Spiritual Guru

In Tibet, religion, culture, and a sense of place are intimately related. The Buddhist religion is the dominate belief system and the religious leader (the Dalai Lama) is also the political leader. This spiritual place has several symbols which reflect well on the importance of religion and myth in Tibetan culture.

The Mandala

The Mandala is a spiritual map, based on the four corners of the earth. It is a meditation piece and shows a path to higher understanding. The four corner of the map represent direction and four man gods; the subcardinal directions represent four female goddesses.
The internal structure represents the Buddha and is a lotus flower.

Color

Color is an important symbolic metaphor for Tibetan culture. The most frequent colors seem to be red, representing fire, and blue, representing water and cleansing. Color juxtaposes and inspires the people of Tibet, whose landscape is drab.

Symbols

There are many symbols in Tibetan culture...here are four.

Mustard Seeds: While good luck in Western culture, mustard seeds represent wrathful deeds in Tibetan folklore and are burned to prevent disease.

Right-turning Conch Shell: The conch shell began, before Buddhist culture, as a representation of femininity. Because the right turning conch shell is so rare, it is revered. The shells sound now represents the omnipresence and widespread of the word of Buddha.

Mirror: The mirror is both a symbol of reflection and of consciousness. There are several states of consciousness that Buddhists work through toward enlightenment.

Braids: Women put 108 braids in their hair to represent the 108 chapters of Buddhist teachings.

Pilgrimages

Using a prayer stone or mani stone, Buddhists make pilgrimages to a holy temple and walk 30 miles clockwise around the site to meditate. Prayer stones, with an inscribed message, are then placed on a pile of stones left by other Buddhists.
Micki- Anthropologist

For the Tibetan nomads, life is indeed a struggle in the harsh environment of the high plateau; a place where the ground and winds are in perpetual motion. It is a place where temperatures range from a low of -40 degrees Fahrenheit to around 60 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer. The yak is the key to survival on the Tibetan plateau. A visit to a nomad’s tent illustrates this point. The tent itself is made from yak hair. Upon entering, the center of the tent is warmed by the fire of yak dung. The tent is illuminated by yak butter candles and their blankets are made from yak hair. Their principle diet includes tsampa and yak butter, dried yak cheese, and sometime yak meat. There is a distinct similarity between the Tibetan nomads and their dependence on the yak with the Native American’s dependence on the bison.

Additional resources

www.churchward.com/mt/why.html
http://www.inet.uni-c.dk/~jyhdbc/indengl.htm#Circle
http://www.emma.manymedia.com/tibet/DalaiLama.htm
http://www.grannyg.bc.ca/tibet/flyaflag
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/8621/history.htm
http://www.magicoftibet.com/Dechen.html
http://www.mandala.utp.net/articles/English/Culture/marriage.html
http://www.magicoftibet.com/odyssey.html

Demystifying Tibet by Lee Feigon, 1996
Infopedia CD-Rom by Softkey Multimedia 1996
Buddhist Symbols in Tibetan Culture by Dagyab Rinpoche, 1995
Tibet by Chris Taylor, 1995
Nomads’ Land: A Journey through Tibet, by Sorrel Wilby, Natl. Geog. Dec. 1987
The Long Forbidden Tibet by Fred Ward, Natl. Geog. Feb. 1980