Adventures in Tibet Part IV: Buddhism is Weird

One would think that after hearing the Dalai Lama lecture on Buddhism, I’d warm up to the religion. Let’s just say I’m not exactly sold on it yet.

The Dalai Lama gave public lectures on three days, the last three days we were in town. On the first, he lectured on "The 37 Practices of a Boddhisatva," a text outlining the practices of ideal Buddhists, available here: http://viewonbuddhism.org/resources/37_practices_bodhisattva.html. This was somewhat similar to a college lecture, both in it being mentally stimulating and in its ability to be cool despite its fundamental bogusness (according to Corel, bogusness is a word). The next day was a bunch of vows, which I skipped for reasons I’ll explain, and the third day was over my head. So most of my takeaway was from the first day.

The 37 Practices includes a lot of advice that’s pretty jarring to a western audience. Things like Practice 3, "Withdrawing completely from things that excite us, our mental disturbances slowly decline. And ridding our mind of directionless wandering, attention on virtue will surely increase. As wisdom shines clearer, the world comes in focus, our confidence grows in the Dharma we have learned. Live all alone far away in seclusion - the Sons of the Buddhas all practise this way." See also Rule 33, advising abandonment of family.

The Dalai Lama discussed these rules in surprising detail, from the ground up. He actually started with the Big Bang, but I saw most of that as window dressing to make the rules seem more scientific than mumbo jumbo. Ultimately, it all stems from reincarnation and the idea that our bodies are prisons for our souls. Any pleasure we gain in this life is meaningless, but the pain we experience is not, as it detracts from our ability to meditate and achieve Nirvana. Ergo, live your life to minimize pain, even at the expense of minimizing happiness.

I see several problems with this. Largely, it’s just that this is a huge sacrifice to take on faith, but that’s a theological argument. I think Christianity is more forgiving about keeping the faith without sacrificing much. But, in Buddhisms terms, I see a glaring hole. Several of the rules (see, eg, 11) focus on charity and improving the lives of others. You sacrifice your own meaningless happiness for the betterment of others. But isn’t that betterment a waste of time? Isn’t that pleasure fleeting too? Why give ephemeral happiness to others, while you, yourself, are declining it as harmful? It seems to me that this whole thing dissolves when applied to society, and only works in small doses. You wind up with a double standard: one set of rules for the monks, and another for everyone else. But I could go on for a while on this. For far longer than is interesting on a blog. So I’ll just say that I quickly found holes in this Buddhism thing.

At the end of the first day, there was a public vow, the Pratimoksha Vow. Anybody in the audience could take it. It consisted of five rules: don’t kill, don’t steal, don’t lie, don’t rape, don’t drink. Four of those are pretty easy. The Dalai Lama even clarified that once, a guy said he wanted to take the vow, but that he couldn’t give up alcohol. He gave him some leeway: just don’t abuse it. I didn’t want to quibble by saying "what if I only get really ripped once in a while, and am chill when I do it?" That seemed intrusive. So I did not take the vow.

In researching the vow later, though, I got to thinking how similar Buddhist monastic life is to Christian Monastic life in the Dark Ages. See this list of rules here:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patimokkha. These are rules describing every aspect of life. Join the monastery and have every decision made for you–rules govern everything. Compare this to The Rule of St. Benedict, a bizarrely similar set of rules for Dark Ages monks. There’s a reason why we use the term "monk" for eastern religions, too. It’s the same thing–a bunch of people who were living in a chaotic, depressing society who found refuge in the order and predictability of religious asceticism. Christianity also has similar tenets on the body being a prison, and about happiness on Earth being ephemeral. The difference is that Christianity didn’t take this to the extremes. It didn’t say that true Christians would live solitary lives. That would never have worked. Christianity was always a practical religion, whether that meant caving to Roman demands, surviving the Dark Ages, reforming the Vatican’s systems, or looking the other way when Catholics support abortion. Buddhism, by my judgments, is more strict. When pressed, it has simply said "you outsiders can do what you wish. We don’t care. We’re Buddhists." And Tibet gets conquered and its citizens either marginalized or eradicated. How’d that hopey-changey stuff work out for ya?

Anyway, the second day was more vows. And while that list of vows was neat, in practice it was like 20 minutes of untranslated chanting (we got an English feed on FM radio). The second day was a whole lotta that, so I skipped it to explore town. The third day was half over my head, and half only for the Russian pilgrims (no English feed). So I only got one real day with His Holiness. I think that was enough. I can say I met him and listened to his lectures. I don’t need to say it was spiritual.

Adventures in Tibet Part III: Triund

I was in Dharamsala for 5 days. The first of those was a groggy half-day, and the Dalai Lama was speaking on the last three. This left one day for an all-day trip, and I decided to hike to Triund, which is basically a ridge with great views of the Himalayas. Dharamsala itself is at the foothills of the mountains, so just looking at it isn’t too spectacular. You have to go in and up a bit to get the real deal.

I started in McLeod Ganj, the part of Dharamsala where the Tibetan stuff and our monastery are, which is at 2,082m (6,831ft). Triund is at 2,875, or 9,432ft. So this was going to be a whole lotta climbin’.

The first 50 minutes or so of the trail was pretty uneventful. It was uphill, but wide paths. Aside from the scenery, it was similar to any State Park trail in the US. I did eventually see some 4-wheelers on this path, which helps explain how the shops along the way get supplied. This part of the trail was pretty obvious in its layout. You couldn’t get lost. So when I passed two Americans who had come with a guide, I briefly considered slowing down and keeping them in sight, but I figured that would only slow me down. The two women were middle-aged, and I figured I had to go faster than them to make good time. Famous last words.



After about 50 minutes of this winding uphill, I got to a temple, café, rest house, and general clearing. The café was called "Rest a While." I wasn’t much in the mood for rest yet, so I took some photos and trudged on. Soon after this I hit the only confusing part of the trail, and I chose wrong. Compare these two photos, and tell me which you think is the right way (no markings):

I came from the left, on this shot:



This was what was staring at me, the alternative to winding back up the hill on that path:



I chose to wind back up the hill. While this did result in some cool photography, it also resulted in me walking along increasingly bootleg paths, without a soul in sight, such as this:



I was having my doubts about this detour being the right path, but just when I considered returning to Rest a While, I started seeing some odd trash. Unlike most of India, there wasn’t much trash in Dharamsala. So when I saw mostly-empty water bottles sitting around, I assumed they were some sort of trail market. Note that I had seen no trail markings at this point–there had been no need early on. So I assumed this was just some sort of "you’re in the right place, people have been here" sort of deal. Wrong.

Eventually this path wound back on itself. Most things looked the same, but when I recognized the same bottle of AquaFina that I’d seen earlier, I knew I was in trouble. And that’s when it dawned on me: these mostly empty water bottles weren’t trail markers, and they certainly weren’t trash. They were last-ditch provisions for lost hikers, and I was a lost hiker.

This was definitely a reality check moment. I still had plenty of water, and it was daylight, but I was still in the middle of the Himalayas, off the trail, and on some pretty sketchy territory. Fortunately, I was still able to easily retrace my steps back to Rest a While, and as luck would have it, I saw a hiker coming down the path I should have taken as I approached it. This put me back on my way, albeit another hour and a half in the hole. The timing wasn’t a big deal, though, since I was making good time. I would have about an hour at the top, eventually, and that would be enough.

The rest of the trail was fairly clean and well-marked, but it got tougher and tougher as I went on. I had over 800m to climb, upwards. That’s a lot of work. The scenery was beautiful along the way (see the Flickr stream), which helped, but all of this combined with the already high altitude made this a tough hike towards the end. The path was basically stretches of slope followed by stretches of steps, and as I got closer to the end, it became all steps. But this was all worth it when I hit the top. The last stretch is walking straight up the last hill. At this point, all of the mountain tips are blocked. All you see is hill. But then you crest, and it just all opens up into this:



At the top, there were more shops. One was cooking rice and daal, and I partook. There were also a bunch of dogs, as well as hippies singing various songs. Note the video on flickr of them ad-libbing a verse to Don’t Worry, Be Happy.

It would be dark by 6:00, and although the trip down would be much quicker, I set out at 3:30. I got back to Rest a While at 5:00, and ran into an Israeli named Alon, who had two dogs with him. They weren’t his. They’d just followed him down from the top. When we made it back to Dharamkot, the village at the start of the trail, one dog was still with us (the other had fallen behind and joined another group). When we got to the end of the trail, three local dogs were waiting, and instantly recognized our dog as an outsider. They didn’t just bark, though–they chased after this mountain dog. He sidestepped and bolted into town, chased at full speed by the three local dogs. That’s the last I saw of him. I figure he probably owed the other dogs money,
and had been hiding out on the mountain all summer. Either that or he just really stunk.


If anyone’s found this page as a result of searching for more info in the Triund hike, drop me a line. I found a dearth of reliable info online, and I’d be happy to answer anybody’s questions.

Adventures in Tibet Part I: The Pilgrimage

In Buddhism, they tend to use the word "auspicious" a lot. In the dictionary I’m seeing definitions like "promising success," "favored by fortune," and "favorable." I’m not quite sure about the intricacies of the Tibetan language (or whatever the original language of Buddhism is), but whether it’s poor translation or not, I think my journey to Dharamsala, the Tibetan capital in exile, can be described as fairly inauspicious.

Sanju and I made our flight to Delhi by about 30 seconds. They make you check into flights 45 minutes before they depart. Probably a security measure, and it’s good policy anyway, but for our 7:00 flight to Delhi, from an airport about an hour away from Koramangala, this meant getting up at the ass crack of dawn. Right after Sanju and I entered the snake line for check-in, they closed it, signaling that the 45 minute barrier was up. Maybe this means someone was looking out for us, but as someone who thinks that stuff’s a crock, to me it just meant that our planning was off.

We arrived in Delhi and got to the bus station at noon. I didn’t ask questions when we immediately boarded a bus. I’d assumed we’d take an overnight bus, but I also assumed Sanju knew what we were doing. Turned out this bus was not direct to Dharamsala, but was rather a bus to Chandigarh, the capital of Punjab, from which we would transfer to Dharamsala. The saving grace here was that this was definitely the nicest bus I’d ever been on. I didn’t play varsity sports, I was only on JV team when IMSA’s Scholastic Bowl team won the 2000 State title, and let’s just say our junior high Science Olympiad team didn’t exactly spring for super quality buses. This thing had leather seats, LA-Z-Boy style leg rests, and free bottles of water for all. Good stuff. It was only a few dollars more than the really crappy buses, but I paid for this luxury in karma when we got to Chandigarh at 6:00.

In Chandigarh, we transferred to the first bus we could find to Dharamsala. This was a local bus. Local=cheapest. Fortunately Sanju and I both snagged window seats, and fortunately we both had warm clothing on. This bus was put to shame by the old school buses that only had half-backed benches. If you’ve been to school recently, you probably know the distinction I’m talking about. I still managed to sleep a little, but things really went to hell when we arrived at our monastery at 3AM, long after everyone had gone to bed. And also after having walked down about 300 steps with our luggage, making walking back up to town impossible for both of us. Did I mention it was about 45 degrees out? After briefly chilling on a bench, we snagged a monk who happened to be running around doing something, and were let into an unheated dining hall to sleep until 7. At that point, someone woke up who let us into our rooms. They were also unheated, but the three huge wool blankets more than made up for that quickly.

Tomorrow, after some rest, things get better. Don’t worry. Like I said, "auspiciousness" is a crock. At least once your planning starts going well.

Adventures in Tibet Part II: I Know Too Much Cyrillic for My Own Good

I rolled out of bed at noon, still really groggy, but well aware from my research that this town shuts down early, and that to have any shot of salvaging the day, I’d have to power through and just get to bed early. I would eventually learn from the Dalai Lama that a true Buddhist should be a loner, rejecting personal relationships, so the fact that Sanju was out of commission on the first day really just made everything more Buddhist.

The first thing I had to do on this good Sunday was register to see the Dalai Lama. I’m not totally positive why they do this, as there was no background check on me or anything, and although I did get a totally sweet ID card with my photo stapled to it and all of the writing in Tibetan, I never actually had to show it to get into the lectures. Anyway, this led me to the main temple complex in Dharamsala, where I noticed all of the signs were in Russian. The conference had been called by Russian Buddhists, so I was expecting some Russian flair to this. And fortunately, I know some really basic Cyrillic, mostly from math classes, and the word "REGISTRATION" had just been converted to the Cyrillic alphabet as РЕГИСТРАЖИЯ. I was able to pick out REG_STRA___ and made some deductions. Unfortunately, registration at the temple was only for Russians, registration for foreigners would open on Monday at an office in town, and what the hell was I doing there looking for registration? I know too much Cyrillic for my own good.

The benefit, though, and where this vacation started to go great in all sorts of ways, was that I was at the Dalai Lama Temple Complex BEFORE it was mobbed with people. For the rest of the trip, this place would be packed, and would also be off limits to photography. So I got to shoot the place, unlike people who didn’t come early, drawn in by Russian signs. It’s a neat place with some cool prayer wheels. They also have an actual temple inside, although photography in there was banned at all times. So I didn’t get to photograph their offerings of Chips Ahoy! to the various deities inside. Chips Ahoy!, mind you, that expired a year ago. I doubt the Buddha is pleased. Unless he likes softer cookies, as I do. Seriously, leave some Chips Ahoy! out overnight. You may enjoy them more.

With the Dalai Complex down, I set out for an afternoon walk to Bhagsu, a nearby village and home to a neat temple and some waterfalls. Neither was spectacular, but the falls were pretty cool, and made for a good warmup to the next day’s hike up the Himalayas.

Adventures in Tibet: A Primer on Dharamsala

I just got back from a trip with Sanju to Dharamsala, the Tibetan capital in exile. I arrived on Sunday, November 28, and left on December 2. With overnight bus trips bookending the trip, and with some flight delays, I was gone 7 days. I got back a little over 24 hours ago.

Tibet has a long history of being in and out of Chinese rule. Various Chinese and Nepalese emperors have conquered it, various Dalai Lamas have raised armies to free it, and the process has all gone back. When the Qing dynasty fell in 1912, the 13th Dalai Lama returned to Tibet from India to assert Tibetan independence. For the next roughly 40 years, China did not contest this, and Tibet governed itself. In 1950, with a newly solidified government and few external problems, China moved to solve this Tibetan issue and moved its troops in. With Tibet’s new leader, the current Dalai Lama, still quite young, their resistance was minimal, and the resulting peace accord solidified China’s control over Tibet.

Over the next ten years, Tibetan anger over this situation simmered, though, and periodically broke out in violence. In 1959, Chinese resistence against this resulted in a full scale uprising in Lhasa. The Chinese invited the Dalai Lama to a theatrical performance at a nearby military base, on the condition that he come without guards or fanfare. Realizing what was up, he instead fled to India, like the 13th Dalai Lama had done. This was probably a prudent move, as China has shown with the current Panchen Lama exactly how diabolical they can be with Tibetan leaders. That boy has likely been dead since his capture in 1995, but as long as the Chinese claim he is alive somewhere, he cannot be replaced, as replacements are chosen via reincarnation. Had Tenzin Gyatso gone to that performance in 1959, he likely would have met the same fate, and there would be no Dalai Lama now, or possibly for quite some time. Now, however, he runs an excellent PR campaign from Dharamsala, with the current government in exile.

As I see it, Tibet has to be considered part of China. If nothing else, they’ve been conquered. If conquest is illegitimate, then none of the world’s borders are legitimate. Maybe San Marino can still claim legitimacy, but few other countries could. But just because China owns Tibet doesn’t relieve them of all responsibilities there. It doesn’t give them carte blanche to flood the province with Hans, run the whole show from Beijing, give Tibetans no special rights, and make them pay to see the Potala Palace. It is in that spirit that I support the Tibetan cause and their right to self-governance.

This isn’t to say that Tibet is special among China’s minorities–when they marched 56 children in black face for the 2008 Openinc Ceremonies, that was wrong towards all minorities, not just the Tibetans. But I’ve also heard their plight compared to that of, say, the Chinese Catholics, and that’s just bunk. The Chinese Catholics are just a group of people of a specific religion, not an ethnicity with a language, a history of independence, centuries of organized governance, and a large identifiable territory.

My feelings about Tibet were a lot of what drew me to Dharamsala. I’m not particularly into Buddhism, and am even less so now, but I support their cause, even if their take on religion is a little funky. Whose isn’t? If you’d asked me when I came to India what one place I’d like to see most, I probably would have said Dharamsala. Tibet has fascinated me, as have the Himalayas. As you’ll see tomorrow, things got off to a rocky start, but Dharamsala was anything but disappointing. It was a beautiful area, and I had a wonderful, stimulating time. I’ll post all about it over the coming days.