GLOSSARY OF PHOTOGRAPHS
Chapter 1: Introduction
Two Tibetan monks at the banks of the icy Lake Yilung Lhatso in eastern Tibet, not far from Derge. The engraving on the rock reads “Om Mani Padme Hum”, which is the mantra of the Buddha of Compassion, Avalokiteshvara (Chenrezig in Tibetan). 2005.
Part 1: Laying the groundwork
Chapter 2: Values
High in the mountains of eastern Tibet, five elaborately dressed young nomad women, their dresses lined in fur (chubas), attend the festival of Mani Gengok.
Chapter 3: Journey
Even in August, the path around the sacred mountains of the Amnye Machen range in the Golok province in eastern Tibet remains covered in snow. With its peak rising 18,000 feet above sea level, the mountain is regarded as one of the holiest in Tibet. Thousands of pilgrims trek around it each year, taking as long as nine days to do so. The mountain’s melted snows become the Yellow River, the great mother waterway of China. 2001.
Part 2: 31Practices: the underpinning framework
Chapter 4: Framework
Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche (1910–1991), one of the main teachers of the Ancient Tradition (Nyingmapa) of Tibetan Buddhism, visits Thangboche Monastery, near Everest base camp in Nepal. From his window he watches sacred dances being held in his honour in the courtyard below. Next to him, his host, Thangboche Rinpoche. From the monastery, one has spectacular views of the mountains. 1989.
Chapter 5: Purpose
Hundreds of monks of Shechen Monastery in eastern Tibet work in orchestrated teams to pitch the vast tent in which the sacred dance festival will take place. Some 15 monks worked for more than a week to stitch together the thick white cotton. 1988.
Chapter 6: Identify
A nomad family from the region of Dzachuka in Kham, eastern Tibet. 2005.
Chapter 7: Action
On the first day of the main festival of sacred dance at Shechen Monastery in eastern Tibet, the monks rehearse in plain monastic dress, adding some simple yellow scarves. Only on the second day will they wear their full costumes of brocade and wooden masks. A large crowd of enthusiastic lay spectators has already gathered. 1985.
Chapter 8: Impact
A nomad rider firing blanks at a target as he gallops past, during the Mani Genkok festival in Kham, eastern Tibet. Following the grand opening, the riders ride past the crowd in turn and perform all sorts of acrobatics with their old muskets. Then, spurring their horses into a gallop, they fire blanks at a paper target extended between two posts stuck in the ground. When they hit the bull’s eye, a jet of powder shoots out of a cannon and the target collapses in clouds of white smoke. When they miss, the onlookers laugh good-naturedly.
Chapter 9: Refine
Red-beaked Himalayan Magpie flies over Shechen retreat centre in Namo Buddha, Nepal. 2006.
Part 3: Section 1: The heart principles
Chapter 10: Emotion
A Tibetan traditional doctor takes the pulse of a nomad girl from Tsatsa, eastern Tibet, in a clinic supported by Karuna-Shechen’s humanitarian program. 2005.
Chapter 11: Inspiration
Tibetan and Bhutanese monks from Shechen Monastery in Nepal enjoy the snow on a summit overlooking Lake Geneva in Switzerland during a European tour of sacred dances. 1997.
Chapter 12: Happiness
Young novice monks in Darjeeling, India. 1975.
Part 3: Section 2: The mind principles
Chapter 13: Mindfulness
Lamas and monks at the Shechen Retreat Center in Nepal. 2005.
Chapter 14: Resilience
This man from Kham, eastern Tibet, has come with the rest of this crowd to greet Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. His face expresses all the fierce courage and unwavering, visceral devotion of a people who have succeeded in preserving their dignity and their strength of purpose in the face of overwhelming tragedy. 1985.
Chapter 15: Storytelling
Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche and a group of lamas at the end of a ceremony that has lasted nine days and nine nights without interruption, in the mountainous valley of Bumtang, in Bhutan. Having created the ritual mandala using coloured powders, they are now preparing to scatter the powders in the river. Dissolving the mandala in this way symbolizes the ephemeral nature of all things. 1981.
Part 3: Section 3: The body principles
Chapter 16: Practice
Dressed in a “black hat” costume, a Buddhist monk performs a sacred dance at the Tibetan monastery of Shechen in Nepal. 2006.
Chapter 17: Strengths
A woman doctor in Kham, eastern Tibet working at a clinic supported by Karuna-Shechen. 2004.
Chapter 18: Discipline
The fourteenth Dalai Lama meets the young reincarnation of one of his main spiritual teachers, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche (1910–1991), at Bodhgaya in India. For the photographer, this image symbolizes the ever-flowing loving kindness and compassion that characterizes the fourteenth Dalai Lama. 2000.
Part 4: The broader context
Chapter 19: Complexity
Aerial view of terraced fields in the Amdo province of Tibet (now the Chinese province of Qinhai). 2004.
Chapter 20: Leadership
A great Tibetan master, Kyabje Trulshik Rinpoche, arrives in Bir, India, as night falls. He is received by a procession of monks, who escort him to his residence. 2004.
Chapter 21: Neuroscience
One of the ten incarnate Tibetan lamas (tulkus) who are studying at Shechen Monastery in Nepal participates in the butter-lamp offering ceremony at the end of the year. He is wearing the “pandita hat” emblematic of his rank. 1987.
Chapter 22: Wisdom
At Mindroling Monastery, one of the six main Nyingma monasteries in Tibet, on his return to Tibet after over 30 years in exile, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche meets one of his close friends. The old man is the former retreat master of the famous Kangri Thokar hermitages, wh ere the great fourteenth-century scholar and saint Longchen Rabjam practised. 1985.
Chapter 23: Change
A jeep serves as spectators’ seats at the great festival of Mani Genkok, in eastern Tibet – the first in ten years. Thousands of Tibetan nomads dressed in their best clothes and ornaments camp out in the plains during the summer festival. During the festival, which is dedicated to the legendary Gesar of Ling, masked monks perform dances that re-enact the great episodes in the king’s life. 2004.
Chapter 24: Choice
Two young Bhutanese children. 1985.
Part 5: Evolution
Chapter 25: Site
In the centre of every Bhutanese province, here in the Paro Valley, there is an impressive edifice built of stone, beaten earth, and wood, called a “dzong”, one half of which generally houses a monastery, the other half reserved for the seat of the local government. These buildings also served as fortresses that protected against chance invaders. 2007.
Chapter 26: National
The high valley of the Yangtze, at the level of Denkhok. The Yangtze rises on the high plateaus of eastern Tibet, where it is known as the Drichu. Two celebrated masters of Tibetan Buddhism were born here: to the left (south) of the valley, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche (1910–1991), and to the right (north), the sixteenth Karmapa (1924–1982). 1985.
Chapter 27: Global
The Himalayan Langtang Range above a sea of clouds in the morning. Seen from Namo Buddha, Nepal. 2006.
Chapter 28: Study
Morning mist in a Himalayan valley in Nepal. Karuna-Shechen has implemented rainwater harvesting and medical projects in the area. 2006.
Chapter 29: my31Practices
Contemplating the beauty of eastern Bhutan. 2007.
Chapter 30: Summary
A performance of sacred dance in a courtyard in Bhutan. 2007.
Chapter 31: Photography
Matthieu Ricard photographs the beneficiaries of the humanitarian projects of Karuna-Shechen. In this photo he shows his camera to the children of the Bamboo School in Milanchi, Nepal. Karuna-Shechen has built eight bamboo schools that educate over 11,000 poor children in Nepal. 2011.