Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Buddhism 201

I ended up attending the blessing ceremony. It wasn't part of the original plan, but then again, nothing is :) And it's always better that way.

I arrived back at Tashijong (this time getting off at the right place!) slightly earlier than the scheduled start of the ceremony, and walked up the hill, exploring more corners of the colony. I wanted to reach the highest temple, but was told by a man coming down that it is not possible today, as the sadhu is praying there...or something like that. Heh. Stupid clueless white girl... He invited me instead to join the blessing ceremony down at the main temple.
 

I went inside and found a spot on the floor next to some elderly French people. The ceremony had not begun but already the temple was getting packed. I felt really awkward, as I often do inside a religious establishment, particularly one whose customs I am almost entirely ignorant about. So I did what has often served me best in awkward situations; I tried to forget myself and observe as much as I could around me, took some photos, tried to blend and disappear into the background.

The few foreigners there seemed to know what they were doing, or at least less uncomfortable. Some had prayer beads, and went through the motions like the other Buddhists there.


And then the sober rituals officially started, with the younger monks sitting and chanting in two rows facing one another, Tibetan trumpet players droning behind them, and the head monk (wearing sunglasses!) sitting sternly on an elevated seat at the front.


At certain times, a monk would pass around offering small amounts of different items. First, a small handful of rice, which was to be kept in one hand (not knowing this, I dumped mine in my bag!). This was followed by several rounds of small spoonfuls of water, then wine, which were meant to be drunk from the palm, and then the hand was to be passed over the head in cleansing. Eventually, I found out what was to be done with the rice; it was supposed to be thrown behind over the head - ouch, close your eyes :P. The last thing offered was a spoonful of what looked like clay, which was to be eaten (it was tasty, something like peanut butter!).


I was still astounded by the lack of (or at least extreme sparseness) of Indians in the crowd. Definitely not used to that anymore! At some point Eric popped up behind me, and being awkwardly super tall, tried to fold himself in a space between myself and some other people. I was glad he found me because the place was packed inside and out!

Blessing with the holy cone (?)
The head monk went around twice, blessing first the monks, then the attendees inside the temple, and lastly the ones nearby outside the temple. After this, the procession consisting of the head monk and some attendant monks proceeded further outside to bless the larger crowd that had gathered, followed closely by the younger monks distributing large amounts of food.


 

More monks passed around with wine/water, as well as more of the holy peanut butter. My dying hippie bag was beginning to be full with chips, biscuits, candies, mints, bananas, oranges, and chocolates, so I declined further food. This was the start of a new era for me: less greedy Alina :P Usually, wherever free food or drink is involved, I tend to abuse, and sometimes it ends poorly (especially where free drink is concerned!), and being in a country surrounded by people who have so little, I chose to let the other people's bags become full instead. Something about being introduced to Buddhism made me want to change the way I travel a little.


When the ceremony came to an end, it was too late to head to Bir for the nun's talk. Eric was a bit bummed out about this because he had previously met this nun and told her he would attend. There were only three days of talks, and two days had already passsed. He decided he would go the next day, come what may, and at least be present for the final day. 

Seeing things...
We headed to the same cafĂ© as the previous day, where we enjoyed an even more intense discussion on just about everything awesome; religions, anthropology (human migrations from Africa to South India to everywhere else), conspiracies & myths (Shangri-La, the Aryans...), benefiting humanity, our future paths, travel, intense meditation practises, the mind... 

After some time, one of the monks that Eric knew joined us for the conversation. His English was rather good, considering he was attempting to explain the finer subtleties of the mind to us. Apparently, in Tibetan there are many more words to describe consciousness than in English (nod to the popular tidbit about Eskimos and the words for 'snow'). I asked many questions, and he was patient in explaining them all, aided by Eric for some translation and details. The nature of Samsara, reality, metaphysics, human nature, greed, the precepts of Buddhism, and the different branches of the religion... 

To save you from opening a Wiki tab, here is the convenient summary. Basically, nothing is real, and so we should not be attached to anything, and happiness comes from giving and helping others. By becoming truly unselfish, one can escape Samsara, or the wheel of death and reincarnation. I kept asking: "What about attachment to nonmaterial things, like accomplishment, or love, or another person, or to liberation itself?" And I still feel like I didn't get a clear answer to that. Or perhaps it was beyond my puny comprehension. The monks have these debates every day, and challenge each other with question and deliberation sessions. It would be cool to attend, if I understood Tibetan.

Before I knew it, the sun was setting, and I was still so engulfed in this conversation. I had brief thoughts of spending the night there, as I did not feel like walking back to the main road in the dark and attempting to flag down a bus that may or may not pass. I texted Vishal to let him know that I would not be making it back that night, and Eric kindly agreed to share his room. Hurray, more unofficial couchsurfing!

As a fun anecdote, Eric's laptop had crashed on him literally right before we met, and, having told him I had studied a bit of computer science, he subtly requested my assistance. Don't get me started on my useless minor, but the least I could do was to have a look. He was particularly worried because he had just started a new webproject and had many relevant documents saved on that computer. Well, when I turned it on, there was one of those Windows' messages about unexpected glitches and repair options. I don't quite remember what I did, I picked one of those options, and the computer magically functioned afterwards. Me -> saved the day. Eric -> impressed.

I had also decided to join for the talk in Bir the next day, so we set the alarms for 6am, as we planned on catching a local bus to make it there for the beginning at 9am.

Photos: Tashijong

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