Tibet

Introduction:

I have always found Tibetan culture interesting. I first found out about there culture as a child while in a museum. The exhibits lead into a gift shop, where tourists could buy things that were related. There was incense, and prayer wheels and chimes. I asked my mom if I could buy something, but she told me it was all over priced. She however, purchased a book for herself: The World of Tibetan Buddhism, by the 14th Dalai Lama. 

Tibetan Prayer Wheel.

Later, I found myself in a small town's antique shop just North of San Antonio. The place was quaint, and surrounded by a small garden that seemed like one from a British Novel which was filled with crape myrtle trees with lilac colored flowers. In one corner of this small shop were small crafts from different countries. Again there was a small gong, and a prayer wheel and incense. The shop keeper came over and showed me the gong, which was bowl shaped and came with a wooden mallet. She showed me that it was actually a singing bowl. As one rolled the mallet around it would actually make a high pitch ringing sound. 

I begged my mom for this. She looked at the price, and shook her head. I continued playing with the singing bowl, before moving on to the prayer wheel. After I was done playing with the prayer wheel my mom moved in and picked it up and looked at the price. She then looked at the price of the incense that I had been sniffing earlier. She picked both of these up and brought them to the cash register. She told me she would give me these much appreciated gifts after I finished that weekend's chores. I still have the prayer wheel, which has a prayer inside that spins. When you spin it, it is supposed to be like saying the prayer that it is written on it. 

About Tibet: 

Most of Tibet is technically part of China, though it used to be its own autonomous country which had bordered China and India in the Himalayas. A majority of its people practice a unique form of Buddhism which is specific to the region, and is lead by the Dhalai Lama, who is thought to be a sort of devine king. Each Dhali Lama is thought to be the reincarnation of the previous Dhali Lama (Anantharaman).

Art:

Amitayus Buddha Thangka.
San Antonio Museum of Art.

The region has a rich culture of art. Ranging from flags, to sand mandalas, to statues, to ink on cloth.

Last November I was lucky enough to go to the San Antonio Museum of Art. This museum has art from around the world, including Tibet.

One of the pieces was the Amitayus Buddha Thangka.This one was pigments on cotton from the late 18th century. 

The Tibetans are also famous for there sand Mandalas. These are "cosmic diagrams" that are made up of "concentric circles and squares representing the symbolic home of a deity. Mandala[s] are used as a tool for meditation and aid in spiritual development" (San Antonio Museum of Art). 

Tibetan Medicine Buddha Mandala,
 by: Drepung Loseling Monks  of South India,
San Antonio Museum of Art, 2001

The one here was actually made at the San Antonio Museum of Art in 2001 by Tibetan monks. It is made of pigmented marble sand.  The sand mandala is not supposed to be permanent. The colored sands are not glued down. In fact "its ultimate function is to represent impermanence". "Permission to preserve this mandala was granted by His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama" (San Antonio Museum of Art). 

This particular piece is one of only four to be preserved in the U.S. and is only one that is a Tibetan Medicine Buddha Mandala.

Food:

Late last month, I found myself sitting in a small cafe/ shop in India, called Ants. I had a British breakfast, complete with scrambled eggs, chicken sausage toast, baked beans, and a coffee. This might not seem like a typical start to a post. This breakfast in no way is similar to a traditional breakfast you might eat in Tibet.

The food I had was great food that made the meal about Tibet, it was the conversation I had while eating it. 

The Person:

Aravinda Anantharaman is an Indian Writer and Editor. When we were on our way to Ants I asked her what she had been up to recently. She told me that she had been helping to work on a project to help bring books to Tibetan Children. When I had not been talking with the intention of posting about her in my blog, but what she was talking about fascinated me. To be clear, I did not take notes on the conversation, but I can convey the general jest of what we spoke about.

Basically, the group that Aravinda had been working with had been trying to write, publish, and distribute books for Tibetan children. There were many challenges with this, she tells me. For one thing, there are two languages that the Tibetans speak, with multiple dialects. There are two written Tibetan languages, one of which is more complex then the other. The one that school children learn is the less complex, but it is harder to convey information through, since it was not meant for the type of stories they are trying to create. So the first challenge was picking a language to write in. If the language they had picked had been English, Aravinda tells me, she would actually be able to write and edit some of these books, but since they had not chosen this language to publish in, it limits her to only helping this project in other ways.

Aravinda Anantharaman,
 Preatam Koilpillai and their son Gawa.

Another challenge this project faces is funding. The target audience is fairly small. Most of the readership is limited to Tibetans, and for the most part, the distributors will only be able to get the books to Tibetan refugees now living in India. This means that there is little if any money in this for people like Aravinda who are working on this project. Still she rather be doing this then some of the more lucrative things she could be doing with her time. 

Aravinda Anantharaman is really dedicated to the distribution of children's literature throughout India, not just for the Tibetans exiled to India, but for all children in India. You can tell just by talking with her that there is a special place in her heart for the Tibetan people, and that is a big part of her life. 

Book:

I downloaded the Audio Book, The 14th Dhalai Lama: Buddha of Compassion, by Aravinda Anantharaman, the writer I had eaten Brunch with. The book is a Non-fiction work that talks about this current Dhalai Lama,  the 14th Dhalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso. The book tells the story of this Ddhalia Lama's discovery, childhood, empowerment, the Chinese takeover of Tibet, and his exile of the Dhalai Lama.

According to this book: the Dhalai Lama had been born to Tibetan peasants. He was discovered by Tibetan monks who believed he was the reincarnation of the 13th Dhalia Lama after he identified a rosary of that Dhalai Lama. After more tests were given, he was taken to a monastery, and then later to the palace where he grew up. At age 15 he became the leader of his people. As Communist China prepared to take over Tibet, the Dhalia Lama went to China to try to resolve the issue peacefully. However, His Holiness became disillusioned with Communism. China's take over of Tibet was thus not peaceful and many, including the Dhalai Lama left in exile to India. 

This is a great book to get the basics about the Dhalai Lama. It is short and concise and contains a lot of great information on not just the current Dhalai Lama but modern Tibetan Buddhism as a whole.

Short Film:
Aravinda Anantharaman's Husband (and my cousin in-law),  Preatam Koilpillai, has also been very involved with the Tibetan exiles in India. In 2010 he produced a short film called Passport Photos. This is a documentary that features young Tibetan exiles who are living in India. Through this 15 minute presentation we get to see the struggles that these young Tibetans go through as a people whose home has been stolen from them.

Work Cited:

Anantharaman, Aravinda. Personal Conversation. December 27, 2014.

Anantharaman, Aravinda. The 14th Dhalai Lama: Buddha of Compassion. Published:  04 January 2013.

Drepung Loseling Monks  of South India. "Tibetan Medicine Buddha Mandala". Created: 2001.

Jujare. Arvind: Photo of Preatam Koilpillai and Aravinda Anantharaman. Taken 25 December 2014.

Jinpa, Thupten (14th Dalai Lama). The World of Tibetan Buddism. Published: 1995.

Koilpillai, Preatam, in collaboration with with Lingpa, Jangchup, Thardoe Lobsang. "Passport Photos". 2010. Website: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFHRQfhUfOY. 

San Antonio Museum of Art. Art descriptions of "Amitayus Buddha Thangka", and "Tibetan Medicine Buddha Mandala".  Read in: November 2014.

Unknown: "Amitayus Buddha Thangka".Created: Late 18th Century.