ATD: cover: "seal"

[pynchonoid]

Lots of postive images of Tibet and its snow-capped
peaks, but it may also be worth looking at another
facet.  Not that I endorse it - because I don't - but
the Chinese Communist's Party's critique of Tibetan
society prior to 1948 is based at least in part on
what *may* in fact be some rather ugly facts about
life in a society with rigid religious rules and a
powerful priests.  Not sure how  Tibetan Buddhism
might compare to, say, the Catholic Church, or some
Fundamentalist Mega-Church, in this regard, but it
might be worth exploring the dark side of this
imagery, too.

I wrote to somebody offlist yesterday:

I haven't been to Tibet, but in 1986 Alice and I took
the train from Beijing to the end of the line in
Xining, capital of Xinghai Province (just north of
Tibet) and from there hired a car and driver to visit
a huge salt lake out there where the Tibetan ethnic
minority yak herders live (Bird Island, out in the
middle of the lake, is a current hot spot/choke point
in the bird flu outbreak, I think I've read), and a
temple complex called Ta-ar-si (sp?)  a bunch of
temples and pavillions in a canyon, with golden roofs,
whence the name.  There, the monks sculpt these huge
wall-sized bas reliefs out of yak butter (brought as
an offering by the pilgrims who come hundreds of miles
sometimes to visit the place - these pilgrims complete
the last mile to the temple gates by prostrating
themselves face first in the road, stretching their
arms, hands, and fingers out as far as possible, then
walk to where their fingers reached, prostrate again,
and so on - amazing to watch, such devotion), then
paint them in bright colors, the result is like a
tapestry come to life, kind of, and, the capper:  in
the room where they display it, at the far end you can
see the sculpture beginning to decay and blacken, they
only last a few days, transient like a sand painting,
then at the near end of the room, where you come in,
is the newest, freshest, brightest just-sculpted
scenes.  

Obviously, the experience made a deep impression on
me.  We spent a day at the temple, and I wanted to
stay over night, in the simple inn, but that didn't
work out because of prior obligatios.  We were there
for the biggest worship ceremony of the day, hundreds
and hundreds of monks chanting, incense, three-story
tall Buddha,the whole 9 yards.  I had a chance to
wander around by myself, too, and wound up in a room
back in a maze of rooms, with this old lama chanting
and keeping the rhythm with finger cymbals, while an
old lady (nun?) just sat at his feet, occasionally
reaching over to poke the fire in a pot belly stove, I
hung out in there for awhile, they didn't seem to
notice or to mind, God knows what dimension the old
guy was visiting right then...

Beijing also has a huge Tibetan Buddhist monastery
called Yong He Gong that I visited many times during
my student year there. [...] 
 
It's also interesting to watch Chinese tourists when
they visit these temples.  Some of them, quite a few
now in fact, light incense and pray, but on each of my
visits in China ('84; 86-87 residence; '99; 2000;
Alice was there most of September this year) the
larger number of Chinese tourists have been openly
scornful and mocking of the monks at work and
worshippers, a remnant of Cultural Revolution
propaganda in the mid-60s that sought to suppress and
eliminate all traditional religious practice.  Very
disturbing to watch those Tibetan pilgrims praying at
the temples outside of Xining while being taunted and
mocked by   Chinese tourists. 


>http://pynchonoid.org
>>"everything connects"


 
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