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| Two bikes, Two cities, 1200 kilometers, One goal: change the world by teaching kids to read |
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| Monks - Sending prayers skyward |
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| There are a lot of monks in Tibet. Although not as many as before. The first thing that you notice about the monks is how either very old or very young they are. You don't see a lot of 30something monks. From wise old faces to kids playing with an old gameboy, there are all sorts of monks. You also notice how easily they smile. A 'Tashi Delek' in any monestary is going to get you a HUGE smile in return. |
| Every monk as to go to 'work', so to say. They all have a duty each day. The more senior ones get cushier jobs, watching over ever larger Buddahs. The kid monks get to clean rooms and sweep floors. |
| The monesteries can be noisey, happy places. On the roof of one building, a group of women were dancing and singing and thumping their sticks on the ceiling. Below: A nun takes a break from making prayers to put into little necklaces. A monk does a 'tora' around the temple in Lhasa, spinning his prayer wheel and sending prayers skyward. |
| Doing Toras is a Tibeten ritual and social pastime. In Lhasa, you can do inner, middle and outer toras around the temple. In the evening, all three rings are packed with people walking, talking, shopping and praying. Toras are always done in an odd number. 1, 3 and 5 are good, but 7 are best. |
| Butter Tea must have been invented by monks. They go crazy for the stuff. The only think to draw more attention than the call to prayers is the call to get your pot of butter tea. Here, the call has gone out and the guy in the yellow hat in the middle is filling the hundreds of thermoses lined up by his waiting and thirsty colleagues. |
| Outside the Potala Palace, home of the Dali Lama, there are thousands of people showing their devotion. The woman on the sidewalk is only laying down temporarily, if repeatedly. She's doing a sideways tora around the Palace, measured by the width of her body. She stands up. Moves over one body width, then does a prostration. Then gets up, moves over one body width...all the way around. |
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