I wrote this mainly to see if I could get an article into a relatively large newspaper (4-5 million readers they said), and the text was mainly an excuse to print the photos. These are very small versions of the photos, and I am missing some of my favorites. (I have larger versions on a CD in storage and will update if or when I access them.) The article went over a few pages in the Sunday edition. As with so much in my life, it was enough for me to see that I could do it, and I haven’t really written articles for publication since. I was in Boudha and the Kathmandu valley for half a year to study Tibetan Buddhism and stayed in a couple of different monasteries. The first photos are from the Loshar celebration at the Boudhanath Stupa, and the rest are from Swayambhunath, both in Kathmandu.
Tibetans in Kathmandu and the celebration of Loshar
Printed in the Salt Lake Tribune in May 1997
A colorful crowd gathers in the area around the stupa. Hundreds of Tibetans, outnumbering the few curious westerners present, are dressed in a wide variety of traditional costumes sometimes mixed with western clothes. They smile, laugh and greet family and friends as they bump into them in the crowd. The atmosphere is saturated with anticipation. A group of monks led by a high rank teacher appear and pass through the lion-framed gate into the inner area of the stupa.
The Tibetans lift their arms, singing with voices slowly increasing in volume and pitch. As the song reaches its climax, hands open and white clouds fills the air. Flour is slowly descending on us, symbolizing hopes of a coming year of sufficient material resources, good health, and happiness. My friend tries to brush it off, is gently prevented, then informed that to keep it on his jacket is a sign of good fortune.
This is Loshar, Tibetan New Year, celebrated at the time of the new moon in February. The setting is Boudha, a village northeast of Kathmandu and the site of one of the largest Tibetan communities in Nepal.
Two forces formed this refugee community. One being the intolerable conditions in Tibet following the Chinese occupation in the 1950s, and the subsequent steady stream of Tibetan refugees re-settling in countries across the world. The attracting force of this particular village is the Tibetans familiarity with Boudha and the journey there. A familiarity acquired through centuries of pilgrimage to Boudhanath, one of a number of stupas found across the Buddhist areas of the world, and this one among the most important religious monuments for Buddhists in the Himalayan region.
Despite differences in appearance, large or miniature, domed or with a pyramid shaped spire, all stupas express the Buddhist view of the nature of mind and reality. Every feature, from their overall form and down to their smallest details, represent aspects of Buddhist philosophy. This particular stupa is one of the largest and most well-known. Its white dome and painted eyes, the all-seeing and compassionate eyes of the Buddha, are made known across the world through photographs and movies.
This year monks at only two Tibetan monasteries in Kathmandu performed the traditional Tor-gya rite at Loshar. Usually more monasteries take part in the celebration but this time a high-ranking and deeply respected teacher had died just a few days prior to the celebration, dampening the festivities.
As is the case with stupas, and nearly every aspect of a culture permeated by Buddhism, this ritual dance is an expression of the Buddhist philosophy and world-view. Featuring ghosts, demons and jesters, it is also an example of how Buddhism adopts local cultural traditions and use them as vehicles for Buddhist philosophy.
Of great entertainment value for Tibetans and westerners alike, it attracts a large audience. I must admit that the detailed symbolism of the dance escapes me, not being initiated into the apparently intricate events it depicts. At various times the performance is dominated by monks in beautifully brocaded silk costumes performing slow dances, a group of pale ghosts, demon-like figures, and two jesters performing practical jokes on each other and the audience. Everything dramatically accompanied by cymbals and various horns.
Later in the afternoon, as the sun is about to set, the abbot of the monastery appears. Performing a slow intricate dance he throws small figures into the flames of a fire below the monastery. This act can be seen as having different levels of meaning. On a “folk” level the dance is a symbolic exorcism of the evil of last year. The demons symbolize and are scapegoats for these actions and are sacrificed to “clear the slate” for the coming year. On a more profound level they symbolize ones own actions performed out of a selfish motivation, and the burning of them the resolution to work on changing these attitudes.
Loshar is the main holiday for Tibetans. It provides a day or two off from work and an opportunity to indulge in a favorite past time for Tibetans—celebration and spending time with family and friends. Apart from the morning festivities by the stupa the streets are unusually quiet and empty at this time.
Normally though, Boudha is buzzing with the activities of daily life. The area around Boudhanath houses an abundance of shops, restaurants and guest houses run by Tibetans and also dozens of larger and smaller monasteries.
These secular and religious activities testify to the ability and willingness of the Tibetans to create a new life in a foreign country, partly adopting aspects of modern western life and partly recreating their traditional life. Modern western technology and lifestyle coexists in a striking way with traditional clothes and artifacts and and lifestyles formed centuries ago. Here you find robed monks drinking tea, watching CNN and Fashion Channel satellite transmitted to local guest houses.
Not only the traditional and the modern, but also the spiritual and the secular are interwoven. Both monks and lay people perform ordinary mundane activities as well as religious activities such as reciting mantras, circumambulating the stupa and turning small prayer wheels located in recesses in the stupa wall. The secular takes on a spiritual significance and the spiritual is manifested through the activities of ordinary life.
In addition to being industrious the Tibetans are known to be sincere and friendly. It is not unusual for even a short-term visitor to be invited into a shop, a home, or a monastery kitchen for a cup of tea, a meal, and a good conversation. Living there for a few weeks you easily make friends among the people, be it the family running the guest house where you live, monks you meet at the streets or in tea shops or shopkeeper families. Tibetans in Boudha more often than not know enough English to converse.
You also easily make friends among the other travelers. When in a foreign and exotic culture people sharing the common fate of being an visitor tend to gravitate together, sharing the joys and frustrations that is part of this experience. Here you find people from every continent of the world. Some are here for a few days, staying at hotels downtown. Some are traveling in Asia for months at a time, living in local guest houses and seeking to experience the flavor of the places more intimately.
There is also an opportunity to study the philosophy that forms the world view of the Tibetans. You can live in one of the monasteries that take guests and get to know the monks and activities of the monastery. In addition, several monasteries arrange classes and seminars on the subject of Tibetan language, meditation, Buddhist philosophy and practical guidelines for how to relate to situations of life. These are held by often high ranking Tibetan teachers and translated by some of their long-time western students. During the three months I was there a large number of seminars were arranged, lasting from a few days to a month.
Buddhist world-view and practice are an integral part of life for most Tibetans, be they monks, nuns or lay people. The founder of Buddhism, Siddharta Gautama, set out to explore the nature of mind 2500 years ago in northern India. After years of meditation he realized the nature of mind and reality and attained Enlightment. In the Four Noble Truths, Buddhism in a nutshell, he points out that we are chronically dissatisfied with life and the cause of this dissatisfaction is identified as the dualistic and fragmented way we experience the world. Fortunately there is a path which, if followed diligently and under guidance of a teacher, will lead to a lasting and profound fulfillment. This eightfold path, which includes meditation and ethical activities, will open up for a direct, intimate and liberating experience of the nature of mind and reality. Through realizing the oneness and ever changing nature of all phenomena one develops an attitude of non-attachment to fleeting phenomena and compassion for all beings.
So, if you live in Boudha what can you expect from an ordinary day? Just before sunrise Boudha comes to life. Stray dogs bark, roosters crow, monks in the monasteries blow horns and chant, flickers of light escape through cracks in doors and walls, some people walk to their shops, others are on their bikes quietly rattling along the dirt roads, a few cars are expelling black fumes. Buildings and people appear as blue silhouettes in the dim morning light. At the stupa people are circumambulating and reciting mantras, by the road circling the stupa a few women are selling still warm bread.
The sun rises. Details of the surroundings are gently washed out by the morning mist and later reappear as the mist dissolves. Shops open, more people are on the streets, a leper takes her position at the main entrance to the stupa area. The main street becomes an inferno of bikes, honking cars driving on either side of the road, buses bursting with their human load, and dogs, cows and people filling the available areas of the road and the sidewalks.
As it gets closer to noon more westerners appear, drawn by images and tales of Boudhanath. They are amazed by the stupa, fascinated by the Tibetan merchandise offered, and enjoy a meal at one of the restaurants in the area. In the afternoon most return to downtown Kathmandu.
At sunset the shops are closed and people go home to their families and a meal. Some evenings candles are sold on the street circling the stupa. There is a room opposite of the entrance into the stupa, dark and with Buddhist wall paintings, where candles are lit and placed. At full moon the stupa is lit by candles or electric lights. As in the Christian traditions these express a wide range of human hopes and aspirations such as good health and sufficient material resources. For the Tibetans a few more are added: a home country free from occupation, and the ultimate relief from suffering in Buddhism — a direct insight into the nature of mind.
As the night falls fewer people are outside. The streets become the domain of a few late wanderers and packs of howling dogs. Boudha is quiet for a few hours, then it awakens to a new day for locals and visitors alike—as the darkness is dispelled by the rising sun.