Monday, March 7, 2011

Auspicious


I guess I must have been kind of overeager for the day’s events to begin because I arrived at the monastery early last Saturday, way before my Tibetan friends. It was Losar, Tibetan New Year, and the first thing I noticed was that the prayer wheels in the empty monastery courtyard looked amazing in the sunlight, though a little lonely.

Later, the monks would say that having good weather on Losar was an “auspicious” way to begin a new year.

As my friends began to arrive, I was happy, not only for their good company, but pleased that I had decided to wear some reasonably nice American clothes because the Tibetans were dressed in their holiday best. I’ve been attending and photographing Seattle-area Tibetan community events for several years now, but Saturday it seemed like folks were looking particularly stylish.

The day began with the Buddhist monks offering prayers and blessings outside the monastery. Eventually everyone went inside, where there were more prayers and offerings of ceremonial mandalas and scarves.

Later that evening we all gathered at a neighborhood community center where there was a potluck dinner, a long table covered with dish after dish of just the most incredible Tibetan and Asian food (another table held a framed portrait of the Dalai Lama, as well as a ceremonial food offering.) Leah, who had spent the morning and early afternoon back at home, baking for the potluck, arrived with our contribution for the dinner (a vegetarian pot pie...not exactly Tibetan fare, but, hey, we do what we can.) The Tibetan kids supplied the entertainment for the evening, performing a Tibetan-language play, followed by music.

Though many of the Seattle Tibetans are as Americanized and Western as Leah and I are, they also make a great effort to keep their cultural heritage alive. Thus, late in the evening when Leah and I needed to leave to catch a ferry home, we made sure we toured the room saying ka-lee shu (good-bye) to our friends, who smiled appreciatively that we were beginning the new year with a show of respect for their language.