Prince and Geisha: Tibet

TIBET:
1984

Om mane Padme Hum
Om mane Padme Hum
Om mane Padme Hum
Om mane Padme Hum
Om mane Padme Hum
Om mane Padme Hum
Om mane Padme Hum

The left-brain seeker landed at Lhasa " airport " with little interest in explorations of the inner-mind.

Brown wastelands and blinding turquoise streams. The moonscape is weird and hypnotizing. The vastness of infinity engulfs me. I feel these ancient rhythms. The dust....

The seeker was ignorant. The seeker was self-centered. The seeker was on the periphery. The seeker thought there was a goal. The seeker felt there was a distance. The seeker thought seeking was needed.

Weak glimpses of an ancient culture by a weakened state of mind. Headaches and chills. I am in trouble.

What is a mantra?

I must keep drinking water or I shall be in the hospital tomorrow. My lungs ache. There is something about Tibet I cannot describe.

What is a mandala?

It's so powerful the way the natives prostrate themselves in the dirt.

What is this devotion?

I don't understand what I'm seeing.

What is just to witness?

I've stepped into the twilight zone. No orientation hooks to grab onto. The Jokang left me in a daze. Disneyland, Dracula, and the Buddha all dominated my thoughts. When my retinas then encountered God.

What is mental disorganization?

Pilgrims prostrated themselves on the floor and pushed themselves onward. The smell of yak butter attacked my nostrils. I entered the courtyard and then the altar-room. Lines of pilgrims snaked their way inside the altar-room into the adjacent smaller rooms.

The left-brain seeker never considered himself much of a spiritual person.
Each room had statues of the Buddha and other saints. Monks sat and chanted.
The pilgrims endlessly uttered SHAKYAMUNI.

What is reverence?

Along the inner courtyard of the temple, rows of prayer wheels revolved without human assistance. Bright reds, yellows, and greens captivated the traveler.

What is magic?

The priests wore huge curved boots. The statues were painted in brilliant colors. Some of the statues had fangs and multiple arms.

What is power?

I walked slowly. The thin air forced me to labor. I slowly walked up the steps to the second floor and found a splendid view.

What is this?

The Potola could be seen now among the stark brown mountains.

What is a trance?

I hitched a ride to the Deprung monastery and quickly realized this was going to be another twilight zone experience.

What is reflection?

Deprung contains nothing, but nested temples. My eyes started to glaze over and my senses began to shut-down.

What is transformation?

I walked up the mountain towards the sound of blowing horns. I found a stream and drank some holy water. The sky was huge and pure.

What is ego?

I've contracted some type of throat infection. My sleep is restless.

What is that?

The sutras were stacked up against the dark walls gathering dust among the demon figures.

What is?

The monks prayed and chanted and I mentally followed their sounds.

Who am I?

I felt better and guessed that the worst was possibly behind me.

Where am I from?

Lhasa sickness has struck again. I'm too ill to write.

Where am I going?

I took a chance and biked over to the Sera monastery. I saw a picture of a snake, chasing a hog, chasing a bird. An endless loop about something I don't really understand.

Where is where?

I'm amazed how much the Tibetan pilgrims resemble the Guatemalan Indians.

Now?

I slammed the walkman against the wall and it started working again. It had a
rebirth.

Then?

I made myself a Lhasa burger by putting a piece of steak between two barley bread pieces. The locals at the hotel were amused.

When?

I missed the sky burial. Early in the morning, the bodies are hacked to pieces and given to the vultures. When the bones are picked clean, they are then pounded into fine dust and made into holy ornaments.

How?

The murderous bumps began just as the Potola disappeared from view. It was sheer hell. A little kid threw-up in the bus and the stench was bad. When we arrived at the airport terminal, my backpack got stuck and a dust storm hit
the bus. I began screaming at the people in the kitchen.

Then?

I flew out the next day, like I flew in. A drunk sleep-walker....