The Flower Ornament
For the second part of today I arrived late, scurrying in as my lama playfully rolled his eyes at my tardiness, and the monks laugh. I followed my predilection for following my intuition and entered Tharlam Monastery here in Boudha, Kathmandu, Nepal after making one clockwise circumambulation of the whole building, spinning dozens of handmade brass prayer wheels as fast as possible. A small child standing in a stairwell caught my eye, and I discovered a dozen or so of the Tibetan laity stringing flower ornaments in the dimly lit monastery basement.
Well, ok, I admit I knew I was a bit late already, but I did a quick pass photographing this unique stringing of flower peddles decorating the Monastery for the bestowing of Bodhisattva vows as per tradition. The flat white seed flowers are removed from long curved brown seed pods and strung with needle and thread in long rows. The pods resemble vanilla beans but are much larger. These unique semi-transparent flowers are perfect for the use of holding between the fingers as a symbolic offering when entering the mandala palace later in the program as well. Actually I love these seed flowers.
When complete the flower ornaments are strung from the parapets and walls of the monastery, right out the front door, to resemble the palace of the deities. Popcorn is also strung, and Christmas lights or fairy lights add to the fun assembly of decoration but that may happen later, after additional empowerments.
The intention is that of making the monastery resemble the deity’s palace. Holding the flower in between one’s fingers during the initiation is to offer it, just as you might take flowers to a friend’s house, so you arrive in the deity’s palace with a lovely offering.
While I was writing this suddenly a monk opened the base of a chorten (stupa, in this case used to preserve the relics of a passed master; the chorten or stupa is a reliquary monument symbolically indicating the body, speech and mind of a Buddha) and stepped down into it, much to my delight and surprise! Inside the large statue bases I saw Tharlam Monastery’s storehouse of long Tibetan style incense, the ends of books with silk decorations, a suitcase, shelving, and dozens of copper, silver or white metal offering bowls, and a bunch of other stuff. So that is where they keep all the goodies!
Rinpoche lectures in Tibetan, which is translated into English by a local Nepalese Buddhist scholar and into Chinese by a Chinese monk (perhaps from Taiwan?) Rinpoche advises us to look closely into our own minds. "While there is clarity of mind, the aspect of mind which is the most important is emptiness." comes the translation.
The teaching on emptiness is what sets Buddhism apart for me as a religion. The simple meaning of emptiness and its implications is said to be the most difficult for people to understand. Once realized it has that kind of "wow I knew that!" sort of feeling to it.
The flower ornament of Tibetan Buddhism is emptiness. Emptiness is simply that – it is empty. There is nothing ornamental about it. I will not try to expand upon the meaning of emptiness or its implications here. People come to Buddhism and Buddhist thought through many avenues, emptiness is the most attractive to me intellectually.
There is one middle aged monk, a Khenpo (Abbot) who sits in front just below Rinpoche’s throne. No matter how long Rinpoche lectures in this semi-tropical heat, this man’s face is lit with enthusiasm and a depth of understanding. Clearly this Khenpo loves the Buddha’s Dharma and is delighted to hear it from Rinpoche, even if he has heard these ideas explained hundreds of different ways. Dharma has multiple meanings, it means Lord Buddha’s speech, the written word about Buddhist philosophy and the meaning of texts or Buddhism in general but it also means ‘phenomena’. Buddha was said to have "turned the wheel of the dharma" which can also mean "expounded the law of cause and effect."
As an official photographer (and videographer) I am lucky to have the ability to move around in and outside Tharlam Monastery, thus I obtain great views of Rinpoche on his throne, and of many people inside and outside the building. His throne itself is fabulously ornate with carving of female snow lions standing on tiptoe with their hands supporting three levels of even more detailed and elaborate and symbolic carving Brightly colored dragons, books, jewels and spinning dharma wheels all decorate the base. Upon the throne’s base are two thick red satin cushions with mandalas worked into the cloth. The throne is about 4 and ½ feet tall. Upon it Rinpoche sits wearing a beautiful gold and silver brocade of flowers, and his upper garment is yellow silk, his lower robe is of white cotton. By tradition wearing the lower garment of white shows he is a married lama (in some cases the lower white garment also means a "Nagpa" or yogic practitioner not specifically a monk.)
On the raised equally ornamental table in front of him are a set of containers and his personal ritual tools, a vajra and bell in gold. These not only indicate male and female symbols but are marks of royalty – the royalty of Europe are depicted in paintings and photographs holding a quarter vajra on top of an orb – the ‘vajra’ or ‘dorje’ symbol is from the same root concept. After an hour of reading the pecha (Tibetan texts) monks arrive from the outdoor kitchen carrying his tea (or chai as it is called here).
As an elder person he eats a restricted diet, and takes only flower teas. The tall thin monk, his kind personal attendant, approaches humbly gently biting the hem of his ‘zin’ (the outer robe of a monk or nun, we would call it a ‘shawl’ in the west.) This is to avoid contaminating any food or drink served to the high lama, and is an indication of respect.
Sometimes when taking photos close to the shrine or during key parts of the initiation I gently bite the hem of my adi (layperson’s ritual robe) for the same reason.
This time Rinpoche is served in a thin light green jade cup on top of an elaborate tiered affair, again in gold and silver. Another tray of simply ornamented ceramic cups arrives for the abbots and recognized reincarnated teachers and monks. An additional tray is carried for Rinpoche’s family members. The nuns sit in the foyer behind the monks as per tradition in the Buddhist vinaya (rules concerning monks and nuns created to ensure harmony in large groups of vow takers in universities, monasteries and nunneries).
Rinpoche has completed the instructions of the text the "Triple Vision" (available online at Amazon.com , Barnes and Noble, etc) which is desegnated a permission text – you need to have the intiation to understand and put the words into practice.
The translators speak of proper motivation of the mind. Tomorrow Rinpoche enters into a preparation for the main event, Hevajra, the central deity in the Sakya tradition which when practiced properly encompasses all of one’s daily life and causes a complete alteration leading to the result – enlightenment. This enlightened action, cause and result is called the ‘two in one’. We might call it a two-fer – you get the results of living as an enlightened person because you are doing so. As I mentioned before I make no claims what so ever of my own spiritual status, and genuinely hope you, gentle reader, reach enlightenment before I do.
The young monks bustle through the crowd with fat aluminum pots of Tibetan tea, and baskets of a puffy fat fried bread making sure everyone present has refreshment. They all have close cropped hair and maroon robes. I feel very proud of them.
The Tibetan breads we are served, some thrown, some tossed like baseballs to friends, are flat, baked or fried, and after the dedication prayers we use it as a sop dipping into our buttered tea. The Seattle Sakya Monastery student Ben coined the term "Dharma muffin" It’s kinda like an English muffin but a little larger and has a slightly moist bite to it. Silence falls with little chatter for a crowd this size as we pause to eat and drink.
Outside the Monastery is much more pleasant for the crowd than inside, with breezes passing under the white cotton fabric shielding them from the sun. For me anything higher than 74 degrees is too hot, so I keep cooler by taking a shower in my clothes and wetting my hair down before I launch myself into the crowds in the morning and afternoon. Status and connections regulate who sits where in general, the closer to Rinpoche the higher the status.
The speaker system is quite adequate for a large crowd and later when typing this in my room at Tharlam Guest House, I can hear every word across the courtyard. Eventually the crowd swells until there is almost no space left inside the Monastery at all. It’s no problem for me to relinquish my seat to the monks, who enjoy the several flat cushions I purchased which are stuffed with Nepalese wool and sewn up in blue color with a stripped trim. It means I need to stand, and move around from one small vacant spot after another, staying out of the worker monks’ way.
All the dedication of merit prayers are in Tibetan. Ok, you would think that in 27 years I would have learned Tibetan but the fact is I applied myself to learning computer science, working at high tech companies such as Microsoft, RealNetworks, Amazon and a host of other technical business startups many of which went out of business during the "dot bomb" in 2001.
Recently one day Rinpoche commented to me "It’s enough! You have nothing to prove with computers!" He wanted me to pursue doing things I personally enjoy, such as user interface design, fine art, photography, interior design and writing such as this, as well as planning for my own retreats and doing religious practice.
So I speak and understand only a smattering of Tibetan, Sanskrit, Nepalese, and Hindi. When asked Rinpoche said there was no point in my learning Tibetan because you don’t need it to gain enlightenment you just need to practice. For me personally meditation is the best way to spend my time. He predicted I would gain enlightenment based on faith, which is considered to be one of the easier methods. He has never been wrong in all the advice he has given me over 27 years. Of the three types of faith, on occasion I have exhibited "knowing faith." The other kinds are wishing faith, and believing faith. Wishing faith is to wish you had faith like someone else you see. Believing faith is to really believe. But knowing faith is the form when it is complete faith. At one level it is like trusting one’s own intuition completely because you simply know.
My knees hurt to get up off the floor pad, but Rinpoche is leaving the building – respecting the man who saved my life is the least I can do to stand up. An attendant monk retrieves his books wrapped in yellow silk brocade as the short ceremonial horns accompany him up three flights of stairs to his small private room and receiving room. There is rice from the mandala offering sticking to our socks or the soles of our bare feet like tiny little rocks. After a few days of this we will hardly notice any more.
The offering scarves, katags, are gathered into piles, and the envelopes stuffed with offerings in the local currency removed. Katags are sorted by their kinds, fine, long, short, decorated, white, blonde, and folded neatly to be offered for purchase tomorrow. If one was personally blessed by the guru it may not be returned to circulation but treasured at home over a picture of the deity or guru.
A Chinese initiate pushes past me to bow eagerly to the Tara Mandala Statue in a large box on the left side of the main shrine. Inside the tall rectangular wood box are flowers made of tsampa arranged in finely graduated circles of the clay like material. Also inside is a 12inch tall statue of White Tara, the female Buddha. A lot of chatter ensues as we are gently pushed outside the main assembly room so it can be cleaned up.
Outside elderly Tibetan woman rush forward to press their malas into the lama’s hand for blessings, there are so many people surrounding him, I cannot even see what is happening. They bow slightly before his son, grandsons, and wife. There is such respect here even for his larger entourage which includes Westerners and Chinese from Hong Kong. They treat us so very well, even though we tall Westerners must look very strange with our sets of oddly shaped blue and green eyes, white skin, and brown and blonde hair. For the Chinese it’s a completely different matter, since the ruthless and mad overthrow of Tibet must be overlooked. The Tibetans are nothing if not forgiving.
That night, as every night the long and short horns play again around 8:30 pm, indicating that the lama is present, and he is safe at the Monastery. I have no doubt that this sound makes him feel very comfortable and welcome, a world away from the modern city of Seattle, Washington, USA, where he has made his home since 1960.
Yet there is a flowing sweetness here I cannot even come close to explaining, it is another flower ornament.
