My journey to learn more about Buddhism, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and Tibet began with a visit to The Tibet Museum. This free museum details the struggles of the Tibetan people and why many of them, including the Dalai Lama, now live in India. It is a small museum, only take about 45 minutes to go through, which is very informative and captivating.
Namgyal Monastery
Now that I better understood the struggle the Tibetan people have been facing, being run out of their own land by the Chinese, it was time to head into the Namgyal Monastery. As we walked up to the monastery, there were several monks arranged in groups of two, one sitting, one standing, questioning each other on the Buddhists teachings. My guide informed me that this is a daily ritual. After morning classes the monks take to the grass outside and first question each other in groups of twos or threes, and then get into larger groups to question each other. This was very interesting to watch. Certain hand signals are used, signaling the end of the question and readiness to hear the answer.
Next we walked up the stairs and went into the Thekchen Choling temple. There are two sections to the temple, the first of which photography is not allowed inside. We had to remove our shoes to enter both, and both had large seats for His Holiness that remain covered in yellow cloth unless he is present. The temple rooms themselves were not that large, which surprised me. There was a lot of gold and many buddha statues. When we exited the first room, there was a hallway filled with MANI prayer wheels. These are wheels filled with thousands of mantras written on a scroll of paper. One is to turn these wheels clockwise to earn the merit equal to the thousands of mantras inside the wheel.
Around the corner from the prayer wheels was the entrance to the second temple room. This room had a very large gold buddha in it as well as two bookcases filled with the original buddhist writings. These writings came from Tibet, and represent all that could be taken while fleeing from the Chinese.
Outside of this second room was a room filled with burning oil lamps. Visitors were not allowed inside the room, but it had windows all around, and you could feel the heat from the lamps as you approached.
As we came out of this second room of the temple, I noticed that the monks had indeed gathered in larger groups. Occasionally these larger group conversations seemed almost argumentative in the way they were going back and forth. However, what really struck me while watching them, was the feeling of calmness and peace felt throughout the complex.
Residence of His Holiness
The Dalai Lama’s residence is directly across from the monastery. He was in residence while I was in Dharamshala, but wasn’t holding any public appearances on this day. Thus, I have yet to see him in person.
Norbulingka Institute
After visiting the monastery, we got in the car and drove down the mountainside to lower Dharamshala. Here we visited the Norbulingka Institute, created by His Holiness, to preserve Tibetan arts and craft skills. Master artists train apprentices in wood carving, creating the MANI prayer wheels, painting, appliqué, and embroidery. We had the opportunity to walk into the studios and see the artists in action.
Along with the art studios, the institute features a doll museum, café and a temple. I found this temple to be more impressive than the one in the monastery. This was a larger temple with higher ceilings, and along side the giant gold Buddha in this temple was a painting showing the stages of Buddha’s life.
After taking in this magnificent temple, it was time to leave and try some Tibetan food. At a restaurant a block away from the hotel, I had some momos (steamed dumplings) and chili paneer.
This was one of my favorite days of the trip. Dharamshala is quite a place and seeing the monks and the temple the H.H. Dalai Lama presides over, as well as the artists at work in the institute was amazing. This is definitely a city I would suggest everyone visit if given the opportunity.
