Entry to Larung
Gar
April 20 2017 NHK
WORLD
Larung Gar is located in China’s Sichuan
province at an elevation of 4,000 meters. It’s a sacred place for
Tibetan Buddhists. On the slope of the valley, there are more than
10 thousand huts packed together. They’re home to monks. For the
first time ever, a TV camera has been taken inside to record scenes
throughout the area. But there was a condition: politics would not
be discussed.
There are more than a thousand monks inside
the temple of the monastery.
They chant, "We worship Buddha and Manjushri.
Help us not to misunderstand our own power and grant us the virtue
of wisdom.”
A crimson color unifies everyone and
everything, from the monks to the buildings. In Tibetan Buddhism,
it's a sacred color that separates the Buddhist realm from the
secular world.
The monks follow strict precepts and master
the way of the Buddha. One form of training is called “Dialogue" or
"Questions and Answers".
In order to understand the difficult teachings
of Buddhism, questions and answers are repeated until they’ve been
memorized.
Tseten Thondup is a monk-in-training. He
entered the world of Buddhism when he was 16 years old.
A monk-in-training begins his day before dawn
by chanting sutras.
He chants a short prayer to Buddha seven
thousand times to calm his mind.
Tseten says, "We separate ourselves from the
secular world to learn about Buddhism. If we live out the
teachings, we believe we can become ideal monks.”
Buddhism arrived in Tibet from India 1,400
years ago. However, Larung Gar is only about 4 decades
old.
During China’s Cultural Revolution that began
in the 1960s, several thousand temples were said to have been
destroyed throughout Tibet.
Later, the Chinese Communist Party tempered
its view on religion and allowed the Tibetan people more freedom to
worship.
During this time, a high-level monk built a
simple training hut on a wasteland. He was Khenpo Jigme
Phuntsok.
Monks began to gather in large numbers in
hopes of receiving his teachings, and Larung Gar grew into a kind
of center for Tibetan Buddhism.
Tseten, the monk in training, goes to visit
his younger brother.
Uga is also a monk and has advanced-stage
tuberculosis. An X-ray of Uga’s lungs shows one is white,
indicating it's filled with fluid.
The doctor told him that before lung surgery
can be performed, he needs to recover his strength by eating
protein-rich foods.
But Uga still eats only vegetables. He never
eats meat. Like his brother, he vowed he would “never cause harm by
taking another’s life.”
Tseten asks him, "Which is more important,
your recovery or your vow?"
Uga replies, "My vow."
"This is about life," Tseten says. "When we
eat meat or wear a fur, it means that we have killed an animal.
Buddha says every life on earth has equal value. Even the life of a
little insect is equal."
The Tibetan faith teaches that all life is
equal, and that “life is but an illusion.”
Tibetan Buddhists also believe in
reincarnation. That philosophy has led to a unique funeral
ritual.
The dead undergo “sky burials,” in which their
corpses are left for the vultures.
One man prepares for the ritual. He hands over
a piece of bone to bereaved family members as a memento.
The "sky burial" begins. The bereaved watch
their kin’s last deed, considered a pious act.
Larung Gar is a sacred place in Tibetan
Buddhism. It’s where the teachings of Buddhism itself are renewed
and kept alive for eternity.