After settling into our hostel, which is evidently the home of the woman and her daughters who run the place, we set out for the Gandantegchinlen Monastery -- the center of Mongolian Buddhism. At the turn of the century Mongolia housed hundreds of Buddhist monasteries and thousands of Buddhist monks. Buddhism has been the major religion here ever since Kublai Khan made Tibetan Buddhism the official religion of Mongolia 13th-Century. With the Soviet backing the Mongolian People's party and their cohorts laid waste to the country's religious temples after the first World War. The Monastery we visited today survived as a museum. We read today that when Henry Wallace (FDR's VP and Progressive Party presidential candidate in 48') visited Ulaan Baatar in 44' he asked the then Prime Minister to see a religious building, the PM had to scramble embarrassingly to make the one we saw today presentable. The main Temple houses a 23m (enormous) statue of the Buddha. It was very impressive. The original was torn down and brought to Russia to be melted down. It was rebuilt in the 90s with aid from Japan and India.
The two experiences we've had on this trip that have been the most socially and culturally constructed as "religious" have been entering Lenin's Mausoleum and entering this temple. In the first case Lenin's body is on show for a mere 12hrs a week (I suppose they are keeping him from decaying the remainder of the time) and one must queue for an 1 and a half hours with Russians and tourists alike. They let people go in small groups to metal detectors and past the metal detectors the line turns into a trickle. The entirety of Red Square is block off except for the faithful who have so patiently waited. It's quite exhilarating to have the Square to yourself as you approach the tomb. As you enter there are soldiers at every turn to meet you, silently indicating the way as it becomes darker and darker. Finally you emerge into the main room constructed entirely from black marble. A faint red light sets the mood and there in the middle, fully lit, is the man himself, well dressed and dignifiedly composed. You try to walk slow, but are made to move through with great alacrity, forcing the experience immediately into memory. Lenin wished to be buried in St. Petersburg alongside his mother and loathed the idea of the construction of a cult around his personality. Nevertheless, the author of Materialism and Empirio-Criticism, the great atheist Marxist revolutionary is arrayed like one of the greatest saints of the Catholic Church. But it's more ignominious than that. The fact that they attempt to preserve his appearance is a great affront to the materialist position. At least the Catherine of Siena's head, on full display in the Church of San Domenico in Siena, has be allowed to take its natural course.
How this is related to the second religious experience I'm not sure. The Buddha statue was similarly imposing and it was presented in such a way that is was clearly designed to inspire veneration. One circumambulates spinning prayer wheels and gazing. I thought of idols in both cases. (Although neither to me seemed as idolatrous as the way icons were treated by the faithful in Russia. Perhaps I received the wrong impression, but icons seem to do real religious work in a way that very much raised the suspicion of my protestant sensibilities.) The Buddhism here also incorporates aspects of Shamanism. There was a Shaman pole being venerated by lay people in the middle of the monastic complex, which is now also the primary Buddhist University in Mongolia. We are further finding it interesting to see the way in which Buddhism responded and is responding to the fall of communism. We normally think of religion and Communism as being Christianity and Communism. Being here alters that perspective a bit. Although the Communists we certainly foolish to destroy the rich Buddhist history of this country, they were correct in seeing that populace ought to be literate (or at least have the opportunity to become so). This is something pre-communist Buddhism in Mongolia did not permit. Learning was strictly the occupation of the monastic class.
The two experiences we've had on this trip that have been the most socially and culturally constructed as "religious" have been entering Lenin's Mausoleum and entering this temple. In the first case Lenin's body is on show for a mere 12hrs a week (I suppose they are keeping him from decaying the remainder of the time) and one must queue for an 1 and a half hours with Russians and tourists alike. They let people go in small groups to metal detectors and past the metal detectors the line turns into a trickle. The entirety of Red Square is block off except for the faithful who have so patiently waited. It's quite exhilarating to have the Square to yourself as you approach the tomb. As you enter there are soldiers at every turn to meet you, silently indicating the way as it becomes darker and darker. Finally you emerge into the main room constructed entirely from black marble. A faint red light sets the mood and there in the middle, fully lit, is the man himself, well dressed and dignifiedly composed. You try to walk slow, but are made to move through with great alacrity, forcing the experience immediately into memory. Lenin wished to be buried in St. Petersburg alongside his mother and loathed the idea of the construction of a cult around his personality. Nevertheless, the author of Materialism and Empirio-Criticism, the great atheist Marxist revolutionary is arrayed like one of the greatest saints of the Catholic Church. But it's more ignominious than that. The fact that they attempt to preserve his appearance is a great affront to the materialist position. At least the Catherine of Siena's head, on full display in the Church of San Domenico in Siena, has be allowed to take its natural course.
How this is related to the second religious experience I'm not sure. The Buddha statue was similarly imposing and it was presented in such a way that is was clearly designed to inspire veneration. One circumambulates spinning prayer wheels and gazing. I thought of idols in both cases. (Although neither to me seemed as idolatrous as the way icons were treated by the faithful in Russia. Perhaps I received the wrong impression, but icons seem to do real religious work in a way that very much raised the suspicion of my protestant sensibilities.) The Buddhism here also incorporates aspects of Shamanism. There was a Shaman pole being venerated by lay people in the middle of the monastic complex, which is now also the primary Buddhist University in Mongolia. We are further finding it interesting to see the way in which Buddhism responded and is responding to the fall of communism. We normally think of religion and Communism as being Christianity and Communism. Being here alters that perspective a bit. Although the Communists we certainly foolish to destroy the rich Buddhist history of this country, they were correct in seeing that populace ought to be literate (or at least have the opportunity to become so). This is something pre-communist Buddhism in Mongolia did not permit. Learning was strictly the occupation of the monastic class.
1 comment:
These were interesting observations by Bjorn. I look forward to more, especially on Mongolian Buddhism. There are many similarities between Catholicism, Eastern Orthodox and Buddhist spiritual practices, especially in terms of veneration of icons and images.
Post a Comment