Lhasa

There are places beyond words; Tibet is one of them. I consider myself fortunate to have spent some time in Lhasa and western Tibet this year.  I was excited as the plane touched down in Lhasa; Maybe it was the 12,000 feet elevation.  I was filled with anticipation all summer. The drive from the airport was my first glimpse of the Tibetan countryside and seeing the Potala palace in the distance signaled that we were approaching the once forbidden city of Lhasa. I had arrived. I was a long way from SE Portland and the journey was just getting started. Over the next three weeks, I would travel west through Lhasa into the heart of western and the real Tibet and Himalayas. 

Alchemy @ Sera 

Potala Palace

Potala Palace from the SE

The scale of the monastery complexes in and around Lhasa are epic. Many were severely damaged and rebuilt during the cultural revolution. The Drepung, Gangden, and Sera were the first ones I visited and in their hay day these monastic colleges housed over ten thousand students. Think of it as the Stanford university or CalTech of its day. At Sera, I witnessed young monks practicing debate in the courtyard adjacent to the kitchen area. It was part theater, part oral exam, and such a treat to watch.  All my senses were fully engaged . In the kitchens and prayer halls the smell of yak butter lamps and burning juniper filled the air. The monasteries are equally as engaging for the eyes. The prayer halls are filled with religious statuary, ancient scritpures, and shrines. Devout Tibetans crowd around prostrating, praying, and giving offerings in these dimly lit and smoke filled rooms.  There is also no shortage of curious looking westerners trying to appreciate all that is  happening around them as well.

Tantric Wall Art

Wood blocks for printing

Debating Monks at Sera 

Pilgrim (Kora) at Potala Palace

The Potala Palace is immense and it also felt inaccessible and a bit spiritually muted.  The security climate and restrictions around the palace are a sobering reflection of the situation in Tibet today. I hope that changes. The staircase leading up to the palace is a great cardio workout at that elevation. The outer palace wall has shrines and I sat and watched the pilgrims perform the Kora with their prayer wheels and beads.

The Kora and interaction with local Tibetan pilgrims at Ganden monastery was also a highlight for me. Seeing all the prayer flags made me pause and be thankful (for everything).

Prayer flags

Kora at Ganden

Ganden Monsatery

Kora at Ganden

Main prayer hall at Drepung 

Tantric Wall Art

Potala Palace detail

Kora at Potala

Prayer wheels

Jokhang Temple

The old Jokhang temple and adjacent Barkhor square seemed accessible and the most Tibetan place that I visited in Lhasa.  Jokhang is a sacred place for Tibetans; You can just feel it. The influx of Han Chinese is evident everywhere in Lhasa is beginning to resembles Beijing and other Chinese cities. Not at Jokhang though. The smell of juniper and incense filled the air around this small temple and Tibetan heart of Lhasa. I watched pilgrims circumnavigate the 7th century structure in the early morning Kora as they've done for thousands of years. It seemed timeless.  I followed the old women and men through tiny doorways that led to what seemed like an endless array of shrines and alters in the temple complex. One room had a line stretched out the door with people waiting for monks to pour what looked like water on their heads - almost like a baptism. I didn't have the courage to participate in the ritual; there was a nice old Tibetan woman who welcomed me into that area of the temple even though I stood out as much as I did. I regret not participating a little bit now. I'm glad I found Jokhang and what I think is the Tibetan heart of Lhasa. What I learned was that it is  hard to find the real Tibet in Lhasa; I was too late. I needed to go further west to find it and that's what I did. I'll write about that in a subsequent post. 

Jokhang temple detail

Jokhang temple detail

Barkhor Square