Losar in Lhasa
Hello again from Lhasa — it seems as if you are one of the few people not here at the moment! This town is hopping; people are returning to visit family, pilgrims and tourists are streaming in, the streets are crowded with people in all manner of dress. As you may have realized, we are on the cusp of Losar, the Tibetan New Year. These next few days will be jam-packed — an whirlwind of solemn religious observance, giddy cultural merriment and, this year in particular, sombre reflection on our current political situation.
You may be surprised that we are celebrating the New Year in February; for you it has been 2015 for weeks! But according to our traditional lunar calendar, next Thursday will be the first day of 2142, a ‘female wood goat’ year. Next year, 2143, will be a ‘male fire monkey’ year. Sound mysterious? Tibetan years cycle through twelve animals (rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, pig, rat, ox and tiger) and five elements (fire, earth, iron, water and wood). Each element covers two animal years in succession, the first labelled ‘male’ and the second ‘female’. If you do the math, you’ll see that the naming cycle repeats every sixty years.
And when the ‘lo’ (the Tibetan word for ‘year’) is ‘sar’ (‘new’), we Tibetans take it seriously! Preparations begin many days in advance and, while the main religions ceremonies take place in the first three days of the New Year, celebrations often continue for fifteen days… or even a whole month. The Losar tradition is ancient. Its observance likely originated in the Bon period that predated Buddhism in Tibet. I am learning that this was quite common as Buddhism spread throughout Asia: it absorbed the local indigenous traditions while adding its own Buddhist twist in the process. Although their roots are old, the content of the Losar ceremonies was rearranged or tweaked over the centuries. This was particularly true in the 17th century when the Fifth Dalai Lama added much pomp and circumstance to communicate the grandeur of his regime and its military conquests.
But somehow over the centuries, we Tibetans forgot that we were once warriors. To remember our past military prowess these days is very painful — we are now an occupied land. This is the ‘sombre reflection’ that I referred to above. Last year our Prime Minister in exile, Dr. Lobsang Sangay, requested from Dharamsala that we not celebrate Losar with the usual festivities but restrict ourselves to visiting temples and making offerings. Our political situation under Chinese rule continues to deteriorate and, as I am sure you have read, self-immolation remains a terrible and all too common form of protest here. Although I have yet to see a similar request from Dr. Lobsang this year, I feel strongly that our upcoming celebration must be balanced with respectful observance of the sacrifices that others have made.
Chinese occupation has changed Losar celebrations in other ways as well. Our elderly neighbour, Choden, can remember the years before 1959 when the Dalai Lama led great ceremonials of Church and State. These rituals were reflective of and essential to the well-being of Tibet, both religiously and politically. Choden says the ceremonies nowadays are a pale imitation, mere pageants. Even though Chinese control is not as draconian as it once was, some feel they still regard Buddhist practice with “patronizing cynicism” as a “primitive but now harmless superstition”. It is sometimes hard to feel celebratory in the shadow of this persecution.
But celebrate we will, at least part of the time. There is much to do and Anil and I have laid out our schedule for the next few days with near military precision! For Losar is two-phased: we must close out the old year before heralding the arrival of the new one. Today is Monday; let me give you a blow-by-blow account of what we have planned for the next few days.
Tuesday, Feb 17 — Purification
Monasteries have been decorating and preparing for Losar for a couple of weeks already but tomorrow observances will begin in earnest. We will attend. Set to a soundtrack of droning horns, shrilling oboes and clashing cymbals, masked and impressively costumed monks will perform rituals of purification to prepare for the year to come. The ceremony will likely culminate with a Black Hat dance: the most accomplished of dancers will create a swirl of colour and movement that symbolizes the struggle between good and evil. The focus of ceremony (and the day in general) will be to drive out the accumulated evils and misfortunes of the past year so we can start the next one auspiciously.
Tomorrow evening we will eat guthuk (a noodle soup made with nine traditional ingredients) and dough balls. Each ball contains a mystery object that supposedly reflects the character of the person receiving it. A typical teenager, Anil was disappointed last year to discover a piece of wool indicating kindness; he jealously coveted the thread rolled inward, a sign of luck and wealth. Perhaps in his case more metta practice might be a good idea!
Wednesday, Feb 18 — Preparation
Were you able to magically visit our kitchen Wednesday, you would likely conclude that Losar is only about food! We are usually very sparing with our diet but Losar is a time of indulgence. Anil’s favourite Losar treat is khapse, a sweet deep-fried dough twist. (See the picture below — could this be like the ‘beaver tails’ in Canada that you have told me about?) We’ll make enough to stack in a high pile as an offering. We’ll also make momos — dumplings filled with yak’s meat, onion, cilantro and ginger — and dresil — rice cooked with sugar, nuts, raisins and yak butter. And we’ll check on the progress of our batch of chang, a beer made from fermented barley. Chang is consumed in copious amounts at this time of year (supposedly) to help us deal with the cold. When chang starts to go to my head, I switch to po cha, tea made with butter, milk and salt — delicious!
Some of this food will adorn the Losar shrine we have set up outside Anil’s room to invoke blessings for ourselves, our Pemako village and our new Lhasa community. The barley seeds we planted a couple of weeks ago should now be sprouting; the green shoots will be part of our offering along with dried fruit, sweets and candles made of yak butter.
Our kitchen will receive a thorough cleaning and, if there is time, I’d also like to give our small living room a fresh coat of paint. If this all sounds like lots of work, it is. In fact, we have a expression: “Losar ma ray, Lesar ray!” (“This is not New Year, it’s New Work!”) It loses something in translation but, trust me, it’s funny in Tibetan.
Thursday, Feb 19th and Friday the 20th — Lama Losar and Gyalpo Losar
The New Year will finally have arrived! The first day, Thursday, is known as Lama (Priest’s) Losar and the next is Gyalpo (King’s) Losar reflecting the two roles — spiritual and political — that the Dalai Lama performed before his exile. The Dalai Lama would welcome and honour dignitaries in each of these areas on their respective days. This tradition remains. On Thursday devout Buddhists will honour their dharma teachers; Friday is for honouring local and national leaders.
We will rise early, bathe and head to the monastery in our new clothes. The temple will still be splendidly decorated and filled with drumbeats, chanting, dancing and devotion. Two senior monks will stage a debate on a religious topic. Although we might not understand the issue at hand, the performance is mainly symbolic and reminiscent of the type of debate that occurred in India in the early days of Buddhism. Many other elements of the ceremony have also remained unchanged for centuries.
On the way home we will toss incense into an offering burner placed in front of the Jokhang, our most important temple. The rest Lama Losar and Gyalpo Losar will be for family. Anil and I will exchange gifts, visit some close friends and enjoy our time together but these are still always the days when we miss his mother the most. Before going to bed we will change the prayer flags at the four corners of the house just as those surrounding the Jokhang have been replaced with new ones. Life is unpredictable.
The following days
On Saturday, Choe-kyong Losar, some people will continue to make special offerings. Although the spiritual portion of Losar will be largely concluded by Saturday evening, the party for many Tibetans will be just beginning. Cultural performances and social gatherings will continue at least until the Butter Lamp Festival on March 8th. These days remain consequential; a positive or negative act performed at this time will reverberate throughout the year. Chodon plans to commissions monk to recite sacred texts to bring prosperity to her birth village; although Anil and I have found steady work as builders, this is beyond our means. I would like to consult an oracle however. The Dalai Lama and Government-in-Exile will consult the State Oracle on what lies ahead for the upcoming year; perhaps a local one can help Anil and I plan for the future.
But for the next few days, we will be more than occupied — with the sacred and the secular, with prayer and parties, with purification and renewal. Now that I think of it, the Tibetan diaspora is now so large that I’m sure Losar is celebrated where you are too. My best advice to you would be to find some local Tibetans and join in! Tashi Delek!
