By: Shannon Richardson
Before starting our camp on July 21st for the local kids, we had the privilege of learning about Tibetan culture and religion from the CERS Zhongdian center vice-director and education coordinator, Tsering Drolma, and the CERS research and program director, Dr. Wiliam Bleisch (Dr. Bill). On our first morning, after our routine 8 am breakfast, we visited one of two museum exhibits at CERS, which highlighted nomadic pieces. While listening to the uses for items in the exhibit, I was blown away by how many items were made from different parts of yaks. For example, yak hair was woven into decorative blankets and eye protectors (for reducing sun damage due to glare from the snow), yak dung was utilized for fuel, and yak hides were crafted into sacks. If only I could be as resourceful…
That night, we learned about cultural differences between the U.S. and China from our assistant program director, Kalli. Her talk focused on differentiating independent vs. interdependent cultures, teaching etiquette in Chinese restaurants, delineating differences in social hierarchies, and defining “face”. I had never heard the word “face” used in the context Kalli explained it, which was how each person’s “face” or honor reflects upon their family and community. It was important for us to learn this early on because making a Chinese person uncomfortable by, for example, spitting out food given to you, you could cause them to lose “face” because they desire to be good hosts. Thus, by understanding how our behavior could reflect on our host community members’ “faces” significantly, I knew that we needed to be extra mindful of our actions and their consequences.
Following Kalli’s talk, we listened to Dr. Bill’s “Field Guide to the Deities” lecture in preparation for our visit the next morning to the Gyalthang Ringha Monastery. He talked about the historical Buddha, Buddhism’s development in India and Tibet, ways to identify different deities (for example, the historical Buddha is depicted with three lines on his throat), the meanings/tales behind each figure, the core values of Tibetan Buddhism, and the path to enlightenment. Further, we learned about the differences between Vajrayana practice (thunderbolt Buddhism) and Zen Buddhism when Dr. Bill talked about the Samnia debate in the first Tibetan monastery.
We were lucky enough to travel to the monastery together in order to see aspects of Tibetan Buddhism we were taught the night before. Dr. Bill and Tsering Drolma pointed out things to us throughout the day and encouraged us to ask questions – it was hard not to learn from the experience.
Before starting our camp on July 21st for the local kids, we had the privilege of learning about Tibetan culture and religion from the CERS Zhongdian center vice-director and education coordinator, Tsering Drolma, and the CERS research and program director, Dr. Wiliam Bleisch (Dr. Bill). On our first morning, after our routine 8 am breakfast, we visited one of two museum exhibits at CERS, which highlighted nomadic pieces. While listening to the uses for items in the exhibit, I was blown away by how many items were made from different parts of yaks. For example, yak hair was woven into decorative blankets and eye protectors (for reducing sun damage due to glare from the snow), yak dung was utilized for fuel, and yak hides were crafted into sacks. If only I could be as resourceful…
That night, we learned about cultural differences between the U.S. and China from our assistant program director, Kalli. Her talk focused on differentiating independent vs. interdependent cultures, teaching etiquette in Chinese restaurants, delineating differences in social hierarchies, and defining “face”. I had never heard the word “face” used in the context Kalli explained it, which was how each person’s “face” or honor reflects upon their family and community. It was important for us to learn this early on because making a Chinese person uncomfortable by, for example, spitting out food given to you, you could cause them to lose “face” because they desire to be good hosts. Thus, by understanding how our behavior could reflect on our host community members’ “faces” significantly, I knew that we needed to be extra mindful of our actions and their consequences.
Following Kalli’s talk, we listened to Dr. Bill’s “Field Guide to the Deities” lecture in preparation for our visit the next morning to the Gyalthang Ringha Monastery. He talked about the historical Buddha, Buddhism’s development in India and Tibet, ways to identify different deities (for example, the historical Buddha is depicted with three lines on his throat), the meanings/tales behind each figure, the core values of Tibetan Buddhism, and the path to enlightenment. Further, we learned about the differences between Vajrayana practice (thunderbolt Buddhism) and Zen Buddhism when Dr. Bill talked about the Samnia debate in the first Tibetan monastery.
We were lucky enough to travel to the monastery together in order to see aspects of Tibetan Buddhism we were taught the night before. Dr. Bill and Tsering Drolma pointed out things to us throughout the day and encouraged us to ask questions – it was hard not to learn from the experience.
In the next few days, we visited one of the staff member’s home, saw the second museum at the CERS site, walked to the botanical garden, and saw a nunnery. At the staff’s house, Lobsang, Tsering Drolma’s husband, explained prostration to us. In order to prostrate, you must place your hands above your head in a prayer position, bend down, place your hands on the floor, lay out until your whole body is flat, lift your arms up to your forehead in a prayer position, then stand back up and repeat. Some people prostrate for hours or even days around sacred mountains for good fortune and health. Seeing Lobsang demonstrate prostration showed me how physically demanding this movement truly is, which highlights the beautiful devotion Tibetan people have to their religion and traditions.
The last educational trip we took together was to the nunnery. While there, we to identify deities and reinforce all that we learned about Tibetan Buddhism through experience in a similar manner to when we were at the monastery. This cycle of learning inside and outside of the CERS site continued up until the morning we started camp, where we would teach the village kids English in a similar manner to how the CERS staff taught us culture in the region. So far, the camp has gone well, and I can’t wait to spend more time with the kids. Even though we have fewer hours each day due to teaching and planning, I’m as excited to continue learning as I am to teach.