Reflections on a Cultural Excursion to the Museum of Anthropology

November 18, 2009 – 1:07 pm

Last Thursday IPS students had the opportunity to attend an exhibit on Tibetan monks at the U.B.C.’s Museum of Anthropology. At the exhibit we saw real Tibetan monks perform traditional dances, sing prayers, debate, and create beautiful art (which we tried doing ourselves). It was a very interesting experience with incredible things to see and hear. Firstly, the monks sang a welcome prayer for us. One of them took out a long horn and the others chanted in very deep voices that matched the tone of the horns. Some other instruments were played as well, such as drums.

Secondly, the monks performed two traditional dances for us. During the first one, two of the monks put on very fancy costumes and wore beautiful masks that were made to look like the giant heads of Tibetan men, while the other monks played music or watched. The dancing was fast and the music loud, but the costumes were beautiful and colourful.

During the second dance, only one of the monks dressed up and danced while the others played instruments or watched. They explained that this was a special dance that had been invented a long time ago, during the time of a specific, famous, Dali Lama. In this dance, the monk was dressed up as a kind of monster with an elaborate costume and mask. He danced to even louder music.

Thirdly, the monks had a debate. It was very hard for us to understand what was happening because it was not in a language we were familiar with and it was done in a way we are not familiar with. They explained that debating was one of the best ways for them to learn something new from each other. During the debate, one of the monks sat on the floor with a strange, yellow hat on his head. The others all stood before him and seemed to ask him questions. They made strange movements, such as clapping their hands together while leaning forward and exclaiming something. It may have been almost impossible for us to understand, but it was fascinating to watch.

Next, the monks showed us their sand drawings. These were beautiful and very detailed pictures made of only brightly coloured sand. They explained to us that as soon as their festivities are over they destroy them by dumping the sand in a river. The river carries the grains of sand to oceans and rivers all over the world. They believe that this is a way to spread their prayers and blessings of peace to everyone around the world. This act reflects a major theme of Buddhism, which is to not be attached to anything that is temporary in this world. Buddhists believe that it is only possible to reach enlightenment (and proceed to their afterlife) when a human is not attached to anything material that will eventually die out or disappear. The sand drawings were so beautiful though, and I think that it would be hard for most of us to destroy them the way they do.

After watching the monks create the sand drawings for a little while, we were given the chance to try it ourselves. The monks had many, many colours of sand that we could choose from and they had a pattern that we had to follow. A couple people could try at a time on the same one at  a time. They showed us how to put the sand a metal tube and, using another instrument, rub against it to force the sand out. Though I did not try, from what I saw, it was harder, much harder, than the monks made it look. Their lines were always very straight and perfect, were as ours were very crooked.

Lastly, we were taken onto another room to make plasticine sculptures to represent the traditional sculptures that the monks make out of yak butter. We learned that this tradition was started because a very long time ago, a famous Dali Lama, who had been a great leader in Buddhism, had had an incredible dream about flowers and beautiful landscapes in vivid, surreal colours. He enjoyed this dream so much that he called on his artists to help him recreate the dream. So the artists made beautiful designs of flowers and much more out of yak butter. The Dali Lama, as well as everyone else, liked this so much that it was decided that this would become a tradition in Tibet, as it still is today. Every year at a specific time, the monks gather together and recreate the Dali Lama’s dream with their incredible yak butter sculptures. Unfortunately, we did not get the opportunity to see any real yak butter sculptures, but we were shown many images. However, we learned that, like the sand drawings, after the ceremonies are finished, all their beautiful sculptures are melted. Again this reflects the major rule in Buddhism; not to be attached to anything temporary. As we made our plasticine sculptures, the monks did as well and one of them gave our school a beautiful flower and circular object that they had made for us.

I felt this was a very interesting experience. Seeing the monks preform their dances, pray, and create art was really fascinating. I felt I learned a lot about a different culture and the religious practices that went along with that culture that I didn’t know before. It is awesome to have different cultures shared with us; especially because this one is so different from ours on Bowen Island. Also, we hear quite a lot about the Tibetan monks because their religion is now being banned by the Chinese communists and because of the Dali Lama who continues to speak out in the promotion of peace.  Also, I am in the middle of doing a major religion project for Humanities 8 with Tania, so the excursion fit right into our academic studies. It made it possible for all the Grade 8s to compare their chosen religion’s practices and philosophy to those of Buddhism.

Finally, it’s important to recognize the contribution of Grade 6 parent, Nicky Levell, who was instrumental in making this amazing excursion possible. It was Nicky who brought this opportunity to the attention of Mr. Simmonds and Tania in the first place. Thank you, Nicky, on behalf of the IPS students and teachers who participated.