Learn about Tibet

These huge, hairy animals roam the Tibetan countryside. Their thick fur keeps them warm in the cold mountain air. Some yaks are wild, while others have been domesticated and are used in many ways. Their wool is used to make blankets, bags, and tents, and their skin for leather. Their milk is made into butter, cheese, and yogurt, and their meat is dried. Even their dried dung is used to help build fires. Yaks are also used for their strength to help transport people and heavy items. Black or white yaks are much more common than brown yaks like Dorje.

Prayer Flags

Strings of faded and twisted prayer flags fly on every mountain pass in Tibet, carrying the prayers written on them into the universe. In Tibetan they are called “lung ta” or “wind horse.” They represent the five elements and alternate blue, white, red, green, and yellow. Blue symbolizes the sky or space, white is clouds, wind, or air, red is fire, green is the rivers, and yellow is the earth.

Mani Stones

Mani stones are rocks that have mantras, which are like prayers, or symbols carved into them. They are piled up to make walls and bring good fortune to those walking past them.

Om Mani Padme Om

“Om Mani Padme Om” is the mantra most often carved into mani stones in Tibet. It means “jewel in the heart of the lotus,” and is the prayer of the Bodhisattva of Compassion. The jewel represents the desire to become the best you can be. The lotus is a rare flower that grows out of mud, showing that someone can become beautiful and pure even if they begin in darkness.

Food

Tsampa, roasted barley flour, and yak butter tea are the most common foods eaten by Tibetans. Yak butter tea is made by mixing black tea with yak butter and salt. Powdered tsampa is often mixed with the tea. Nomads also eat yak meat and cheese. Thukpa, a noodle soup, is common among Tibetans living in cities. Steamed dumplings called momos are very popular, especially during festivities.

Snow Lions

Snow lions represent Tibet. They are mythical creatures popular in Tibetan stories and artwork.

Tibetan Flag

The Tibetan flag shows two snow lions guarding three jewels representing the Buddha, the Dharma, Buddha’s teachings, and the Sangha, Buddhist community. The Tibetan flag is illegal, so it has become a symbol of Tibetan independence. Today, someone carrying a Tibetan flag in Tibet could be put in prison by the Chinese government.

Bodhisattvas

A bodhisattva is a person who has reached the highest level of spiritual growth, sometimes called “enlightenment.” In Tibetan Buddhism, there are many bodhisattvas. The Dalai Lama is the Bodhisattva of Compassion, Chenrezig.

Dalai Lama

The Dalai Lama is a very important leader and teacher. He brings a message of peace, love, and kindness to the world. Tibetans believe that after one Dalai Lama dies, his spirit enters a new body and becomes the next Dalai Lama. To find the next Dalai Lama, important monks follow dreams, signs and visions to locate a specific child. When they find the child, they show him objects, some belonging to his previous self, to see if he can recognize the ones that were his. The Dalai Lama we know today is the fourteenth in a line of Dalai Lamas who have lived in Tibet for over 600 years.

During the Chinese invasion of Tibet, the Dalai Lama knew his life was in danger. In 1959, he left his home in the middle of the night, disguised as a soldier, and made the dangerous journey over the Himalayas to India, where he has lived until the present day.

Language

The Tibetan alphabet originated in India and has thirty letters. Although printed Tibetan is understood throughout Tibet, there are different spoken dialects in different regions. Today, Chinese is taking over Tibetan, and it is hard to find schools where children can learn to read and write in Tibetan. Tibetans preserving the language may be considered threats to the Chinese authority and end up in prison. Tibetans outside of Tibet are working to preserve the language.

Tibetan Phrases (in Lhasa Dialect)

Hello = ཀྲ་ཤིས་བདེ་ལེགས། (tashi delek)
How are you? = ཁྱེད་རང་སྐུ་གཇུགས་བདེ་པོ་ཡིན་པས། (kayrang kusu debo yimbay?)
I’m fine = ང་བདེ་པོ་ཡིན། (nga debo yin)
Thank you = ཐུགས་རྗེ་ཆེ་། (tujay chay)
What’s your name? = ཁྱེད་རང་གི་མིང་ལ་ག་རེ་རེད། (kayrang gi ming la karay ray?)
My name is _____. = ངའི་མིང་ལ་ ______ རེད། (ngay ming la _____ ray).