The Lost World of Tibet

In February, the Film Society usually try to put on a film with a religious subject. One year was the wonderful Into Great Silence, about the monks of Grande Chartreuse, and last night it was the turn of Tibetan Buddhism, through the medium of archive film from the British Film Archive, with commentary from the Dalai Lama and members of his staff, and narration by Dan Cruikshank. The archive footage came from the 1930s to the 1950s, mostly in colour, and they showed a society which was almost medieval. Most people know a little bit about Tibetan Buddhist monks, but I was fascinated by the descriptions of the secular Tibetan civil service. Now I know that the little yellow hats mean 'civil servant', and it was fascinating to see the man who had been a junior civil servant talk about how his hair had come down to his waist in those days, and had to be braided in a particular style, over which went the little yellow hat. It was a place of very strict social heirarchy - one monk was born into a family of tailors, and he is still the Dalai Lama's personal tailor even though he's also a monk - and great poverty for the peasants, but it was also a place of summer picnics in the parks around the capital, and many spectacular religious festivals.
It was also fascinating to see footage of the present Dalai Lama actually taking his final exams as a monk, in front of thousands of spectators, at the age of eighteen, in the form of public debates with the abbots of various monasteries.

There was a real ex-Buddhist monk in the audience at the Parish Hall, in full robes. He said he thought he should come dressed for the occasion. He spent 17 years as a Buddhist monk in Scotland, and his second language is Tibetan.
The film was also an opportunity to publicise the plight of the Tibetan people, and there were leaflets advertising The Tibet Foundation ( www.tibet-foundation.org ). I particularly liked the Yak for Life scheme that they run.
It seems that there is also a Buddhist retreat centre up in Brilley, just near Hay. It's called Karma Dechen Choling, and is housed in what used to be the New Inn, Brilley. Spectacular views of the Wye valley, seasonal veg from the garden, and its own meditation hall. They have a website too, at www.karmadechencholing.co.uk