potala Palace that leads to the underground tunnels which connect up with Shambala. Do these places really exist? I have the sense that if they don't exist in the third dimension, they surely exist in the fourth dimension, and that they are not merely a metaphor for one's own spiritual journey. I returned home with one suitcase that was simply filled with books I had bought and most of them I had finished already.

After reading about the water spirits, I realized what precious gifts I had brought to Tibet, and I had great gratitude to my guides who had instructed me to do so. As they say, hindsight. is the best sight, and I had learned something very profound about the culture of Tibet by participating with the healing waters that I never would have discovered otherwise. Water is of the utmost importance in the dry, barren land of Tibet, a country where the sun can beat down relentlessly, then suddenly hail giant balls of ice. There are many sacred springs sprinkled throughout the country, each with legends. Several members of our group journeyed to some of these sacred springs. One was on the road to the Tsurphu Monastery where we found the water coming out of the spring was cool and delicious.

The legend goes that the first Karmapa had knocked his staff on the ground, and then the spring burst forth! At another spring, we discovered women bathing and children playing. But the spring that surprised us the most was the spring that had been diverted into a modern Olympic Size swimming pool. We jumped into this huge warm pool and frolicked in delight for it was such a treat to have water in this dry environment.

Water is used in a multitude of ways in Tibet. We discovered in a picturesque spot how a series of water wheels were being used to make bricks of incense. Another place we found the locals making the world-famous Tibetan paper through a process of using pulp and then drying the fresh leaves of paper in the sun. I marveled when our guide Tashi told us that the holiest temple in Tibet was built upon a lake, the Jokhang Palace, and that water reeds were used in the building of the Potala Palace. These are some of the auspicious signs which confirm the Tibetan's respect and knowledge of the power of Spirit and Truth contained in the element of water.

Pilgrims come from all over Tibet to the monasteries and perform prostrations in front of the Jokhang Temple in Lhasa. It was such a moving experience to watch them perform their seemingly endless prostrations, for I felt their sincerity , their devotion and passion for their deities. When one prostrates, this is a sign of paying respect to enlightened mind. Some pious people spend their whole life prostrating and going from one sacred site to another. Prostrating is considered to be using the body in a most virtuous way. It's a devotional practice and a humbling activity. Plus it is extremely tiring because I tried it, and it is a great exercise for getting in shape! Inside the Johkang Temple is one of the most precious statues in Tibet, called the Jowo. It is a very old statue from India that was brought to Tibet long ago, and it represents the Chinese wife of King Tsen-gompo who helped bring peace and unity to Tibet. I gave an offering of a white scarf (kata) and tied it to the gate that separates the statue from the visitors. Visitors often bring these white offering scarves that are sold outside of the temples. Other offerings are yak butter for the butter lamps that burn all the time outside and inside the temples. The most common form of offering is that of perfumed smoke or sang. Offering, or ritual giving, is generally the most vital purpose of the pilgrim at the power place. As the single most effective ritual gesture that creates the intimacy with the divine presence, it is the precondition for any advantage the pilgrim may gain. I usually just gave money and occasionally white scarves. Circumambulation, or walking around an object of reverence, called khorra in Tibetan, is always done clockwise. In the old days, the Bons did it counterclockwise. The dynamic of the swastika, the solar symbol of good fortune and longevity, follows these same principles....with clockwise representing the way of virtue and correct flow. Any sacred object may be used of circumambulation and merit will be gained by doing so. The most meritorious circuits of this practice are the great sacred mountains in Tibet....Kang Rimpoche, Amnye Machen, Tsari. The Jokhang has three circuits...an inner,outer and third intermediate curcuit. The number of circumambulations is also important with 3, 13 and 108 being the most auspicious numbers. At the time of a lunar or solar eclipse, it is considered very meritorious. Circumambulation provides a ritual celebration of the movement toward higher consciousness, peace and harmony. The basic goal is union with Buddha Mind.

We visited many monasteries, including the monastery where Lama Tenzin began as a child of six years old his life as a monk, Tashilunpo Monastery. Across the courtyard in the monastery, Lama Tenzin posed for our cameras with his family and his old home which he hadn't seen for forty years, and our group clicked off picture upon picture of an incredibly poignant reunion. I cried and laughed at the same time! Later on that evening, we were invited into Lama's hotel room to be formally introduced to the family. He had been given instructions by the Chinese not to mix our two groups together in public.

In the capital city of Lhasa, we stayed at a very central, charming hotel, the Yak Hotel which had two giant stuffed yaks standing in the courtyard. They had a comical, kitschy look, and all of us posed with these fake yaks for fanciful pictures. As with some of the other places we had stayed, the ceilings in this hotel room were a psychedelic fantasy come to life: colorful, geometric patterns with bright colors inform the resident guest that you are not in bourgeois Kansas anymore!

The former home of His Holiness The Dalai Lama, the Potala Palace, could be witnessed from the roof of our hotel, and many members of our group would gather there at sunset to drink down a beer and marvel at the Potala's beauty as the light faded. In Lhasa, there is much "living" going on on the rooftops for no space is wasted, and thus, there is another viewpoint of Lhasa....laundry hanging out to dry, construction still happening until way after sunset and people doing their Lhasa thing. I always kept pinching myself because it looked so unreal and otherworldly, like something out of an old movie.

The Potala Palace sits high upon a large hill, and the name Potala translates to "Buddha's Mountain." The original building was started in the 7th century and burned in a fire caused by lightning, but it was rebuilt in the 9th century and is 13 stories tall. Full of statues of famous deities and famous-but-long-deceased lamas on imposing thrones, priceless works of art and candles flickering everywhere on altars, it is pure magic! It was the winter home of the Dalai Lama, but now it's primarily a museum with thousands of pilgrims walking through it almost every day. Of course, our group took the tour through the Potala, and the most fascinating thing I viewed was what I will call a "shaman" who was also wandering through the palace. His energy field was so powerful that I could feel him before I even located him with my eyes. I will never forget his large dark eyes as they looked back into mine and the familiar shiver that ran up and down my spine as it always does when I have an incredible moment in Time. There was definitely an exchange of energies, and after that encounter, I truly began to understand the living magic of Tibet. This "shaman" was most likely one of the nomads making a pilgrimage to the Potala.

Nomads were Tibet's original inhabitants, and they live in the high, open country where they graze their herds of sheep and yak between winter and summer pastures. They travel to the lowlands to trade meat and cheese or to make pilgrimages to the monasteries. They live in large tents made of yak hide, and each group of nomads has a particular style or look. The nomads were the most exotic dressed of the natives, and I found myself fascinated with them and their appearance. I would often ask our guide Tashi which part of Tibet a group of nomads were from, and he recognized them easily by their appearance. Many of the men were exotic and gorgeous, with long black hair wound up and pinned with turquoise and coral on the top of their heads. They wore charm boxes around their brown-skinned necks with draped shirts and strange looking pants and get-ups. They rarely met your gaze, for they were focused on their prayers. Samye Monastery is the oldest monastery established in Tibet, and it was designed to represent the universe. We were told by Tashi that the soul of each Buddhist comes to Samye after death before moving on, and there was certainly a eerie feel to the place.

Our group stayed at the only lodging one could find there....the Samye Monastery Hotel. I managed to sleep through the night without hearing the dogs barking, snarling and growling, which others told me was one of the scariest experiences they had encountered on the whole trip. These dogs lie sleeping all over the monastery grounds during the day, but at night they come alive and fight with one another for food. The conditions of this monastery hotel were completely primitive, but despite the accommodations, our group had a lot of fun, and we drank Chinese beer and ate in the only restaurant in town, if that is what you could call it!

About a four hour drive outside of Lhasa is the Tsurphu Monastery where the 17th Karmapa resides. In January 2000, he made his daring escape from Tibet to India, and now resides in Dharmasala, India. Next to the Dalai Lama, he is considered the most important dignitary in Tibet, although yet a teenage boy.

I had looked forward to seeing him for a long time as I had heard many stories about him, and I brought him a gift from Maui of a box of chocolate covered macadamia nuts which I had wrapped in festive paper. The guards require you to leave all your purses and articles outside before being allowed into the Karma's audience, but after shaking my box and looking me over carefully, they granted me permission to enter the dim, smoky room with my gift of chocolates. I prostrated awkwardly three times upon the floor before him as is the custom. and and then left my offering of chocolates on the altar in front of him while he checked me out with smiling face and delighted, curious eyes. I felt blessed.

In every monastery and temple we went into, I made offerings, either of money, gifts or scarves. One sees many offerings of money from all over the world upon the altars, for this is one way the monasteries support themselves. However, some members of our group didn't believe in giving gifts, for they felt that the Chinese took these gifts from the Tibetans, and their refusal to give offerings was their way of objecting to the Chinese takeover of Tibet and the reported tyranny and abuse of the Chinese. However, I felt that this was whatever was the case, I would freely give. I especially enjoyed observing a monk at Samye Monastery take a large knife out and cut up the pieces of macadamia nut candies I had given him into smaller pieces so that there would be enough candy to offer all the monks during a special ceremony. I watched as the monk with the tray walked around and offered this rare chocolate to the seated monks, and I giggled with joy at seeing their delight. This was one of the highlights of my trip.

When one enters the temples, there is usually the heady smell of incense and yak butter lamps. I grew to like this smell, but it is definitely an acquired taste. The light is dim, and there is an monk seated or standing who acts as the guard and reception. We chanced upon many ceremonies in which the drums, cymbals, chanting and long horns combined to provide an exotic spectacle and auric delight. The exotic costumed statues of deities and famous departed Tibetans increase the sense of another timeless world. Some of the faces of deities are pretty scary looking, and within these old monasteries, one's imagination could run amok. I had brought many talismans of protection with me, and sometimes I really held them to me tightly!

One of the prize items to purchase while in Tibet or Nepal is a thangka. This is a hanging silk scroll, hand-painted and or embroidered in brilliant colors. This is a traditional Tibetan art form. The figures on it depict meditational deities. These thangkas are sold in many shops, and thus, I began my search for a very special thangka. With such a profusion of shops everywhere and such a large selection of deities and styles to choose from, it took me awhile to make up my mind, but after many forays into the marketplace, I finally chose one. A huge one. Perhaps seven feet tall by four feet wide. I picked out a simple design, with earthen colors of the Future Buddha, the Maitreya. Then I ordered the embroidered border be added. I finally received the completed thangka right before I was to return home. I was ecstatic viewing this beautiful thangka! This was my most costly purchase of the whole trip! The merchant rolled it up for me in a large heavy cardboard carton so that I could protect it for transportation.