John Tyman's Cultures in Context Series NEPAL RELIGION: Buddhism |
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John Tyman's Cultures in Context Series NEPAL RELIGION: Buddhism |
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| 111. Though Nepal was until recently identified as a "Hindu kingdom" it also has a Buddhist heritage dating back well over 2000 years. The shrines at Bodhnath and Swayambhunath, now within Kathmandu's metropolitan area, were founded in about 250 B.C. by the Indian Emperor Ashoka and they are among the oldest cultural monuments in South-East Asia. (Eastern stairway at Swayambhunath) |
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| 112. Strictly speaking (some would say) Buddhism is not a religion since it does not require belief in a god: instead it is a life-changing system of philosophy and code of morality. “Buddha” is not a personal name but a title meaning “the one who has awakened”. Instead the word “Buddhism” is an English label for a faith tradition which its devotees often identify simply as “the Dharma” (“the teaching”). In other words, unlike Christianity, it is named not after its founder but after its message. This teaching is meant to help people understand how things truly are and how one may escape the pain and frustration of life in this world. (Interior of gompa at Pisang) |
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| 113. Buddhism was founded by a prince (Siddhartha Gautama) who was born in about 550 B.C. in the western Terai near the present town of Lumbini. Living in a palace he was sheltered from any knowledge of the suffering and despair that reigned outside the walls of his royal compound. When he was 29, though, his charioteer took him outside ... where he saw an old man, a cripple and a corpse -- symptomatic of ageing, sickness and death. (Widows waiting to die at Devghat) |
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| 114. His charioteer’s comment that “it happens to us all” led Gautama to abandon his lavish lifestyle and wander across India (like a modern-day sadhu) seeking a solution to the suffering he saw around him. His commitment to this spiritual quest was such that he almost starved himself to death, but he eventually abandoned his ascetic life style, and while meditating under a pipal tree oblivious to all distractions and temptations, he was “awakened to enlightenment”. In this Hindu picture (for Buddha is considered to be the 10th form of Vishnu) he is shown sitting beneath a pipal tree. Peace is proclaimed in the round “Om” formed by his hand and by the bowl that he carries. |
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| 115. He said then that people should follow the Middle Way, rejecting all extremes whether of pain or pleasure. Known henceforth as “the Buddha” or “the Enlightened One” he preached a doctrine based on “Four Noble Truths” and an “Eight-Fold Path”. We experience suffering, he said, because of our attachment to people and things in a world where nothing is permanent. We try to hang on to things and control situations in which we find ourselves, when in fact we need to let go. We are trapped in mental prisons of our own making -- formed from cravings rooted in ignorance and expressed in hatred and greed. (Shopping in Kathmandu) |
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| 116. Happily, we can rid ourselves of desire, and do away with suffering, by committing ourselves to right views, right intent, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right meditation. And this “Eightfold Path” can be reduced to three essentials: the avoidance of evil (morality), wisdom acquired through the teaching of enlightened ones, and the cleansing of one’s mind through meditation. (Shrine in commercial district of Kathmandu) |
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| 117. The "self", he claimed, is nothing but an illusion trapped in an endless cycle of samsara or rebirth, and the product of karma ... cause and effect. However, by following Buddhist doctrine (Dharma) one could put an end to the effects of karma and thereby escape the seemingly endless sequences of death and rebirth. In that way one could achieve nirvana, which meant essentially the extinction of the self. |
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| 118. The most important tools used in meditation are the mantra, or sacred sound, and the mandala, or sacred diagram. In mantra meditation, chanting and concentrating on certain syllables, notably on "Om mani, padme hum", is believed to intensify one's spiritual power. In mandala meditation visualizing certain circular images is believed to help orient the self to the universe. (Interior of gompa at Manang, with thangkas -- religious paintings ) |
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| 119. Buddhism in Nepal today follows the Tibetan tradition. It was imported from India into Tibet between the seventh and eleventh centuries, and modified by Tibetan culture -- including elements of the shamanic beliefs of their forebears. This is obvious from the more grotesque artifacts sold to pilgrims and tourists. |
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| 120. And Nepalese Buddhism has retained additional elements derived from India’s Tantric magic cults, most especially the “Path of the Thunderbolt.” The thunderbolt or vajra (on its round base) is the main ritual object of Tantric Buddhist monks. It is a sceptre, each end of which has five digits curved in a global shape to represent the infinite in three dimensions. It symbolizes the Absolute and, as such, is male. Its female counterpart is the bell or ghanta, which symbolizes female wisdom. (At Swayambhunath) |
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| 121. Because of their belief that infants, through rebirth, arrive in this world with a history, children are not thought of as possessions of their parents, because they have had previous lives. Added to this is the belief that human life is precious because it is a not-to-be-missed opportunity to progress spiritually. The sanctity of life, all life in fact, is fundamental to Buddhist belief and practice. (Near Kalopani) |
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| 122. Though the burden of bad karma does not seem to feature in the lives of Nepalese Buddhists in the same way that it does in the lives of Hindus, there is a sense nevertheless that good actions are praiseworthy and a means of gaining merit. For example, giving food to beggars, especially monks, is particularly meritorious. (Children begging near Larjung) |
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| 123. Similarly though the concept of puja is most clearly identified with HIndu practice, it is paralleled in Nepalese Buddhism by the gifts (including vermillion) brought to shrines by devotees each day, and in the offerings made by priests on their behalf. (Preparation of puja dishes at Swayambhunath) |
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| 124. Large numbers of people stood in line outside the temple awaiting their turn to enter and pay homage. |
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| 125. The target then was to light 10,000 candles for Buddha. |
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| 126. The three distinctively Buddhist structures one encounters when travelling in Nepal are stupas, gompas, and chortens. Stupas are large bell-shaped chambers housing sacred relics. They evolved from ancient Indian burial mounds under which holy men were buried sitting in an upright position. Gompas are Buddhist temples, and chortens are the miniature stupas found in the high country and on city streets. Pilgrims (and tourists) approaching a stupa walk to the left, that is clockwise. (Chortens at Bodhnath) |
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| 127. Many Buddhists here think of their lives as a balance sheet in which the repetition or writing of prayers counts as credit that can counterbalance their failings and help ensure that their next life will be a happier one. And the more times an invocation is repeated, the greater its effectiveness. Prayer flags flapping in the wind are believed to recite with every movement the prayers written on them. (At Swayambhunath) |
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| 128. Prayer wheels have a similar function. They symbolize the wheel of re-birth, the never-ending cycle of life and death from which the teaching of the Buddha seeks to release mankind. When they are rotated (always clockwise) the prayers written on rolls of paper inside the cylinder are automatically offered again and again: so too is the sacred mantra inscribed on the outside: “Om mani, padme hum”. (Giant prayer wheel at Swayambhunath) |
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| 129. The stupa at Bodhnath is the largest one in Nepal, and one of the largest anywhere in the world. Its base is laid out like a Mandala -- in a geometrical combination of circles and squares that symbolizes the universe and the spiritual forces in Buddhism. Its perimeter is marked by three circles, beginning with an outer ring of buildings to accommodate pilgrims, and shops selling religious icons. [Also see Video Extract 32] |
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| 130. Next there is a ring road, and then an exterior wall with 147 niches each containing four or five prayer wheels. Pilgrims activate these as they circumnavigate the stupa, praying as they do so. Some carry prayer beads; others prayer wheels of their own. (Prayer wheels at Swayambhunath) |
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| 131. In their construction all stupas have the same form, and every element is charged with meaning. They all have a rectangular base, which symbolizes the earth, the white dome above it represents water. The spire symbolizes fire. |
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| 132. The 13 concentric rings which form the tower reflect the 13 steps one must take to attain enlightenment. The steps end in a ring or "umbrella" symbolizing air, which is crowned by symbols of the sun and the moon. |
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| 133. The stupa's four pairs of lotus-shaped eyes symbolize wisdom incarnate. There is a third all-seeing eye above and between the other two (scarcely visible in this photo), plus what looks like a nose but is actually the number ek or "1", signifying the oneness of all life. |
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| 134. There are a number of gompas (temples) close to the stupa at Bodhnath, decorated with beautiful murals and religious wall hangings (thangkas) illustrating different aspects of Buddhist belief and practice, especially ways in which human beings can escape their conditioning by this world and attain enlightenment. |
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| 135. All gompas, whether in Kathmandu or country towns, have statues of Buddha, before whom both lamas (Tibetan monks) and pilgrims perform acts of devotion and prayer. The rituals performed by the monks here commonly involve the recitation of sacred texts, together with chanting punctuated by the sound of a variety of musical instruments -- drums, cymbals, horns and pipes. (At Bagarchhap) |
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| 136. Buddhists temples are also depositories for religious texts . Their "books" actually comprise loose pages beautifully handwritten on parchment, placed between boards and wrapped in cloth. The path to wisdom and enlightenment is signposted by study of sacred texts and truths discovered though meditation. (In the gompa at Pisang) |
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