During the latest festival for driving off evil spirits in
Tibet, lama Ngawang of the Samye Temple tied slips of paper
printed with Buddhist scripture to hydrogen balloons to sell to the
never-ending stream of tourists from home and abroad.
Sales of balloons and other trinkets to earn money is not rare in
today's Tibetan temples. In fact, most lamaseries are now fully
commercialized.
Not only lay peddlers do business there, the temples themselves
have opened shops for extra income.
Mgchuling Temple, located in Lhoka Prefecture, invested over 10,
000 yuan (about US$ 1,200) to open a souvenir shop, which now
brings in 1,600 yuan per day -- a sizable sum for the landlocked
temple.
Zhaxilhunbo Temple, the home of the Panchen Lama, opened its own
company as early as ten years ago. Its total assets now stand at
tens of millions of yuan.
Samye Temple has also set up its own businesses offering land
transport and ferrying.
Nowadays, it is fashionable in Tibet for living Buddhas to become
managers and lamas are keen to be tour guides.
The disciples of Tibetan Buddhism have already accepted
electricity. They put their TV in as important a position as the
niche for Buddha.
The offerings to Buddha include not only the traditional butter
lamp and "holy water", but also fruits and flowers which are a
modern convention.
Since 1992, electronic Tibetan scriptures and classics have
appeared on the local market. Compared with the traditional block
printed scriptures, the electronic ones are portable and easy to
read. A Xinhua reporter once heard the late 10th Panchen Lama's
voice in a remote temple, he was shocked and rushed in to find out
what was happening only to discover two young lamas attentively
listening to a cassette recorder. They told the reporter that today
the 10th Panchen's recitations on cassette costs only three yuan
and can be bought at any local market.
In
Lhasa's commercial area, it is common to see lamas who wear purple
kasaya bargaining and shopping in fashion stores.
Although some disciples who live in Tibet's remote areas still
retain the custom of asking lamas to recite scriptures when they
get ill, most people now believe in modern medicine and prefer to
see the doctor if they feel bad.
Zhaxilhunbo temple opened a hospital in 1966. Lamas, wearing white
gowns, use Tibetan and Western medicine to treat disciples as well
as local citizens.
Other modern sciences are also widely applied in a disciple's life.
Cannonballs are launched to dispel hail in summer and insecticides
are used to prevent plant diseases and insect pests so that a good
harvest is always guaranteed.
More and more disciples accept the fact that modern civilization
makes their lives more convenient and efficient, and enriches their
religious careers as well.
Today's lamas are used to wearing watches. They go to the temple to
recite scriptures at set times every day. Some have even bought
mobile phones so that they can contact the outside world at any
time.
(Xinhua News
Agency December 17, 2001)