Evening star., 1937-12-27

cup Of tea. We rode out to the
monastery. The ceremonies would
commence at sunrise and consisted of
prayers. chants and devotional tours
to the shrines about the monastery.
1t Is impossible to describe ade-
ouately the atmosphere Of these early
morning, age-old religious ceremonies.
The music which accompanied them
WAS unlike any music know, and
vet there WAS nothing primitive about
II. have not the space here to de-
scribe the significance Of each Of the
steps in the ritual ceremony. but what
Is important is the sincerity Of the
participants. 1t WAS impossible not
TO feel this. and to very large
measure. not to partake OF it.
Brief Break for Breakfast.
The ceremonies would be inter-
rupted at about 8 o'clock for a brief
breakfast. and would be resumed i'm
mediately after this. continuing for
the rest OF the day, interspersed
only occasionally by cups OF tea.
The last part of the ceremony con-
sisted of devotional tour around
the whole monastery-a distance Of
about a mile. The ride back home
at dusk would be followed by a simple
supper. and the evening would be
spent much as would any other.
There is nothing in the Tibetan
religious ritual which is mysterious
or inexplicable in Western terms,
though, to the uninitiated and un-
critical. some Of the Tibetan Bud
dhist phenomena would seem nothing
short Of miraculous Much Is made
in the popular works on Yogi of the
so-called feat of levitation. I have
met many lamas who believe it pos
sible for human body to float
through the air from peak to peak.
but during my stay in Tibet saw no
such floating bodies.
have. however. seen lamas appar-
emily make their bodies lighter and
suddenly spring several feet into the
air without visible muscular effort.
This phenomenon occurs at certain
religious rites, during which one
lama enters a sort of trance and
makes oracular utterances. This in
dividual may be in this state for sew
eral hours. during which time he may
leap from the ground by some sort of
muscular spasm a number of times.
After the ceremony this lama is taken
away. in an exhausted state, and it
usually takes him several days to re-
cover from it,
Physical Discipline.
The act Of raising bodily tempera-
ture by concentration. or thumo. as
the Tibetans call it. I have seen prac-
ticed. I myself have seen q lama,
dressed only In a loin cloth. raise his
body temperature to a sweating fever
heat In a room wherein the tempera-
ture was not higher than 50 degrees.
I have observed other effects of a
very rigorous physical discipline. and.
to certain extent, practiced this
discipline on myself, not without re-
suits.
I visited hermit who has spent 20
years IN a cell no larger than a tele-
phone booth without once lying
down. He lives on a diet Of yak's
milk and Is as vigorous In appearance
a. any other 70-year- -old man I have
ever seen.
I lived in Tibet on . very frugal
liquid diet and found myself able to
get along with little or no sleep for
several months. Nor did I suffer any
loss Of physical alertness during this
time: quite on the contrary, I never
felt better in my life.
Means to An End.
must emphasize at this point that
such of these practices as I have here
described are practiced by the Tibe-
tans only as means to an end, that
Of arriving at 4 state Of perfect con-
temptation: they are but by-products
Of a philosophical process and are to
be appreciated only in terms of the
total framework Of reference of the
Tibetan Buddhist. To the Tibetans
themselves these practices are rela-
lively incidental in comparison with
the important totality of their philo-
sophical outlook.
I have not described the special
days on which were held banquets, or
the days when we were honored guests
OF Tibetan who would have a three
Or four-day party for us. Nor have
described the special excursion which
made to some Of the most renowned