Religious Tibet

Tibet is a place steeped in a deep sense of the supernatural. Although theoretically, it is a Buddhist country, yet many traits of the original Bön shamanistic tradition had survived. Even today, many Tibetans still firmly believe in the possibility of communicating with spirits and they think that many natural objects possess supernatural qualities. The Tibetans are a simple people who earn their living by tending horses, cattle and goats. They need precious little to live. Their hunger is not that of the body, but that of the soul.There are some even today who would think nothing of prostrating themselves on the ground once every step of their way from where they started their pilgrimage until they reach the Potala Palace in Lhasa, the capital of the Tibetan Autonomous Region, as a sign of respect and devotion to the great lama they find there. "Lhasa" in fact means, literally "the place of the gods." So you'd find in every place where the Tibetans live evidence of how thoroughly their religion has penetrated into every aspect of their lives: temples, pagodas, prayer flags fluttering in the wind upon mountain tops, amidst rocks, trees, in the courtyards outside their houses, statues of Buddhas and other lesser bodhisattavas or the defenders of the faith inside their houses, Thangka paintings, mandalas, prayer wheels, shrines etc. Huang Lung is a region in Sichuan where there are many Tibetans. In fact, even our tour guide came from a village in the same region.



Really like the simplicity of their lines and their stark color contrasts:  a beautiful lotus flower with Tibetan words of worship.

Tibetans really love the color yellow. The ceiling of the Great Museum of Tibetan Culture in Min Chiang. Sichuan is decorated with strips of prayer sheets with Buddhist prayers written all over them.

You can make out the shape of some of the words at the top of this photo.

A precious stone in very odd shape.

Tibet boasts of all kinds of oddly shaped stones.

A very long wooden horn, the kind Tibetans would blow to herald in a religious procession.

The Buddha of many hands.

Another Buddha

A sample of one of the most curious stones found in the Tibetan Autonomous Region: the "Dzi" stone. The stone, made of agate, has differently colored layers embedded in it by Nature. Nobody really knows how they were formed. The Tibetans make use of them by cutting them out, drilling a hole in the middle and then polishing them into little beads which they would then string together into the form of a necklace or a bracelet to wear. The older the stone, the more precious is it regarded by the Tibetan. They believe that wearing the "dzi" or "heavenly bead" on their body as a protective amulet will somehow help to ward off all kinds of harm and danger.

Another Dzi stone.

A third Dzi stone

A really huge amber (琥珀, ) formed by pine resin thousands of years ago.

A door handle?

A copper wall decoration

Another copper wall decoration.

A "Thangka," or  "Tangka", or "Tanka"  painting. Thangka is an embroidered silk painting usually showing various tales of the life of Buddha or some other boddhisattvas or a simple mandala.

Every year, the Tibetan will hold a festival in which a huge Thangka painting will be laid upon the hillside of Lhasa for the faithful to worship.

A Tibetan in a ceremonial dress.

Tibetan lady in traditional ceremonial dress. Her dress is decorated with all kinds of amulets and ornaments. According to our guide, wealthy Tibetans have the customs of wearing all their jewelry, mostly gold ornaments and "Dzi" beads and other precious stones which may cost several tens of thousands RMBs upon their body on ceremonial occasions.

Another Tibetan couple.

Our tour guide, a half Chinese, half Tibetan and a most responsible fellow.