The Karmapa's Birthday: The Cultural Exhibition

(This post has a lot of videos, but I'm including still photos for each of them, for those on slow internet or on devices which don't show the videos. However, still pictures of dances never really do justice, so I highly recommend checking them out.)

The Cultural presentation began with adorable small children from the monastery-run school singing the Indian national anthem. 

(some of the children are in costumes for performances they were going to do later, but most are in their uniforms)

Then one of the abbots from the Institute, who is also one of my students, gave a speech in Tibetan. The whole day was an interesting negotiation of languages, with most of the announcements being done in both English and Nepali (which is the lingua franca of Sikkim), but all important speeches done in Tibetan (and so incomprehensible to most of the people in attendance).

(the abbot)

During the abbot's speech it started to rain, and the crowd thinned visibly...

(hiding out under umbrellas)

...but by the time the first performance began the rain was almost completely gone, and the weather held until well after the last dance finished.

The first dance was a traditional nomad dance from Tibet.

And then out came the monks dressed as yaks!

(as part of the dance, the yaks attempted to pick up katag off of the ground using only their horns. with mixed success and much hilarity)

Next up was a traditional nepali dance by girls of the school.

And then a skit by the kids from the school, educating about environmental issues. The Karmapa is passionate about the environment, and so the monastery is starting to engage in educational efforts. It is still acceptable for people to throw trash on the ground and into the forrest, but I've been noticing that more and more people are starting to change this habit. I believe that a lot of the impetus is coming from the monastery.

(setting up for the skit; the table has a photo of the Karmapa on it)

Different children took on the roles of the different groups who live in Sikkim (Bhutia, Nepalese, Tibetans, Indians), and acted out cautionary environmental tales.

And then there was another traditional Tibetan dance!

And another Nepalese dance.

And then a performance by yours truly, who was asked to sing a few songs. 

(All of the performances were facing towards the prayer hall, because the VIPs were all sitting in front of the main doors. This meant that our backs were to most of the crowd while we were performing, but no one but me seemed to find this odd)

Next up, a monk of the Institute donned lay-clothing and performed a Hindi song, both to the delight of the crowd. 

And finally there was one last traditional Tibetan dance, with lay-women and monks of the Institute.

During the last performance, they set up a table of cakes. Because it's just not a birthday without cake.

In the absence of the Karmapa, a tulku (reincarnated lama) of the Institute sat in for things like the cutting of the cake and the blessing of attendees.

After the cake was cut, but before we ate, monks of the Institute and the monastery sang a song, and children of the school sang 'Happy Birthday.'

(cake!)

After cake, those laypeople who wished to do so came to receive a blessing from the young Rinpoche. This involved presenting him with a katag, which he then returned by draping it around their necks.

And finally, all of us who performed were asked to line up to receive a blessing, a katag, and a thank you present (100 rupees) from the monastery.

(monks and lay-women waiting in line)

(children of the school receiving their blessings and thank you gifts)

(dancers and me, with our katag draped about our necks)

(letting my friend be tall, because I'm nice like that)

And then the main events of the day were over, and the lay people began to get back in their taxis and leave Rumtek. The day was not, however, over for the smaller Rumtek community (lay and monk alike), but that will have to wait for the next post. You definitely won't want to miss it. Come for the karaoke, stay for the popping and locking.

And as always, I'd love to hear what you think!

The Karmapa's Birthday: The Set-up / The Morning

June 26th was the Karmapa's birthday, and though he could not be at Rumtek (and presumably had his own celebrations down in Dharamsala), the monks and laypeople of the Rumtek community celebrated up here in Sikkim.

The day was long, and very full, so I'm breaking it into several posts. This first post is restricted to the time up until the really exciting stuff...but I wanted to bring you guys in on the whole day.

Things started the day before, with flags and banners going up all over the place.

(the Tibetan says བཀྲ་ཤིས་བདེ་ལེགས་ trashi de lek, 'greetings / good luck')

(a tent set up to feed lunch to the lay people coming to celebrate the next day)

Like with the lama dance day, many people came in traditional dress. 

(one of my friends in the lay community, who organized much of the day, dressed in Tibetan finery)

(a lot of people tossed coins onto the top of this pillar, which tells the story of the founding of the monastery)

(the giant poster is a recent picture of the Karmapa; the smoke rising behind it was a smoke offering of burning juniper, kept burning all day)

A lot of important people came, though I don't know who any of them are. I knew who the important ones were, however, because most of them were conveniently wearing pins.

(a monk with a gong, specially hung for the day)

The first event of the day was a puja by the monks in the main hall, followed by presentation of katag (ceremonial scarves) to the throne of the Karmapa. Were he present, the scarves would have been presented directly to him, but Tibetan Buddhism holds that offerings made in someone's absence are just as effective.

(the monks and laypeople waiting to present scarves to the throne)

My friends thought that I should be a little more dressed up, so the secretary lent me a chupa (a traditional Tibetan garment worn by men). The whole front is draped to become a pocket.

(I'm wearing hiking boots because they are the only close-toed shoes I have here...)

Following the presentation to the throne, everyone in attendance, monk, layperson, and tourist alike was given Tibetan tea and saffron rice.

(this time I got a little paper dish, much easier to eat out of without silverware than my porcelain bowl from last time...)

Then it was lunchtime! There was food in the tent (above) for any who wished, and in a small hall in the monastery for the VIPs,

(there were some impressive things done with streamers up in there)

(delicious! also, you can see the Karmapa's seat, with a picture of him, at the back of the room)

After lunch, there was more prayer by the monks of the monastery, and last minute organizing for the performances of the afternoon. 

(after making a little fun, this monk expertly dodges away from possible retribution)

(the two laypeople sitting in this photo, my friend from before and the secretary of the shedra, handled most of the organizing for the event, and even up to these last minutes were arranging the order of performances)

(food being brought into the monks in the prayer hall)

(the monk manning the sound system)

After the puja finished, I wandered into the prayer hall to take a look around for you guys.

(all of the katag piled on the Karmapa's throne)

(ritual cakes, and other offerings)

The morning was pretty slow and relatively laid back. The performances, however, both at the big event during the day, then at the smaller one held mostly for the monks later in the evening, were pretty fantastic. Traditional dances from multiple cultures, songs, skits by adorable small children, 'Gangnam Style'... All that and more are coming up. So make sure to come back!

The Start of the Summer Retreat

Today was the first day of the summer retreat, a tradition which dates back to the very beginning of the sangha (the Buddhist monastic community). According to the sutras, the Shakyamuni Buddha instructed the monks to spend the monsoon season in retreat, away from the world, largely because during the rains there are so many insects that it is almost impossible to travel without killing them.  What this proscription translates to for the monks at modern day Rumtek is not leaving the gates of the monastery until the retreat is over (along with a number of other, lesser restrictions). These days not all monks keep to the summer retreat, but it is considered very meritorious to do so.

In years past the monks of Rumtek only did the retreat for 45 days, but from this year onwards the Karmapa has decreed that they should stay in retreat for a full 90 days. A good number of monks shared with me that this was going to be difficult, but none of them questioned the value of the increase.

To prepare for the retreat, several days were spent cleaning the monastery and Institute, inside and out. 

(even the top of the sign got cleaned)

Many of the monks dressed in lay-clothes for the cleaning. It was very odd to see men who I had only ever before seen dressed in monastic robes walking around dressed like any other 20 year old.

In addition to the cleaning, some time was spent continuing repairs of the damage from the earthquake last fall. 

(buckets of plaster for the cracks in the library walls) 

(monks cleared things from their rooms out onto the balconies, in order to get that real deep clean)

On the last night before the retreat started, everyone was out around town, enjoying walks and having dinner. Dinner is another thing that monks in retreat don't indulge in (they take a vow not to eat after a certain hour of the early afternoon). Also, when they're eating their allowed meals, they only eat from begging bowls (rather than the hodgepodge of plates / bowls / cups they normally use).

(in a restaurant in town which has fantastic daal and rice)

(the restaurant was packed continuously with monks, with more sitting every time an earlier group finishe

On the morning of the first day of the retreat, there was a puja and a series of circumambulations around the main prayer hall to kick everything off. 

(circumambulation is very important in Tibetan Buddhism)

(trumpets made from conch shells!)

The order in which the monks were walking is based mostly on seniority, though not by age or class level; it is rather based on when a monk became ordained. 

At Rumtek there are 2 levels of monastic ordination; the lower one has 10 rules and the upper one 203. In addition to the added strictures of the upper vow, monks are only allowed to take it following their 20th birthday. And even though they are 20, and thus legally and societally adults, monks of any age are required to have the permission of any living parents in order to take the vows. 

Because of all of that, many monks wait until after they have graduated from the institute (often 27 years old or older) before they take the upper level vows. However, any monk who wishes to go on meditation retreat is required to have the upper level ordination, so most will eventually do so. 

There are a number of exciting events coming up, including the Karmapa's birthday, so make sure to check back! You won't want to miss it.