Wisdom #2 – 1984

In February 1983, many high lamas, Tibetan Sangha and lay people gathered near the small town of Mundgod in southern India to attend a special celebration of the Great Prayer Festival, Mönlam Chenmo, which marked the 25th anniversary of the year His Holiness the Dalai Lama took his Geshe Lharampa degree in Lhasa before the uprising in 1959.

Among the Westerners present was Greta Jensen, a student of Kyabje Song Rinpoche, who was on an extended visit to his house, Song Labrang, at Ganden Monastery in Mundgod. The following is her account of the preparations for the festival and extracts from the diary she kept during the celebrations.

The Tibetan refugee settlement near Mundgod in southern India consists of two monastic and seven lay villages all founded on land given by the Indian government. The southernmost village houses Ganden Monastery and a small Nyingma gompa. About three miles to the north of Ganden lay Drepung Monastery and a small Sakya gompa. (Sera Monastery and a small Kagyu monastery are at Bylakuppe, a long day’s journey to the south.)

The 1983 Mönlam Festival was held in the main temple of Drepung Monastery and was presided over by the Tri-Rinpoche, holder of the throne of Ganden, Kyabje Ling Rinpoche. However, the focal point of the celebration was His Holiness, who during his stay at the settlement blessed all the monasteries with a visit and most of the lay establishments as well.

The elaborate preparations for all these visits occupied most of the waking hours of many of the settlement’s inhabitants for months before His Holiness’ arrival. The government of the State of Karnataka donated a large sum of money to resurface the settlement road, erect street-lighting at Ganden and Drepung, and provide sanitary facilities for the many visitors expected for the festival. The Tibetan government-in-exile financed the refurbishments at Drepung’s main temple and a new ceremonial arch spanning the main entrance to the Mundgod settlements. At Drepung Loseling College the Library Society boasted a fine new building for inauguration by His Holiness, while Drepung Gomang College entirely rebuilt their altar and surmounted it with spacious new apartments for His Holiness to stay in. However, the finest and most outstanding apartments prepared for His Holiness were those on top of Drepung’s main temple, where a beautiful hand-carved and painted loggia with an exquisite gold pagoda roof was added to the already extensive accommodation.

Down the road at Ganden Jangtse College there was a frenzy of activity as monks and local Indian craftsmen put the finishing touches to a whole new college temple built to replace the large cattle shed which had served before. At Shartse College new drapes and hangings to protect their temple were produced by the meter, while at the house (labrang) of Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche a glorious monument to his great life was completed for consecration by His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

My diary beings on the day His Holiness arrived in Mundgod.

Thursday, February 10

I awoke at early dawn to the sound of conches blowing. The street outside the house was already lined with monks holding flowers and processional banners, and the little chimneys built into the boundary walls of all the houses along the route were belching out incense and eucalyptus-scented smoke. I took up my usual perch on the labrang wall and had a wonderful view of the white car carrying the Senior Tutor, Kyabje Ling Rinpoche, as it passed through the settlement on its way to Drepung.

Meanwhile, at Belgaum airport, three hours to the north, His Holiness’ plane had landed and local Indian dignitaries presented sandalwood wreaths. In Hubli, the largest industrial town closest to Mundgod, the Indian office responsible for the refugee settlements had arranged a huge reception attended by 20,000 local Indian people. The foundation in the center of the town had been decorated with flowers and actually switched on for the occasion. An elephant presented His Holiness with a sandalwood wreath and His Holiness returned the greeting with a white scarf.

Toward noon I cycled to the next village – a lay settlement locally referred to as Camp 3. By now the heat was intense and I marveled at the patience of the vast assembly of smartly uniformed school children and lay Tibetans who lined the road dressed up in finery designed for a totally different climate. Many had actually walked their way out of Tibet and traveled for several days across India, just to be with His Holiness for this celebration. After we had waited for two hours under the blistering sun His Holiness’ entourage drew into view, a company of Indian soldiers presenting arms and His Holiness, heavily guarded, swept past and on to his Mundgod residence. Inside, he took a lunch offered by the lay community, while outside on the lawn groups of Tibetan folk dancers provided the entertainment.

Back on my bicycle again, I made my way further along the settlement road to Drepung to join the throng of monks assembled to welcome His Holiness to the focal point of the Mönlam celebrations. Under the elaborately decorated arch stood the abbots of Ganden, Drepung and Sera with white scarves and a golden umbrella. As the white car carrying His Holiness drew up, Khensur Pema Gyaltsen, Supreme Abbot of Drepung, was the first to greet him. Then His Holiness was led in procession up a drive painted with auspicious symbols to the stairs leading to the beautiful new apartments on top of the main temple of Drepung.

Monday, February 14

His Holiness began a two-day visit to Ganden Jangste by attending an evening debate session in Jangtse’s new debate courtyard. The proceedings were illuminated by the fine new street lighting – until the regular evening power-cut plunged everyone into darkness!

Tuesday, February 15

Consecration of Jangtse’s new temple by His Holiness. I was fortunate to be allowed inside to take photographs and was shown to a position near the front and half-way under a vast table of tsog, from where I had a wonderful view. His Holiness gave a Palden Lhamo jenang (permission to practice), and this was followed by a long-life puja offered by Jangtse, a truly beautiful ceremony with dancing “dakinis” and melodious chanting; a great blessing for this magnificent new temple!

In the late afternoon, to the sound of conches, trumpets and gongs, His Holiness walked the short distance across to Shartse Temple, impossibly sheltered under two umbrellas – one made of golden cloth and an even more magnificent one made entirely of peacock feathers!

Wednesday, February 16

His Holiness gave a teaching in Shartse Temple. I was swept up in a sea of monks all stampeding to get through the temple door at the same time. I understand that it is considered virtuous to be so eager to hear His Holiness teach that you are prepared to trample your fellow sentient beings to achieve that aim – as a Westerner I find this hard to grasp. The teaching was followed by a debate session between the top pupils of the various debate classes at Shartse and their teachers, all in the presence of His Holiness.

Thursday, February 17

For four days and nights the Gyüto Tantric College has been performing a puja in the little temple attached to the late Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche’s house, where the most exquisite gold and silver stupa has just been completed. Now, in the pale golden light of dawn, the Gyüto monks moved into the garden to perform a fire puja. When this was completed they re-entered the temple to be joined by the Senior Tutor to His Holiness, Kyabje Ling Rinpoche, Song Rinpoche, Lati Rinpoche and many other high lamas, and finally, by His Holiness himself, who led the moving ceremony to consecrate the beautiful stupa, a monument to his late Junior Tutor.

Saturday, February 19

On this day His Holiness, now back at Drepung, presented prizes to those geshes who had taken their geshe degree the previous year. The ceremony took place inside the main temple so we were unable to see what was happening. I later heard that the most enormous tormas (ceremonial butter sculptures), about six feet tall [1.8 meters tall], had been made for the occasion and it was rumored that they would be brought out for public view, but I never saw them.

Sunday, February 20

This was the first day of the main Mönlam prayer sessions, although unfortunately, Westerners were not able to attend.

Tuesday, February 22

At 6 a.m. a blue minibus arrived to take me to Drepung Loseling Temple. I had been invited by Drepung Loseling Library Society to take photographs of a long-life puja for His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Again it was a beautiful ceremony and it moved me very much to see Kyabje Ling Rinpoche with great reverence make the offerings to His Holiness on Loseling’s behalf. There is something very special about taking photos of His Holiness: when he smiles down the barrel of your telephoto lens you feel as though you are alone with the Buddha himself! Sometimes it makes you forget to press the button!

For me at Song Labrang there was always something happening. The house, outbuildings and garden were usually full of visiting Tibetans from Kyabje Song Rinpoche’s home district of Tibet. Rinpoche did not attend every session of Mönlam, so on this day he gave an initiation for all the visitors. It was amazing how quickly people appeared out of an almost deserted Ganden (most of them supposedly being of Drepung) to squeeze into the rooms and corridors of the labrang for the occasion.

Friday, February 25

Today was the 25th anniversary of the day His Holiness took his Geshe degree in Lhasa. All the geshes with whom he debated during the examinations were invited to a special celebration at Drepung’s main temple, and there they each made an offering to His Holiness. Kyabje Song Rinpoche had been amongst those geshes 25 years ago. To mark the occasion His Holiness came out onto the temple steps and gave a long-life initiation to the 50,000-strong crowd.

On this day, too, all the Westerners were invited by His Holiness to come inside the main temple for the remaining prayer sessions of the festival. How fortunate we were as, packed in along the western wall of the temple, we sat spellbound by the ethereal chanting of the umdzes (cantors), as their powerful voices rose up the scales to become one with the heavens and the sound appeared almost imperceptibly to pass beyond the frequencies that the human ear can perceive. Then suddenly, the low-toned response of 4,000 monks burst upon the senses and seemed to fill the temple with a solid mass of sound. The umdzes once more translated the prayers into the very language of the pure realms, followed again by the deep-throated response from the body of monks.

In the midst of this throng, under a golden umbrella, sat His Holiness on a throne facing the altar. In the silence between each prayer he rang a tiny bell with a sweet, clear sound. On and on went the prayers and all the while extensive offerings of mandalas, precious substances and the golden robes of the Buddha were made. How close one suddenly felt to the Assembly of the Buddhas and indeed to all mankind, for whose direct benefit these prayers were selflessly offered hour after hour and day after day throughout the Great Prayer Festival. I shall never forget this experience and I thank His Holiness for his great kindness in allowing us to be there. My regret is for all the thousands of Tibetans, who had traveled from Tibet, but did not have the opportunity to sit inside the temple for even a single prayer session.

Saturday, February 26

The moon was almost full, the Mönlam Chenmo was drawing to a close. In the moonlight I joined the crowds watching the last debate session of Mönlam. Although I could not understand a word that was said (and even if I had, I would not have understood the philosophical refinements), the mood of the debates on this last evening was obviously light and jovial. Some of the geshes could almost have made a living in the West as comedians; their exaggerated exhibition of scorn, derision or disbelief toward their opponent’s responses transcended any language barrier!

In the moonlight, beyond the reach of the temple lights, could be glimpsed the dark shadows of crowds of Tibetans shuffling with great devotion in endless circumambulations around the temple, softly uttering their prayers, as they had done for most of the days and nights that His Holiness had been in residence.

Sunday, February 27

For the last three days of Mönlam, the festival became a celebration of the people as well as the monks. During the morning huge crowds had been streaming under the ceremonial entrance arch and had settled themselves in a great throng reaching from the temple steps almost as far back as the eye could see. For the first time, there was an electric expectancy about the crowd.

I and my fellow Westerners were never quite sure what was going to happen next, but we sensed that this time it was going to be something out of the ordinary. Security guards were clearing a pathway from Gomang College to the temple steps, where His Holiness was speaking from the throne. When His Holiness had finished the address, there was a great silence. Then, suddenly, over the sea of heads and umbrellas, a wildly bobbing bunch of feathers appeared from the direction of the Gomang. It moved swiftly, if somewhat jerkily, toward the main temple. As it came closer we realized that it was the State Oracle, Nechung, who, dressed in full regalia, and in a deep trance, was being half-carried and half-pulled toward His Holiness on the temple steps. Several times he appeared to fall, at which a great howl would rise up from the throng, but his monk attendants managed somehow to keep him on his feet, until, reaching the temple steps, he began to gyrate and furiously gesticulate, before stumbling up to where His Holiness sat.

From my vantage point far back in the crow it was hard to see what happened next. Whether words were spoken or some meaningful gestures made I shall never know, but very quickly the oracle seemed to fall back down the steps and subside in a heap amongst the crowd, whereupon his attendants, with great deftness, removed his three-foot-high feather hat and, lifting him to their shoulders, carried him, boots first, back to Gomang as fast as they could run! All my tiny, dazzled mind could think of at that moment was: can that really be the same kind and gentle monk who invited my roommate and me to dine with him at the Om Restaurant in Dharamsala last year?

In the late afternoon the Gelug Society invited all the Westerners to a tea party. Geshe Legden, abbot of Sera Je, and the abbot of Drepung Loseling were the hosts. We were invited to put questions to them about Mönlam and they expressed the hope that we would return again in the future. I remember asking why some of the geshes wore their tall yellow monk’s hats back-to-front at certain times. Geshe Legden told us that these were the examining geshes. Each day the geshe degree candidates had to request permission to debate again on the following day and pay homage to the examiners by bowing their heads. If the examining geshes did not wear their hats back-to-front, they would at this point collide with those of the candidates!

That evening, as the full moon of February rose to float over the main temple, the energy had reached a fever pitch. At a side entrance to the temple, people were jostling to be allowed in to file quickly past the altar and out the opposite door. From the main steps, a swaying throng of monks was watching a performance by a group of ceremonial dancers in gold brocade. In clearings in the crowd beyond could be glimpsed the rhythmic movement of groups of folk dancers, each from a different region of Tibet. The strong resonating voices of the women rose above the general hubbub and their stamping feed raised clouds of dust, which formed a haze that gave each new activity that caught one’s eye the appearance of a dream.

I thought of His Holiness, up there in his golden apartments beneath the full moon. Without his guidance through these long dark years of exile, where would all those thousands of happy Tibetans be now?

Monday, February 28

The day of the Mönlam Torgyak, when the forces of good are victorious over the forces of evil. I had spent the night at Drepung Loseling Library, which was also host to the Gyüto Tantric College, who since the dark hours preceding dawn had been performing their seven-day Mahakala puja, now into its final day. As I lay half asleep in my room across from the puja hall, the low-throated chanting, interspersed with frequent crescendos from ceremonial trumpets and cymbals, had a profound effect on my subconscious. In my dream state the forces of good and evil appeared amidst swirling mountain mists and seemed to be engaged in grisly battle! Not many meters away, in Drepung Loseling Temple, Gyüme Tantric College was similarly pre-occupied with the final stages of its equally extensive and powerful puja, as were the monks of Namgyal Monastery over beyond the main temple at Gomang.

Soon after lunch, the pujas all drew to a conclusion and the wrathful puja tormas (ritual cakes), decorated with bloody skull-like head and flaming fins, were brought out in turn from behind shrouds into the glaring sunshine. They were taken in procession to the field behind the new Loseling library, where three large pyres had been build, and one of the three sets of tormas was placed before each pyre. Beyond were ranged the tantric monks, whose bright yellow geshe hats and robes formed glorious waves of pattern and color, matched perfectly by the continuous strident waves of sound from the trumpets, horns, cymbals and conches. A vast and excited throng of lay Tibetans surrounded the scene; those monks not involved in this ritual had been requested by His Holiness to remain praying inside the main temple.

At 2:30 p.m., the precise time having been fixed by astrologers, there was a commotion from the direction of Gomang Temple, and more crowds came hurtling toward the library field. Through this moving throng of people and clouds of dust monks came running, bringing more trumpets and cymbals. Hot on their heels came the security guards with sticks, clearing a pathway through the fast-moving crowd. Then, suddenly, a red canopy flashed into view and beneath it was the State Oracle, almost invisible beneath his elaborate regalia, and in a state of trance, being propelled at great speed by his monk attendants toward the waiting assembly. Several times, to the accompaniment of agonized shrieks from the crowd, the oracle fell, his tall feathered hat jerking convulsively backward and forward. Yet somehow his attendants managed to raise him back to his feet again each time, to continue wildly on his way. As he reached within 30 yards [27 meters] of the single huge Namgyäl torma he subsided again and all but disappeared under the vibrant sea of yellow and red. Frantically his monks pulled him to his feet and placed an elaborately decorated bow and arrow in his hands. He danced and gyrated wildly, yet somehow managed to place the arrow to the string (surely someone in the crowd will get hurt, I thought!) and in a flash he let it sail over the heads of the throng to strike with a judder right slap bang in the center of the Namgyäl torma! In a flurry of feathered head-dress the oracle again collapsed into the sea of yellow hats to reappear seconds later, minus head-dress, on the shoulders of his attendants for the ignominious run (boots first) back to Gomang.

The oracle’s brief but dramatic appearance over, the tormas were now tipped unceremoniously face down into their respective pyres and quickly ignited. As the first flames leapt into the air, the entire crowd fled as fast as their feet could carry them, uttering the loudest, wildest shrieks, cries and whoops that I have ever heard!

Those of us fortunate enough to have watched from the library roof, stood dazed by the dazzling spectacle that for a few short moments had burst upon the senses, and gazed at the three charred patches in the now empty field. So this is the nature of illusion, I thought; all color, sounds, smells, are indeed empty, for where were they now?

Tuesday, March 1

The last day of the Mönlam Festival. This is the day when, the forces of evil having been vanquished, the future Buddha, Maitreya, is symbolically received with the prayer that those attending the festival may be among those born during the days when the Lord Maitreya descends from the Tushita heavens into this world.

The sun’s first rays found me clinging to flagpole outside the main temple a Drepung, as a golden pagoda sheltering a statue of Maitreya was brought out of the temple. Sheltered under a golden umbrella, the pagoda was led in a noisy procession through the crowd, who tossed white scarves of greeting to the Maitreya within. Conches and trumpets blared and the monks in the procession chanted, as the pagoda passed under the ceremonial arch to be taken in a complete clockwise circumambulation of the entire settlement of Drepung. When the Maitreya returned to the main temple, the oracle emerged, seemingly out of nowhere, to follow the golden pagoda on its final three circumambulations of the temple. As the procession finally made is way back up the temple steps, we realized that the prayers and ritual were over.

Now the monks became the spectators, as the celebrations of the people began. Two men struggled to move a large oval stone into the arena under the canopy at the foot of the temple steps, and the contenders of a round-the-settlements bicycle race arrived in a strange dress of shorts and brocaded shoulder garments to receive prizes. A large and fierce-looking monk with a sword and skull ornaments slung from his waist and a large branch in his hand, wielded his authority good-naturedly as he coaxed the crowd back from the arena to allow the contestants in the stone-lifting contest to display their prowess. This over, the boys and girls of the settlement youth band arrived in colorful uniforms to play before His Holiness as he returned to the temple from inaugurating the new Drepung Loseling Library Society building.

Then it was time for His Holiness’ parting speech from the temple steps. The silence of the crowd was impressive and in many of the intent eyes could be glimpsed a hint of tears. I did not then understand what His Holiness said, but I was later told that the message had been one of encouragement for all who had come, to face the future bravely and with a good heart. To the monasteries, he said that as they now had fine and beautiful temples, in the future they should concentrate on looking after their bodies and grow more nutritious food. If the time came to return to Tibet, they would have to leave their new temples behind, whereas they could take their healthy bodies with them!

Wednesday, March 2

Today His Holiness left for Dharamsala, and for many Tibetans the long trek home began. At Song Labrang the cook, whose family had come out of Tibet for the festival, came to ask if I had any photos they could take back to Tibet with them. I gladly gave them all I could spare of the photos I had taken of great lamas over the last few years. Sometimes I used to wonder why I took all these photos. Now I know.

Tags: drepung monastery, fpmt news, ganden monastery, his holiness the dalai lama, refugee, sera monastery