nechung - the oracle in a box

just down the hill from drepung monastery outside lhasa is the monastery dedicated to the nechung oracle, traditionally consulted on matters of interest to the tibetan state. of course, the nechung oracle that is still consulted by the fourteenth dalai lama has relocated to tibet with the rest of the tibetan government-in-exile. but the original seat stands, as it were, and bears magnificent visual testimony to the protectors and all they protect us against.

the oracle of nechung arrived on this spot in a box, it is said, having earlier resided as a fearful spirit menacing the inhabitants of some other valley in tibet. a shaman practicing the indigenous tibetan bon religion was called in to remove the evil being, and he did so by trapping it in a box, which he then placed in the river to be carried downstream. when the box hit land near the current site of nechung, the spirit escaped and took to living in a tree and resumed its activities of harming the locals. this time, rather than a practitioner of bon, a powerful buddhist teacher was called in. this time, the spirit was converted to buddhism and left unharmed - and untrapped in a box - in a pact in which it agreed to serve as a protector to the dharma in tibet and to the tibetan state and its guardians.

we were unable to locate the tree, which we had heard was still standing somewhere. but we did find the monastery, bursting with murals of various protector deities - most quite terrifying. in keeping with tradition, the background of these images of wrathful deities and protectors is black, and we also found on some walls paintings of the gruesome offerings that protector deities like to receive: weapons, animal skins, skullcups filled with blood and other things not found in the sutras.

gyantse

crowded up against the mountains that ring this verdant valley, the monastic complex of gyantse dates to the 15th century and includes the mandala-shaped 'kumbum' structure as well as a large monastery. the town of gyantse includes a fortress perched atop the highest peak in town. this peak was stormed by the british during the younghusband 'expedition' that invaded tibet in the early 20th century. the panoramic view was taken from the ground floor of that fortress.
during the two days we spent here, students were assigned a room in the kumbum to study and present to the rest of the group. the organizers generously assigned me and a friend - brid arthur - to the tushita chapel, a room devoted to maitreya, the buddha of the future. along with the two-story high central image of maitreya, the room features flanking life-size bodhisattvas seated waist-height on massive lotuses... and walls covered with past-lfe stories of buddha maitreya. the murals both summarize over a dozen narratives of maitreya's career as a bodhisattva in text and also depict in spectacular murals covering virtually all available wall space.

the monastic complex at gyantse sits at the early end of when scholars identify a distinctly tibetan style of art. one of the earliest known tibetan artists to found a school of painting is thought to have learned to paint, in part, by studying the wall-paintings at gyantse.

to my delight, the murals not only retell in word and image the past lives of maitreya - they also identify the textual source from which the story is drawn. luckily this is one of the monasteries that permits photographing of its interior chapels, and i spend much of our free time here documenting the walls of this tushita chapel, with thoughts of future research projects... the quality of my photos here makes it clear: next time i need a better camera...

fabric and stone - tibetan architecture

One distinct feature of Tibetan architecture is its use of fabric on the exterior of buildings. The exteriors of most large monastic structures present large facades of stately - if bulky - spans of flat space, broken only by the rows of windows that allow valuable light to penetrate the often massive interior spaces. These facades could easily slip from impressive to heavy to oppressive and dull, were it not for the play of the wind on the many pieces of fabric that Tibetans use to adorn their exteriors. Just see Christian's photo of Sakya Monastery below for a structure without fabric - or windows - for the contrast.) Windows are always topped by small awnings, under which narrow curtains ripple and play in the frequent breezes. Roofs and windows can also be lined with larger curtains of bold and dramatic patterns. The combination of whitewashed masonry and fluttering fabric adds a delightful touch of whimsy to the otherwise deadly serious structures .... that host Tibetan Buddhist events that can likewise delight in combining the serious with the lighthearted.

drepung monastery, outside lhasa

we visited this monastery on a hillside overlooking the valley in which lhasa is located early in the trip. its numbers much diminished compared to the days of its flourishing before the commmunist chinese invasion in 1959, drepung still struggles to educate its monks... this marvelous photo was taken inside one of the assembly halls by christian luczanits...

tsaparang

once a monastery and seat of royal power housing hundreds if not thousands, tsaparang far out in western tibet is a network of caves and temples that crawl up this precipitous peak. this photo of me near its summit was taken by christian luczanits, whose knowledge of western himalaya monastic art styles helped made this trip massively instructive. tsaparang is located at +31° 27' 58.74", +79° 40' 15.06" - a short ride from the western tibetan town of tholing. see it from the air

ngari - roadside nomad market

after hours driving on hardscrabble roads across western tibet, we pull over to check out a cluster of tents and nomads. it turns out to be a roadside market, perhaps preceding a local festival. although with my hair grown longer than ever (as you see here) and the fact that i am not in robes, the women realize i am a nun, and ask for 'blessings.' i tell them i am just an ordinary nun, not a dispenser of blessings, but they persist. i remember a pack of mani pills i had with me, and am soon surrounded by outstretched hands as i pass them out.

sera monastery, lhasa - murals

sera monastery, like other large monastic institutions in central tibet, is organized around regionally-based residential associations. at kongpo khangtsen, which houses monks from tibet's kongpo region, a major benefactor from kongpo sponsored an elaborate set of paintings on the walls of the housing association's temple. completed over the course of three years in the early 1990s. the two images are of interest to me for different reasons. the image at left presents monastic implements and behavior from the vinaya texts that i study for my dissertation, and form a relatively common visual theme in the outer porches of monasteries in tibet. the below image appears as part of the detailed depiction of episodes from the life of lama tsongkhapa, founder of the gelug lineage that sera monastery belongs to. it shows tsongkhapa as a monk directing an artist as he paints an image of the bodhisattva manjushri. lama tsongkhapa was renowned for his visions of manjushri, in which he is said to have receive teachings and personal advice from the bodhisattva. this episode depicted on kongpo's walls does not appear in the text that the murals otherwise follow, but is an imaginative and powerful statement by the modern artist who created it: a kind of visual argument that the images that appear there come from someone who saw the subjects directly and guided artists in presenting them accurately.