Losar and a New Year
What a lovely, exciting time of year. The Tibetan New Year in the village is celebrated with such thought and ritual. Perhaps it is partly the newness of it all after so many years of watching the Time Square Celebrations on a television in Canada but Losar, as it is referred to in Tibet, will always be a part of my year as it rings of new deeper thought. The village has been preparing for Losar for some time now creating new tormas, collection of juniper and wood and butter along with finding the best barley stores. The idea that the “new” enters into all our life, not just superficially as an idea but thoroughly within the practices of ritual. An example of this is while I was helping my neighbour clean out his chimney of the grime, dirt and soot, after he helped with my own. We had all cleaned our houses from the top to the bottom before and now this preparation for the new year arrived. As I was becoming more and more covered in soot and ash, I thought of how the stickiness of the old year, the past accumulations, were to be cleaned off not only the chimney and tiles but ourselves in the process. I thought on how the performance of the cleaning was not merely a gesture but was also a tool to teach us, to help us understand that the accumulation of karma along with the accumulation of wrong thoughts need to be addressed so there is room for new to come in. Perhaps if I can eventually wash off this soot and grime which has accumulated on my body and cough or sweat out what I have breathed in, I can also practice better thoughts and not accumulate so much into my New Year. There was much time given chores of cleaning and that provided time for thought.
I watched the group of women in this same neighbour’s hut preparing dumplings and noodles for the incredible feasts of Losar or New Year. Men are allowed to help with the food preparations as well but it was new to me and I just watched mostly. I have enjoyed the foods and barley or rice wine which we have had a little of. The festivities are really a mix of playfulness and somber activities.
Let me tell you about how some of the food is incorporated into Losar; this aspect is wonderfully colourful and exciting. With the greeting “Tashi Delek,” you might be presented with an offering of roasted barely and butter. This is incorporated quite often throughout the year and the response back is usually the same phrase, Tashi Delek. During Losar the beauty of the presentation is exagerated and the response reflects the wish for good fortune for one and all and it is wonderful. I found it translated from “Tashi Delek Phunsum Tsok, Ama Pakto Kukham Sang, Tendu Dewa Thobpar Shog, Gongni Gongdu Phelwar Shog,” into the English meaning, “Auspicious goodness and abundance to you, may you be healthy and peaceful, may you find eternal peace and happiness, and may your pursuit of peace and happiness flourish day by day.” (This translation comes from “The Auspicious offering of Roast Barley and Butter” article on the website High Peaks Pure Earth http://highpeakspureearth.com/2015/chemar-the-auspicious-offering-of-roasted-barley-and-butter/) A wish for all alike and this same roasted barely and butter is offered not only between laypeople but in the monastery as well. There are many symbols in the gift of food along with the idea that it includes not only the three sweets, sugar, honey and molasses and three white things, curd, milk and butter the way the gift is presented within a vessel referred to as a ‘Trencher” with specific placement of the grains and butter must reflect a long history. The items, as offerings, may have been incorporated from a time before Buddhism even came to Tibet reflecting the nomadic people.
In the past, I have mentioned our diet of thukpa bhatuk soup which is really a mix of whatever is around and noodles rolled out but during this week when I thought I was being served it, it was different. As part of Losar we, in the village, had a new soup, it had a dough ball in the middle of the bowl but no noodles and it is fully vegetable based. The soup included mushrooms which were collected before the frost set in and some herbs and purchased celery and other items. It is called Guthuk and quite delicious and quite fun as well. I discovered a small string in my ball of dough while others found wool, glass or coal in theirs. It is a bit like a fortune cookie and provides the recipient with a reading of their character or how the year will be for them. Because I did not pay close attention I caused laughter as to the interpretation of my dough ball thread. It could mean that in this new year I could either draw good fortune and wealth toward me or it might suggest that I will waste my luck and fortune. The difference would have been in how the thread was wound but I destroyed the evidence by carelessly biting into it. This is a light side to the celebrations around Losar.
Purifications and offerings of gifts to both the monks and the deities in the form of food and money have been taking place within the monastery. The chanting has been almost continual and the worship of local deities as we approached the New Year was important. In the evening I observed some of the villagers helping to drive away the evil spirits from our village by twirling burning torches as in a dance. I also noticed more visitors arriving to the village to celebrate with their families and some to just be a part of the celebrations out of curiosity. One guest is staying in my hut with his family while I spend most of my time in the nunnery or monastery painting. Although the Tibetan Losar does not fall always at the same time as the Chinese New Year, both are wonderfully full of pageantry with rituals based on thousands of years of history. Lanterns light the way and firecrackers, even in our village, can be heard to help scare the demons and evil spirits away.
I am leaving here soon. I must return to Canada in the coming months but I wish to visit Japan where there is a mountain monastery that is not only beautiful but also a sacred space before my return. I hope to spend my last few weeks of my travels there on Mt. Koya. I have learned a little about Koyasan and actually visited it many years ago but now I wish to return with the new eyes of someone who has lived in this village these last months. I dreamt of returning to the Okuoin Cemetary up on the mountain and spending time there meditating, not just for myself but for my child who died years ago. The monk who has guided my teachings here talked with me about the how a child who dies before their parent has difficulty crossing over the Sanzu River because they have had too little time to acquire merit or karma and their death has caused suffering to their parents. These dead souls are left tormented by forever piling the banks of this passing river with stones. There are boddhisattvas who through their compassion can save these children from their torment. Koyasan has many statues of Jizo, the Bosatsu or Boddhisattva who can save the soul of dead children from this realm of unease. Although my child did not die here in this land, the visiting of such a place can only be worthy of something. I can remember tossing water on a statue of Jizo when I visited ten or so years ago but I did not have the little knowledge I have today to be settled with knowing my child is free of this torment. I will visit Kyoto and then go to Mount Koya to visit the spot again. The small statues, no bigger than my child, with red aprons and some even with baby hats all together in the graveyard will be the place where I hope to come full circle on this journey.
When I have visited this most sacred mountain again and I have eaten and meditated with the monks in the monastery it will be time to consider how to take this year back to Canada. It will be difficult to leave this village in the weeks to come for sure but the idea that I will see a piece of Japan before I go with different vision is exciting.
