Tibetan New Year (Major Blog 2)
With the thoughts of the cave expedition and its findings behind me, I began to prepare for the upcoming village New Year’s celebration. The village was without a doubt Buddhist but the New Year celebrations and customs that were prevalent throughout predated Buddhism. In fact these practices dated back to the time of the Bon religion which was the ancestral religion of the village. I began the morning by preparing some cookies to share with the village residents. In the time of the Bon religion, people usually would sacrifice animals and offer up their blood and meat. But Buddhism’s emphasis on non-violence changed that practice and replaced it with cookies or “Guthuk” which is a type of soup particular to this village[1]. Fake sheep heads were now used as ornamental offerings instead of the real thing.
As I waited for my cookies to bake, I decided to open my front door and see what some of my neighbours were up to. The smell of Guthuk was in the air. Many village households were preparing this noodle dish as an offering. It contains fortunes within it much like fortune cookies which other cultures have made famous. The fortunes within the dish meant different things, for example, if you received salt that meant that you were lazy. I could also see some villagers preparing a wooden vessel filled with flour as an offering much like a Christmas tree is used throughout the West. The idea behind it is to remove bad karma, an idea once again taken from the Bon religion[2]. Traditionally the New Year lasts 15 days and is spent visiting family and friends at their homes. Prayer flags are hung on the outside of homes signifying the 5 elements. The 15 days are filled with songs, operas, and friendly dance competitions usually in the form of men versus women. On the final day, everyone from the village is expected to go to the monastery and see the big Torma or barley offering that the monastery has prepared. Then the monastery puts on a dharma dance which is said to remove evil obstacles and bring good luck[3].
I thought to myself, why the emphasis on such drama and theater especially in a monastery? Then I realized that such practices are said to be helpful in the Bardo or transitional stage between death and rebirth. The idea being that following one’s death, the Bardo is filled with all kinds of fantastical illusions. If one has been exposed to such fantasy in the present life then recognition would be easier in the Bardo life hence leading to a nobler rebirth or even enlightenment. But enough daydreaming about that, I thought. I closed my front door and went back to preparing my cookies. Once they were all baked and packaged, I changed my clothes and headed to the monastery where I was going to offer them to the nuns and monks.
As I made my way to the monastery I noticed my young friend Chodak by a road side stall and approached him to wish him a happy New Year. Once we exchanged pleasantries I asked him how things are going. I hadn’t seen him since I left for the cave expedition so I was eager to find out what he had been up to. “Well Tenzin”, he said, “I’m a little bothered by what’s going on in the nearby village”. “What do you mean?”, I said, “aren’t they preparing for the New Year celebrations like people are here?”. “Well”, he said, “the leader of that village has been encouraging people not to celebrate the usual festivities due to some self-immolation protests that have been occurring in that village[4]”. “My goodness!”, I exclaimed, “why are people protesting in such an extreme way Chodak? Surely there must be other means of achieving their goals then giving up their lives?”. “There are”, he said, “but just like Sakyamuni Buddha was challenged by a group of heretics and responded by multiplying himself into a row of beings stretching to infinity, the protesters believe that drastic measures and extreme acts of almost unbelievable proportions must be carried out in order for their cause to succeed[5]”. “Well”, I said, “I’m not even going to ask about their cause because this seems quite political to me and I try and stay away from anything political”.
“Aren’t you”, he said, “going to be effected by this being that you’re a trader after all? If people don’t celebrate with festivities then that’s a bad thing for a trader no?”. “Well”, I said, “just as an eighteenth century Chinese account on New Year’s celebration in this village states, traders leave off their business for three days and spend it exchanging gifts and foods with their community[6]. Similarly, I’m on my way to drop off these New Year cookies to the monastery. You’re welcome to join me Chodak”. “I will”, he said. With that we began to make our way towards the monastery.
On the way, Chodak inquired as to the loss of sacred culture that he felt was prevalent in monastical life. “Tenzin”, he said, “I heard one of the abbots at the monastery talking about how he felt that monastical life nowadays has lost its sense of the sacred. Just look at what we’re doing. We laypeople are able to enter the monastery whereas before we would need special permission to enter. This is what the old abbot means when he says that Sangwa or the sacred essence is gone from the monastery and that the mysteries of life should retain such sacredness[7]. What do you think Tenzin?”. “Well Chodak”, I said, “I think the dear old abbot is thinking about a time when monasteries had political influences. Just look at what happened with the Brug-pa. They followed a long line of schools which were seeking to make their monasteries rich and acquire large fanciful estates. These riches and estates were then passed down through generations and thus patronage becomes a part of the sacred[8].
So, I think celebrations like the New Year or any other festival which involves the participation of the community and the monastery to work together is a good thing rather than having a hierarchal system of obedience”. “Maybe you’re right”, he said. Our conversation was cut short as we arrived at the front of the monastery. There were many people preparing for the upcoming days by setting up decorations and preparing various types of offerings. Chodak went off to explore the monastery while I headed inside to drop off my offering for the New Year. I met with a nun exchanged pleasantries and offered my cookies to the monastery.
The old nun seemed pleased but distracted so I asked her if everything was alright. She told me about an old man called “crazy uncle” who was a tantric practitioner who had died. He didn’t talk to many people and hadn’t been seen much recently but was discovered in his hermit cave dead. The nun told me that a group of nuns and monks were trying to get together with some of the village community to decide what to do with the old man’s body. I had never heard of this “crazy uncle” but I told the nun that I would help in any way I could. If she needed anything from my shop be it tools or just money to assist in the effort. I thanked the nun for telling me this and made my way back out to go find Chodak.
Once reunited with him, I told him what the nun had mentioned to me. He was surprised to hear the news himself but was distracted, like most people there, with the New Year festivities. I told him that we would talk about this later and made my way over to a quite part of the monastery where I could still see all the festivities going on. As I looked on I wondered about this “crazy uncle” and what kind of person he was. If he didn't talk to many people then how could the monastery and villagers decide on what kind of burial right should be afforded to him? Surely someone from the village must have known what kind of person he was, maybe the elders in the village would know? With these thoughts running through my mind I looked on at the villagers and Chodak enjoying the extravagant dharma dance put on by the monastery to welcome the New Year.
[1] Khenpo Kunga Sherab, “Lasar or Tibet New Year”, RLG206Y1-Buddhism Guest Lecture, Toronto, Ontario, February 25, 2015.
[2] Khenpo Kunga Sherab, “Lasar or Tibet New Year”, RLG206Y1-Buddhism Guest Lecture, Toronto, Ontario, February 25, 2015.
[3] Khenpo Kunga Sherab, “Lasar or Tibet New Year”, RLG206Y1-Buddhism Guest Lecture, Toronto, Ontario, February 25, 2015.
[4] Youtube, “Sikyong Dr. Lobsang Sangay’s Message on the Occasion of Losar (English)”, Published on Jan 24, 2013, Video URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1uOX-Fkzl4.
[5] John Powers, “Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism Chapter 7: Religious Festivals and Holy Days”, (New York: Snow Lion Publications, 1995), Pg. 191.
[6] R.A. Stein, trans. J.E. Stapleton Driver, “Tibetan Civilization: Religion and Customs”, (London: Faber and Faber LTD, 1972), Pg. 213.
[7] Alexander Street Press, “A Tibetan New Year”, Published in 1987, Video URL: http://search.alexanderstreet.com.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/view/work/1870993.
[8] Michael Arts, “The Admonition of the Thunderbolt Cannon-Ball and its place in the Bhutanese New Year Festival”, (London: Cambridge University Press, 2015), Pg. 619.
Bibliography
1.) Alexander Street Press, “A Tibetan New Year”, Published in 1987, Video URL: http://search.alexanderstreet.com.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/view/work/1870993.
2.) Image URL: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/tibet/9095889/As-Tibet-marks-new-year-self-immolations-mean-there-will-be-no-celebrations.html.
3.) John Powers, “Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism Chapter 7: Religious Festivals and Holy Days”, New York: Snow Lion Publications, 1995.
4.) Khenpo Kunga Sherab, “Lasar or Tibet New Year”, RLG206Y1-Buddhism Guest Lecture, Toronto, Ontario, February 25, 2015.
5.) Michael Arts, “The Admonition of the Thunderbolt Cannon-Ball and its place in the Bhutanese New Year Festival”, London: Cambridge University Press, 2015.
6.) R.A. Stein, trans. J.E. Stapleton Driver, “Tibetan Civilization: Religion and Customs”, London: Faber and Faber LTD, 1972.
7.) Youtube, “Sikyong Dr. Lobsang Sangay’s Message on the Occasion of Losar (English)”, Published on Jan 24, 2013, Video URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1uOX-Fkzl4.
