Sinuous Hair

On his book “The Ganges”, Raghubir Singh praises the river.

Ganges is not a river, it is an aspect of the divine.

After leaving India, Raghubir Singh has visited Ganges many times. He was raised to appreciate Ganga, which is the name of the river among Indian people. When he was a child, her mother taught him the significance of the Ganges; it is a goddess. She read aloud about the river from the pages of Ramayana, Sanskrit epic known throughout Southeast Asia. Image of the river flowing through the celestial world and the terrestrial world ending to the nether world inhabited by semi-divine water spirits – the sea – formed in the mind of a child.

Mother’s lifelong desire was to make a pilgrimage to the river’s source, and after many years of planning and anticipating, she finally accomplished the six-week journey. Visiting the roots of the river at the Gangotri glacier on Himalayan Range, near the border of China, made a lasting impression on her. 35 years have passed and she still fills with joy recalling the trip and her first plunge into the cold, cleansing waters. On returning, she carried urns of sacred Ganges water with her.

Mother’s passion was contagious and Raghubir became obsessed with Ganges as well. He started to photograph the river, its people, cultures and traditions alongside its way. His earliest book, “Ganga: Sacred River”, was published in 1974 and with his other 11 books, is filled with various photographs depicting the unique ceremonies and profound Hinduism of Indian people.

Up to unreachable mountain tops high on the Himalayas, ancient Hindus created a world populated by gods and goddesses. Ganga is one of them, flowing through the paradise of Siva, down his sinuous hair. In major branch of Hinduism, Siva is the God of Gods, Lord of The Universe, Lord of Everything, both the Creator and the Destroyer. Ganga is the messenger and a servant for Siva. She carries the power of Siva to the Hindu world, touching Indian people physically, creating, sustaining life and - during monsoon periods - raging and bringing destruction with furious floods.

Vision on a Lake

In Tibetan Buddhism, Dalai Lama is an incarnation of boddhisattva of compassion. Conventionally, he is regarded as the political and spiritual leader of Tibet, the head of Tibetan Buddhism – the emphasis is on spiritual issues, spiritual guiding and leading. There can be only one Dalai Lama at a time. When a Lama dies, his or her soul passes into an infant born nine months after his decease. That is, boddhisattva finds a new living person for revealing himself.

Since year 1391, Dalai Lamas have been searched and enthroned. The current Dalai Lama is fourteenth and his name is Tenzin Gyatso, now expelled and living in India after China’s invasion to Tibet in 1959. Dalai Lama can also be a woman and outside of Tibet. During Tenzin Gyatso’s press conference on his visit to Finland, he remarked that if he dies now, it is just logical that his successor will be found outside Tibet.

As quite often is the case when describing and translating religious terms and concepts, the nuances and the context become lost and the message conveyed by the religion distorts. Nevertheless, I still try to slightly clarify the Buddhist term boddhisattva. In Sanskrit boddhi means “enlightenment”, sattva means “truth”. It refers to a being aiming for a supreme degree of enlightenment, combining the pursuit of wisdom, compassion and perfection in various virtues. And to form a connection to water, this book’s subject, Dalai Lama literally means ocean of wisdom. Therefore on a certain level, there are water, wisdom and truth present in Dalai Lama. The current Dalai Lama and water are deeply related in an other way also – the amazing story of the events leading to his discovery describes it.

Beginning his serving at the age of two in 1876, the thirteenth Dalai Lama Thupten Gyatso - Tenzin Gyatso’s predecessor - also experienced a period of being a refugee in India. During his time there he was fascinated by several modern inventions – currency system, postal service, electricity - and brought them with him to Tibet. After his demise in 1933 the search for his successor was initiated by the government of Tibet. The search began beside a lake.

The sacred Lhamo Latso lake in Chokhorgyal, Tibet.

The lake is a sacred Lhamo Lhatso, about 140 kilometers south east of Lhasa, Tibet’s capital. According to the Tibetans, visions of the future can be seen on surface of the lake. Each Dalai Lama visits the lake at least once during his life to have some view and insight into his coming personal events. In the beginning of the search, the regent of Tibet arrived to the lake and had a vision of three Tibetan letters: Ah, Ka and Ma. He also saw a picture of a monastery with roofs of jade green and gold, and a house with turquoise tiles. Given the vision seen in the waters as a guide, search parties consisting of high lamas and dignitaries were sent to all parts of Tibet, the Land of Snows, in 1937.

In Amdo, some 260 kilometers north east of Lhasa, search party led by Sera Monastery’s Lama found a place which matched the description of the secret vision. They went into a house, there was a little boy inside. The leader of the party was wearing a rosary that belonged to the 13th Dalai Lama. The little boy recognised the rosary and demanded it. They said that he will get it if he can name the leader of the search party. “Lama of Sera”, the little boy replied correctly. The search party continued to a series of other tests and became confident; this boy is the successor Dalai Lama, incarnation of boddhisattva of compassion.

Dalai Lama search party with Tenzin Gyatso.

The mystery of the three letters in the vision was resolved: Amdo  (Ah) is the name of the province; Kumbum (Ka) is one of the largest monasteries in the area; Karma Rolpai Dorje (Ka and Ma) is the monastery above the little boy’s village.

Tenzin Gyatso in 1937.

Recalling the moment of the search party’s arrival 60 years later, Tenzin Gyatso tells that he was very happy when he was recognized as the next Dalai Lama. Since he was a little child, he has had a strong desire to go to Lhasa.

Considering the prolonged history of the Dalai Lama institution it is quite surprising that Tenzin Gyatso presents as his personal opinion that “the Dalai Lama institution has served its purpose”. As early as 1963, he made a draft constitution which is based on democratic system and enables the possibility that the power of the Dalai Lama can be removed. The constitution gives the future of the Dalai Lama institution to the hands of Tibetan people who can vote for continuing the tradition. However, to clarify any doubts, he assures that as long as the Dalai Lama institution is useful and relevant for Tibetan culture and its people - as long they want to have it, it prevails.