Welcome to another Fall season in Shenyang. It has been only 2 weeks since we returned from our trip to Tibet and Nepal and it seems like a lifetime ago. I've been busy with work and some business trips, so it's been non-stop since we returned. Today for the first time, we have some time just for us, so I start to gather my thoughts and notes about our trip to share it with whomever is interested.
We planned our trip around the China National day holidays (1-4 October), so we went a little before that and enjoyed my birthday at Mount Everest! Hard to top that! More about that later! Just a note, for any Buddhist st reading this, I tried to capture what the tour guide told me and if I'm wrong, I apologize!
We flew from Shenyang to Lhasa, (actually the airport is in a small town called Guanggar (looks like a military base, lots of military planes and trucks I the road...this is China. Notice the rope tied in the shape of a big star!
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| Army trucks on the roads outside of Lhasa |
Khadak: the Tibetan white welcoming scarf we received at the airport!
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| Rod and Sarah at the Lhasa Airport with the white Welcome Scarf, the Khadak |
Some facts about Tibet and Lhasa:
Tibet has 2.3 million people, Lhasa is the largest city with is 500k people. Altitude of Lhasa is 12,000 feet above sea level. Not much snow, too dry. Himalayans block the clouds.Farming is main occupation. Barley and wheat are main crops. (1 crop/year) Tsampa is stable traditional Tibetan food made from barley.
Lhasa is the home of summer palace of Dali lama. Bon religion was the traditional religion of Tibet, but now >98% are Buddhist. Language is Tibetan, based in letters (not characters). 30 letters, 4 vowels. Tibetans like the Indian songs and feel very close to India because their religion is from India and the origin of their language is San Scrit, from India.
In Tibet language:
Hello: ta shi Dee lak
Thank you: thok Che nang / Tujiche" thank you in Tibet
Good bye: ka la shuk
In 1954 is when part of Tibet became part of China. In 1959, all of Tibet became part of China.
From ancient times Tibet is part of China from 7th century (a marriage between Tibet King and Chinese wife). Last king in Tibet was in 10th century and he damaged a lot of culture. He was killed by one of the Lama. After that the Lama's ruled Tibet , starting with the from the 5th Lama the Lama's ruled until 1959 when they became an Autonomous region of China. During the Lama rule, they converted the people to Buddhism. The tour guides cannot talk about the transition to China because it is forbidden, but they did tell us some outside of the van.
14th Dali lama was made Dali lama at 2.5 years old in 1935, "Unmistaken child " is the name of the history of choosing the 14th Dali lama. The 14th Dali Lama studied in Tibet until he got a PhD in Buddhism (24 years old) and then amidst the Cultural revolution in China, he left Tibet in 1959 on the 10th of March. 1.5 million followed him to India.(He is still alive in India and US today. It is said that he had a dream and was told to leave Tibet under orders of 3rd oracle of Tibet nechung (protector) because his life was threatened by the red army of China.
Around Lhasa, there are 3 hills and they are known as the 3 protectors of Lhasa:
Red hill (where the big white Potala palace is (seat of compassion) This portion of palace took 12 years to build).
Iron hill (seat of power)
Pamori hill (seat of wisdom)
Tibetans are considered to be an ethnic minority, in China so 1 child policy not apply, except for Chinese government officials. (now it's 2 in China anyway, so this is no longer a big deal)
Rainy season is June and July, best time to visit Tibet is August (of course I didn't know that when we scheduled the trip in September/October!)
National animal of Tibet is yak. They collect Yak bones and ask for blessings, they even use the dried yak dung for firewood...everything about the Yak is considered good luck.
Tibetan Buddhism is from India. Tibet used to be very powerful as a nation. He sent ministers abroad (mostly India), he came back to Tibet in 640ad and invented Tibet written language. Strong influence of Indian religion of Buddhism. In 8th century they invited masters from India to teach Tibet. This is the way they converted Tibetans from Bon religion to Buddhism. Today 98% are Buddhist and 1.8% are Bon religion.
Sky burial is still traditional burial , and most Tibetans still do this, except it someone is poisoned or if it is a baby.
Food is quite expensive compared to China; local fruits/vegetables are all natural grown (no chemicals) other food transported from China.
Restrictions for Travel in Tibet
Before 2008, any foreigner was allowed to come as "Foreign Individual Travel" without permit, must have only Chinese visa, after 2008, a foreigner must come with a tour guide and a tour car. Foreigners cannot travel alone in Tibet (this law change was only for Tibet, not other regions in China). In 2008 the "free Tibet" protests where the Monks protested Chinese rule (some say this was fueled by foreigners) and that lead to some demonstrations in Lhasa and other cities in Tibet. This was squashed by the Chinese police. Now in order to be a monk in Tibet, they must be approved by the Chinese government. Also in Lhasa, there are many more police stations than before according to our tour guide. Chinese people do not need a permit to travel alone in Tibet.Every we go, we are tracked. The van we are in has a type of GPS device that connects with the multiple surveillance cameras and tracks out position and speed. There was a camera looking outside and also at least 1 camera looking at the inside of the van! To go to Everest, we had to have an additional special permit and we had to show ourselves and our passport personally to get this permit. On Chinese national day even more police than normal..they are taking no chances to have any unplanned demonstrations! When we came to China they told us to avoid discussing "The Three T's" Tibet, Taiwan, Tienanmen"...we have now been to all three forbidden discussion topics!!
More about Buddhism than I ever wanted to know
In this trip, we learned (or was told...not sure I really learned it!) more about Buddhism than I ever had been told before...and more than I really wanted to know. Every temple was about another Buddha...I got them all mixed up and which one was which, which one is living now, etc...I'm glad I have 1 God the Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit...I'm sure I don't understand all I should know about Christianity, but at least I don't have to keep up with the different generations.All over Tibet, painted and scribed on walls, mountains and any flat space, there are six letters that are the Compassion Buddha mantra. There is a song that plays in the shops, all signing the mantra. The 6 letters stand for the following six sufferings in Human life.
When you say the mantra of compassion Buddha you are believe you can save all the living beings from these sufferings. This is what is written on a lot of the rocks in San script around Tibet. The Buddha for compassion has 11 heads, 1000 arms to save more and more people from suffering. (1 letter for each letter of the mantra)
Oh: God
MA: Human
Ni: Hunger ghost
Pal: Hell
Mei: Creature
Home: 1/2 God 1/2 human
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| Carved and painted Mantra stones and "Buddha eyes" carved into sand stone |
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| The compassion mantra carved in the wall |
4 sects of Buddhism in Tibet
Red (meditation, practice tantric Sanskrit) we saw them, they wear a red cap)
White (meditation for Buddhist yogi's, they wear white robes, never cut their hair ) we did not see them.
Flower head (founder is from Sakya, we visited there, not sure I saw them...didn't see anyone wearing a flower!)
Yellow (most strict, most recent), they wear a yellow cap, we saw them
2 reasons Buddhist walk clockwise:Buddist walk clockwise around to put Buddha on right shoulder. You walk against the world so your heart is walking against them.
Colors for bhuddist prayer flags , placed the in the wind to take the wishes to heaven.
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| Close up of the prayer flags |
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| Rod standing beside the ever-present prayer flags in Lhasa and around Tibet |
Blue for sky
White for cloud
Red for fire
Green for water
Yellow for earth
The 4 sufferings of Buddhist:
Old age
Born
Death
Sickness
3 Poisons of the Human Life:
1. Attachment,
2. desire
3. anger
8 auspicious symbols in Buddhism
1. Conch shell (makes sound)
2. Umbrella (keep demons out)
3. Parasol
4. 2 gold fish: wisdom (2 eyes facing each other)
5. Darma wheel (never ending)
6. Infinite knot
7. Lotus flower (represents human being born with the 3 poisons like lotus is grown in mud but bloom is beautiful)
8. Vase (holding holy nectar)
Prayer wheels:
In the prayer wheel their holy scriptures are inside. When prayer wheels run 1 time, it represents the holy scriptures being read. Before, the people were illiterate, so this way, the people could be like they are reading it. Many old people continually turn the prayer wheels. Even though prayer wheels are different sizes, all have the same message and meaning.
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| One of the pilgrims walking around the temple with her prayer wheel in hand. Inside the prayer wheel, there is a small scripture and for every spin on the prayer wheel, the holder is thought to get credit for reading it one time. |
First Impressions and Altitude sickness
Lots of military troops in Lhasa. Heavy security. Must go through check points to see most anything and show passport. The guide must show out special Tibet travel permit. Every time the car stops and he goes out to do something, he advises us to stay in the car. We keep our passports, he keeps the travel permits, and he tells us they will check both passports and travel permits every where we go. We do what he says!Altitude sickness: I'm not sure we had it, but we both had trouble sleeping and had headaches the first night...after that OK. I'm guessing that was from dehydration. We had been drinking water, but probably not enough. Rod said he felt like he had a bad hangover! At breakfast in Sunday, we both drank a lot and got more water in our room for the evening.
Jokhang Temple and "Mall Walking"
In the morning after a rough night sleep, we went into the old town of Lhasa (with the tour guide ever present by our side!)We walked around the Jokhang temple (clockwise) on the Barkhor street pilgrimage route. Many stores and markets. The original "mall walking"!
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| Man walking/prostrating as he circled the temple |
Potala Palace at the roof of the world
Potala palace is the iconic temple in Lhasa. Started at the time of the 5th Dali lama (637, kept adding on to 1682). Started as not only as the spiritual area but also administrative section of Lhasa. When Tibet was independent and was run as a religious state, Lhasa was the capital. It is now a museum since there are no longer any Dali Lama's to occupy it.There are three parts and the 1st to be built was white palace, then red, the yellow(yellow used for high lama. There are 1000 rooms in palace, 13 stories, and there is no cement (stones, clay and wood). It took 7000 people to build it with , 1500 artist. It was not damaged in cultural revolution under orders of Mao. Each year, the monks and volunteers repaint the palace. Top is the apartment of 13th and 14th Dali lama. ;we saw this, no pictures allowed. Very holy place. The tombs of several Dali Lamas are there. Many kg's of gold and precious stones. The height of the tomb is based on the accomplishments of the Dali Lama while living. No pictures in the palace, so all of mine are from the outside.
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| The view of the palace from 1/2 way up the hill |
Rod with a family outside the palace who wanted to get a picture with him
Rod and Sarah at the entry to the palace in Lhasa
The yak wool door covering entrance to the palace
Tibetan medicine in Lhasa
Different than traditional Chinese medicine (diagnose with pulse, tongue, urine, eyes). Due to Rod's health history, we decided to go see the Tibetan medicine doctor in Lhasa. He looked at his tongue, felt his pulse and looked at his eyes and diagnosed Rod with Liver and Kidney problems. (not exactly, but close) He diagnosed Sarah with knee problem (which I didn't feel before, but felt after!!) and also saying my heart pulse would change from fast to slow. He also prescribed me a pill. We looked at each other and decided, what harm could it do? Both of us will take separate pills for 3 months. We bought it and had them ship it to Shenyang. He said to be cured we should take this medicine for 6 months. If we want to continue we need to contact our tour Guide and she can arrange shipping to us. After having taken this medicine for the 2 weeks since we have been back, I can tell you it's like eating dirt! It's small hollow pills that we crush, then swallow it with warm water..not sure we will continue it after 3 months...but if we see some change in symptoms, we might...to be determined! |
| Rod getting diagnosed by the Tibetan medicine doctor |
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| Feeling the pulse, the doctor can detect many things.. |
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| Rod and Sarah with the Doc in the office after our diagnosis (and purchases of the most nasty tasting medicine in the world) |
After this we went to old town of Lhasa, bought a door cover in traditional Tibetan style (when I do with this, I don't know!) after this we went to a market and bought a carpet, traditional style, made in Lhasa by hand, vegetable dyed sheep wool which has the 8 traditional auspicious symbols on the carpet. I needed another carpet like I needed a hole in the head, but I didn't have any of my carpets with me...so now I do! I don't regret either purchase!
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| A typical door cover in Tibet |
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| Another door cover in Tibet |
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| The Tibetan carpet, made with vegetable dyes and Lhasa sheep's wool (Yak wool is too course and not soft at all!) |
Spectacle show in the evening at Lhasa.
In China, many of the tourist locations have a big outdoor theatre show using the outdoor scenery as part of the stage. Big lights bring the mountains, rivers, or whatever is outside to be part of the stage. They are really spectacular shows. In Lhasa, this spectacle was the story of the journey of Princess Wenchu (of the Tong dynasty in China) from Beijing to Tibet as an arranged marriage to the King of Tibet. It took her 3 years to get to Tibet from Chang and she brought with her the 12 years old size of Buddha, which was really what the King wanted! |
| Before the show starts selfie! |
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| One of the "props" of the Spectacle..note the size of the people dancing in the front! |
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| End of the show...Sarah in her new Tibetan coat! |
Last shopping in Lhasa
We shopped around the town Rod bought me a heart shaped gold pendant with the 8 auspicious symbols on it. This is very typical traditional Tibet. Heart shaped for love.
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| Gold typical Tibetan style necklaces in the jewelry store's display case |
We also bought a painting of a Mandala type of art from Tibet: Thangka. The artist signed the piece and it was from the students of Mr Jampa, who has died, he opened an art school to paint Thangka. Thangka is a religious art style of Tibet. The Mandela of Kalachakra describing the wheel of time.
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| Painting of the Mandela we bought in Lhasa, Tibet |
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| Always nice to get it signed by the artist! |
After this, we stopped by a favorite picture taking place of the Potala palace which has the same angle as the picture in the 50 RMB note. Too bad it's not up close...but you can't get everything in the photo..but we captured the idea! We now have the 20 yuan note at Guilin and the 50 yuan note at Lhasa..now to find out the locations for the 1, 5, 10 and 100 RMB notes to get their pics!
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| Sarah with the 50 RMB note with Lhasa Palace on it, standing in the spot with the same view of the palace as the one on the note. Check out that blue, blue sky! |
So that about does it for our first city in Tibet, and this first entry the trip. Stay tuned for another installment...or two about some more monestaries, and our trip to Mt Everest and the people of Tibet.
Until then, Blessings to all,
Sarah
