icon caret-left icon caret-right instagram pinterest linkedin facebook twitter goodreads question-circle facebook circle twitter circle linkedin circle instagram circle goodreads circle pinterest circle

"In The Land Of Lamas"

The Pioneer, INDIA

Apart from Tibetan politics and human rights violations, one will learn about tantric rituals and mysticism while reading Matteo Pistono's book, writes Claude Arpi.

Some books come at the right time on the shelves; it is the case with Matteo Pistono’s latest book, In the Shadow of the Buddha: One Man’s Journey of Spiritual and Political Danger in Tibet.

For the past few weeks, Tibetan activists have been in the news trying to bring the horrifying self-immolations of Tibetan monks and nuns to the attention of the world leaders. Hundreds of them invited themselves to Cannes where the G20 Summit was held. That the leaders have remained deaf is another matter, but the Tibetan issue is alive.

In the book’s ‘Foreword’, Hollywood actor and practising Buddhist Richard Gere explains: “This book is the story of how great spiritual practitioners from Tibet, like the mystic Terton Sogyal and the 13th and 14th Dalai Lamas, are able to bring the full force of the bodhisattva commitment — the burning of desire to free all being from suffering — into whatever situation they face, including the world of politics.”

The book deals with many aspects of the Tibetan issue: Spirituality, mysticism, history, politics and human rights. The author jumps from the notes of his pilgrimage in the footsteps of Terton Sogyal, the guru of his Buddhist teacher (Sogyal Rinpoche, himself a reincarnation of the Terton), to his discovery of the plights of the Tibetans.

Terton Sogyal (1856-1926) was a 19th century tantric master who was a bandit in his youth before becoming one of the greatest meditation masters of his time; he offered special teachings to the 13th Dalai Lama.

Pistono explains that there was “a prevailing belief in Tibet that Terton Sogyal’s mantras and prayers could protect Tibet from foreign armies”. He adds, “Not unlike the Dalai Lama today, Terton Sogyal was a master at integrating his political duties with spiritual practice, while never losing the pure motivation that holds the well-being of others as the priority.”

Though the present Dalai Lama has officially retired, he remains very much at the centre-stage of Tibetan politics. Last week, while visiting Japan, he spoke of the incidents of self-immolation in Tibet: “The leadership in Beijing should look into the cause of these tragic incidents. These Tibetans have faced tremendous desperate situation.”

What makes the book fascinating and relevant is that the author, while on Terton Sogyal’s spiritual trail, manages to collect proofs of human rights violation in areas which are right now the site of unrest.

The book also introduces the reader to some not so well-known aspects of the Tibetan Buddhism. Guru Padmasambhava, the great Indian master who visited Tibet during the 8th century, thought the time had not come to reveal his entire teachings; the world was simply not ready. He chose to hide spiritual treatises and objects in rocks and lakes in several places of the Land of Snows; these Hidden Treasures are known as Termas. He prophesised that at an appropriate time, they would be ‘revealed’ or rediscovered by powerful lamas known as Terton.

Terton Sogyal was one such ‘revealer’. He had a special expertise in the phurba ritual. Phurba is a three-bladed, single-pointed dagger symbolising the skillful means of compassion, which during a special puja (Vajrakilaya) helps destroy ego.

Terton Sogyal was also skilled to ‘protect’ Tibet against external enemies. During a conflict between the British and the Tibetans in 1888, he was called by the 13th Dalai Lama to perform a special ritual in Lhasa. Pistono recounts: “The Tibetan forces suffered losses during the six-month battle, though, as Tibetan Vajrayana practitioners contend, the British were still unable to penetrate into Tibet because of the protective shield and the Tibetan storehouse of protective merits.”

Sceptics may doubt the efficacy of such rituals. It reminds me of the reaction of Robert Ford, a British radio operator posted in Tibet when the Chinese troops invaded the Roof of the World in October 1950. Ford wrote: “In Chamdo (Eastern Tibet) no one panicked, though the number of prayers increased. More and more lay people joined the monks and began circumambulating around the monastery, the incense smoke went higher and higher in the sky, the gods had to be propitiated.” Monks believed: “Only the gods could give Tibet victory... They would pray twice as hard, or rather twice as often, and that would be of more use than taking up arms.”

Some Tibetans believed that although Col Francis Younghusband and a few thousand British troops entered Lhasa in 1904, the fact that they withdrew a month later was due to Terton’s pujas. Pistono writes: “Some have gone so far as to attribute Younghusband’s late conversion to modern mysticism as a result of the ritual bombardments of phurbas directed at him.”

The problem is that, following a similar logic, one could ask: Why are Tibetans today living in exile, recognised by none, forced to immolate themselves to inform the world about their plight? Tibetans will probably answer that their ‘storehouse’ of bad karma was too full; it has to be exhausted and the rituals help.

But the sceptic could question: “Why has Tibet accumulated negative karma? What about the karma of the British, the Americans, the French... and the Chinese.”

The spiritualist would probably respond: “The results of these pujas take time to fructify and in the meantime the Tibetan lamas (thanks to the exile) are able to spread their message of love and compassion the world over.” This is certainly a way to see the last 60 years of exile.

Apart from tantric rituals, politics and human rights violations, one will learn a number of things about Tibetan mysticism while reading Pistono’s book. It is worth reading, if not experimenting!
Be the first to comment