Back to Lhasa - Chorale

“Long time ago , there was a vast expanse of sea. Great waves patted the shore growing with pine, cypress,
Chinese hemlock and palm trees and made loud sound. Above the forest, range upon range of ridges and peaks are covered by green woods and clouds. In the forest, exotic flowers and rare herbs were growing, herds of spotted deer and antelopes were running, rhinoceros were staggering and drinking water along the lakes in threes and fours, cuckoos, babblers and larks were hopping in the trees and singing beautiful songs and hares were leaping on the luxuriant meadows without a care in the world…… What an attractive and peaceful scene it was!
But one day, there came five huge poisonous dragons which turned the forest into an awful mess. They stirred the sea and made lofty waves and destroyed the flowers and trees. Birds and beasts all felt disasters befalling. They escape to the east, forest there fell and meadows were drowned; while they ran to the west, where terrifying waves struck them and stifled them to death. It seemed that they had come to a dead end. Then suddenly, five colorful clouds appeared above the sea, which transformed into five goddesses. They exert magic power and subdued the five poisonous dragons. Devils were conquered and the sea returned to peace again. Birds and beasts bowed down and worshipped the goddesses and thanked them for saving their lives. When the goddesses would bid farewell and go back to the Heaven, all the beings entreated them piteously to stay and pursue profits for them. The five goddesses showed mercy on them and decided to stay and enjoy the peace with them together. They commanded the sea to retreat and turned the east into luxuriant forest, the west immerse stretch of fertile land, the south gardens full of flowers and grass and the north vast pasturelands. And the five goddesses changed into the five highest peaks of Himalayas, that is: Goddess Xiangshou Peak, Goddess Cuiyan Peak, Goddess Zhenhui Peak, Goddess Guanyong Peak, Goddess Shireng Peak, which located along the south-west border and protected this happy land. The head Goddess Cuiyan Peak is Mt. Everest which is the highest peak in the world and the locals affectionately refer to it “Mt. Qomolangma”, meaning Goddess in Tibetan. This is a legend widely spread in Tibet. Many times people would rather believe in legend than advocate science. Maybe this is because of the romantic human nature. All in all, the story has been told for thousands of years and nobody suspects its truth. Because you’re in Tibet and this is in Tibet.

Those grand mountains, blue and clear lakes, cattle and sheep all over mountains, vast fertile meadows, fascinating local customs and practices, rustic warm welcome, happy singing and laughter, tortuous scenery, desolate and silent nature, lush and green primitiveness, splendid civilization……what a memory film! The wide and boundless plateau makes us feel how tiny we are! But at last, you’ll understand that you needn’t feel inferior, because you yourself are part of it. You are in such harmony with nature so that you nearly forget where you are.
Come and get to know the real Tibet, come back to Lhasa which is the paradise of the dream-seekers and this is the place where dreams begin and end; back to Lhasa is the chance and the necessity of life; back to Lhasa, you begin your journey back to your heart, which you needn’t bring anything to record, but use your heart to see, listen and feel.

Many times there is too much exaggeration about Tibet, which I won’t deny indeed, because people have expected too much of it. It you are in Tibet, you’ll understand many things are not as ideal as you expected. This is not the fault of Tibet but yours, because you imagined it a perfect place. However, it’s a realistic place, where you can meet hardship and danger, social conventions and subtle minds, it’s not as perfect as you imagine. But if you use your heart to feel Tibet, you’ll also find out that she’s much more beautiful than you think. Only those who come to Tibet may have such feeling, so it depends on how you view Tibet. What’s more, Tibet is in one’s heart who feels it. In a word, Tibet is not far from us. If you love life, Tibet is beside you and in your heart. If you learn to observe things from tiny aspects, perhaps Tibet is in front of your home. So people say that one’s hometown is not by one’s side but somewhere else; the paradise is not far away but in your heart.

Walking in the street of Tibet, there’re murmuring monks and devotees passing by at any time. You needn’t know what they are murmuring about, what you have to know is that that’s belief. There is a pious heart under the clean or dirty Tibetan style robes. Whether you consider it ignorant or wise, it’s sincere and pure, just like the snow mountain standing erect far-away in the human world, not marred by a speck of dirt. There are vague shapes of people squirming in the distance, staggering nearer and nearer. You may see a group of souls throwing themselves on the ground and standing up, then throwing themselves on the ground again and standing up repeatedly. They repeat this dull action and move forward along this road of transmigration from old times till nowadays. Both us and heaven and earth are filled with deep veneration and inspired by such piety.

Walking in the street of Lhasa, you have no time to tell right or wrong, since we are all passing visitors there. As for the Lamas, whom is said to be the men of the most profound knowledge and the highest status in Tibet, among them are some proud ones because of their knowledge and status and there are also those who intrigue against each other because they have been enlightened and had superior perspectives. It seems to be inevitable in the human society. Even though, it can not spoil the attractive charm of Tibetan Buddhism and you needn’t feel surprised, since it’s commonly seen in the prosperity of the society. This may help us to correct our knowledge of Tibet which is actually not a paradise, just the Tibet in one’s heart.

Walking in the street of Lhasa, you’ll see visitors in the crowds everywhere. You may find a kind of relation called friendship. Among them are friends from home and abroad. Though different in the way they come, they have common purposes to experience Tibet and the extreme and beauty of life. In the little inns which cost you little and make you dumbfounded, you can chat and drink with visitors from all over the world on the wide bed for several people. Maybe you will get to know some companies traveling together. When the old aunty of the inn boils the water, visitors carry different containers to fetch it as if they were attending container exposition. People from all over the world are waiting in an orderly queue just like the United Nations. Late at night, there may come from somewhere else in the suburbs sweet song of Tibetan girls, which will let someone turn over and mumble: “Damn nice song! Can I go on sleeping?” Now and then, you may hear whispers of different dialects in the room and those non-understandable foreign languages which can lull you to sleep. And now you will fall asleep with a smile.
“During infinite time, for thousands of years, not early nor late, you coincide with the one you doomed to meet in thousands of people. You don’t have to say too much, only ask gently: “Hi, you’re here too.”” Fate is mysterious. During our life, there may be this kind or that kind of fate waiting for us, which we can not beg for and have to wait it to come to our sides naturally. We meet it unexpectedly in our life which we can hardly address it short or long. There are endless stories of coincidence in your journey. We are living under fate, even if we brushed past each other, which you cannot say it is doomed. Today, a lot of strangers come and gather with the same feeling and tomorrow these familiar faces will depart and may never see each other again. The process of getting acquainted with someone-the unique charm of roaming about, whether you accept or not or whether you feel impotent or pity, this is fate. You have to follow your journey and have no alternative. Tibet is a place for the dream-seekers to purchase their dreams.

Tibet is a cool land of ultimate bliss, a pure fresh homeland; It is a mysterious and romantic terrain, a place full of attracts and fancy; It’s the plateau where you can find true meaning of life and it’s an ancient kingdom of dreams and poems. Nobody can define where the mystery lies and what those attracts are. Because they love to go, so they go there.

Tibet, a place near the sky, watching sun-rise here may make you feel you’re standing besides the sun. While you are watching this happen silently, there are magnificent beams of radiating sunshine. Mountains and meadows in the distance are burning just like stricken instantly by the thunder and lightening of Zeus. At the moment, you may find everything is red. It’s burning with the red wish in your heart and raising, then falling down slowly and transforming as the clouds in the sky. Looking into the distance where the sun rises, looking at hopes, the world is so wide and so is the heart of human. The open mind of the plateau which is so broad and strong to make people unable to resist its temptation.

The sky of Lhasa is so blue that it gladden the heart and refresh the mind. Not a painter in the world can create such color. The clouds of Lhasa are so white as the white Hada floating in the sky and encircling around the mountains, like smiling face. Sometimes they get together and pounce on you, as if it’s within your reach. The most carefree and happiest thing is to appreciate clouds against the fence of The Potala Palace and you can chat with the clouds freely without looking up. These holy white clouds always make people indulge in the wildest fantasy, sometimes imagine those are the souls of ancient people, sometimes feel oneself is in the heaven, so free and so unrestrained. You don’t have too much tie to think, because only these changeable clouds have filled with your heart, what you have to do is to feel. Maybe here, facing such sky, influenced by such environment, you will experience something within you. Under the blue sky is a kind of freedom in which you can free your soul. It’s believed that many people who came to Tibet may have such feeling. The primitive call always makes us moved and we cannot deny she’s the most influential. Maybe the sky has been touched by her coquette and becomes so blue.

Lhasa, “Holy land” in Tibetan, is a paradise of Buddhism, a vast fertile pure land. Back to Lhasa is not only back to this “city of sunshine” but back to one’s true heart and find the lost oneself, which is the process of cleaning one’s soul. Back to Lhasa is back to one’s holy land and pure land.

My dear friends, are you feeling lost? Then please come back to Lhasa where you may find happiness; Are you pleased? Then please come back to Lhasa where you may share your happiness with others; Are you sad? Then please come back to Lhasa whose sky can disperse all your sufferings; Are you happy? Then please come back to Lhasa where the air may vibrate your breath and what an exciting enjoyment it is! The wind of the sun of the plateau is always blowing over our heads and blowing across our hearts and to the boundless fields. Come and stand in the Potala Place and let’s sing that familiar song -back to Lhasa together!