General Resources
National Geographic CD Rom of last 100 years -- good way to search

National Geographic Society Education Program -- 800 NGS-LINE -- regular newsletter for educators

Web Sources
Web leave an empty frame to educate people that the Dalai Lama's picture cannot be seen in Tibet
http://www.churchward.com/mt/why.htm.
Mandala
http://inet.uni-c.dk/~jyhdbc/indeng.htm#Circle
Political History

Geography week Nov 16th-22nd -- Explore the World
Geography Takes You Places
www.nationalgeographic.com

http://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

Books
Heinrichs, Ann. Enchantment of the World TIBET. Children's Press, 1996 .

Dunham, Carroll and Ian Baker. Tibet Reflection from the Wheel of Life. Abbeville Press. 1993. Photographs and lots of cultural history. Adult resource. Lots of human life cycle information combined with their religious beliefs.

Taylor, Chris. Tibet. Lonely Planet Travel Survival Kit.. Lonely Planet. 199. Recommended travel Guide.

Tung, Rosemary. A Portrait of Lost Tibet. Holt, Rinehart and Winston/New York 1980. Describes Tibetan life and shows photographs of Tibet before the Chinese take over.

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

Many many National Geographic Articles.

National Geographic August, 1993. Song that represents Tibet. page 87.
Read the song first. Then line by line each line is represented by an occupation of person who told about that aspect of Tibet.

I was at the center of this sacred space, watching and aware, celebrating the harmonious balance of a fleeting moment. I was in a special place, as stated so well in a fragment of an old Tibetan song.

The land where spiritual and human law reign supreme,
In the land where celestial powers are revered,
Where animals are partners in life's struggle,
Where birds fly without fear,
Where fish swim in freedom,
Where wildlife is protected,
Where men and women cherish inner peace and outer freedom.

After reading the song the following people introduced themselves in their occupations.

Jennifer -- Spiritual advisor

The land where spiritual and human law reign supreme,

Jen - 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 sub cardinal 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.

Linda -- Geologist

In the land where celestial powers are revered,

Tibet, Khawachen -- Land of Snowy Mountains and Healing Herbs; Roof of the World
The distinctive geological features are reflected in the names, stories of the creation and the religion of Tibet. Great forces from the crashing of plates created the steep mountains surrounding the huge plateau. The stories that the Tibetan people tell about creation stem from their experiences and observations of their world. The original religion was Bon. When Buddhism came into the region, it was fused with Bon since there seemed to be many similarities. Early stories of the creation include that there was nothing, then there was a cloud out of which came a monsoon that created a vast sea. The surface of the sea was stirred by wind creating a foam which solidified into the mountains -- like milk turning into butter. A sea remained until the water evaporated. (Geological records show that there was once a sea.) Other aspects of the religion that reflect the geological features are that the mountains serve as pathways to the sky and gods come and go from above -- smoke/rainbows serve as ladders. The mountains are described alternatively as tent posts to hold the sky down or as tent pegs to hold the earth down. The land itself -- mountains which ring the plateau are considered to be a mandala.

Aly -- Mortician

Where animals are partners in life's struggle,

Life and Death - In life cold air gives life as a mixture of water and earth. In death inner winds (breathing) ceases to blow and fire of life (found in the belly) causes the earth elements found in the blood and body to evaporate as the body returns to earth in offerings.

Birds that fly free are vultures and they are primary in death. Tibetans have four types of burial that are based on the socioeconomic status. Air burial is done by most people and provides the avenue for vultures who are involved with death. Water burial is often done by Tibetan people and shows us why the fish are not eaten. Fire burial is done for people who have money or who are important due to the lack of trees found in the area. A mummification process for people is another form of burial and for many reasons is the most expensive form of burial.

Tibetans believe in re-incarnation and believe that the soul of each person is transformed into another when they die. If a person does not know something, they are not considered "dumb" they have not been blessed with having as many lives to gather experience from through reincarnation.

Micki -- Anthropologist

Where birds fly without fear,
Where fish swim in freedom,

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.

Dolores -- Naturalist

Where wildlife is protected,-

Initially the elements of wind, water, location - place - naturally protected the wildlife and the people. The people practiced animism and lived in union with their environment and the animals. Conservation comes hard where survival comes first. The slash and burn planting that is occurring has squeezed the wildlife into smaller habitats. Firearms, generally a musket type, are and were used to hunt animals illegally. The Chinese army used machine guns, however, to kill wild oxen (yaks) on the grassland plateaus. The animal population can be divided into three categories: forest animals, plateau grasslands, and the high plateau.The animals that are found at each level are as follows (endangered species are marked with an asterisk):
Forest animals: Black bear, giant pandas*, red pandas*, musk deer*, barking deer, squirrels, tigers,snow leopards*, lynxes*, martens, monkeys
Plateau grasslands: antelopes*, gazelles, kiangs*, wild oxen*, horses, blue sheep, ibex
High plateau: marmot (snow pig), rodents, aweto (only insect found, also used for medicinal purposes)

Steve -- Political Activist

Where men and women cherish inner peace and outer freedom.

Tibetans have been described by numerous travelers as open and friendly. The people seem to enjoy life, and have some diversions. Children play many games that would be recognized in America. there is a game that is a form of hopscotch, and a type of kick ball. A game called gitee involves hitting a stone with a small coin; chibi is a game similar to hackey sack played with a ball of vulture feathers. with the constant wind, it is not surprising that kite flying is popular. There are kite festivals that are religious in nature--the kites representing prayers mounting to heaven. Reflecting the more warlike early history of the people, some festivals included contests where kite strings were covered with powdered glass. the paprticipants would vie to see whose string would be cut.
Much of the "inner peace" of the Tibetan people comes from their deep devotion to the Buddhist religion, which was brought to Tibet from India around the eighth century A.D. the inner peace of the devout Buddhist, in theory, leads to an outer freedom. In Tibet religion permeates all life, including the political life. Traditionally the leader of the country is the Dalai Lama, who is both spiritual and temporal leader. the Dalai Lama is considered to be the reincarnation of the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, the Lord of Mercy. the present 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin gyatso, was born Lhamo Dondrub in 1935 in the village of Takster in Chilnese-controlled Amdo. He was discovered as a child by representatives from Lhasa after a sign that the next Dalai Lama would be found in the east. (the body of the 13th Dalai Lama had been placed on his throne, and was reported to have turned its face to the east.)
Outer freedom was greatly curtailed in the second half of the 20th century. In 1950, after consolidating their control over most of china, the communist army invaded Tibet, forcing the Lhasa government under the teen age Dalai Lama to capitulate in May of 1951. the Dalai Lama attempted to negotiate as much freedom and autonomy as possible, but it is estimated that 1.2 million Tibetans were killed during the occupation. During the cultural revolution it is estimated that all but 11 of the 6,200 monasteries were destroyed. In 1959 a Tibetan revolt was crushed, and the Dalai Lama was forced into exile. In 1989 the Dalai Lama received the Nobel Peace Prize for his attempts to negotiate a peaceful end to the Chinese occupation. In 1991, the U.S. Congress declared Tibet to be an occupied country and the Dalai Lama its leader in exile.

Interesting Tibet Tidbits