a pilgram called Tsasi

Every time when I visited Lhasa and Tibet, I couldn't help being impressed and touched by those Pilgrims, who composed most memorable sights on my tours. I wonder about the exact history about the most sacred custom of pilgrmizing in company or alone, hundreds of miles from hometowns by prostrating every inch on the way to the mecca city of Lhasa, or to be more exact, the 12-year-old image statue of the Buddha in Joarkang temple. Upon arrival, they would bath in the Lhasa river and wait in full expection to meet their Buddha, and prostrate and pray at the square to the temple and walk around Potala palace, and to continue to journey to other monasteries in Tibet and around.


Tsasi is a 33 -year- old young lama,from Datongma grassland, Ganzi county, Sichuan province. At age of 18 he became a monk at a local monastery and soon joined by his young brother too. Their little sister stayed at home, who passed away during a birth delivery short time ago. Tsasi once visited Lhasa in 2003 by bus ( instead of walking and prostrating on the way). 'Maybe if I have prostrated last time, my little sister wouldn't die,' he regretted in grief. He was doing good deeds for her, or her lonely but wrongful soul to reach pure land. In traditional concepts, dying young age is sinful. Meanwhile he was doing prostration, he invited five lamas at hometowns to enchant and do service for his lost sister. He planned to complete 100,000 prostrations within 49 days here in Lhasa, exactly the same time for the lamas at home to complete the ceremony.


He had a very regular routine life in Lhasa, tough but strongly supported by his strong faith for the good of his sister. He would take a short rest on his cushion or lie down to nap for a while before he continued again. In the first days, he wasn't very accustomed to it so he take half days breaks. But still he shouldn't stop completely, with minimum of three hundred prayers per day.

I tried to experience it. So the day before I left Lhasa, I tried 108 times which took 40 minutes. I sweat all over and next morning felt aches and stiffness in ankles, chests and knees. It's hard for me to picture myself doing this for hundreds or even thousands of times a day for two months.

' I had it 24 00 times today,' he felt satisfied when we were on the way to lunch. We noticed his place soon occupied. 'This stone here belongs to Master Zong-ke-ba, the founder of the yellow sect.' In the shape of a tree leaf or the hat of the master lama, it is big enough to hold the whole body when covered. And for technical reasons, a very polished stone allows least friction and smoothest prostration operation. With more and more prostrations accomplished, Tsasi felt better and better, seeing the soul of his sister ascending to the pure heaven.

At lunch Tsasi had only vegetables. He told me he 's been vegetarian for three years already. This is not common,at such a high attitude, it's hard to sustain oneself only by vegetables with adequate nutrition and calories. Buddhism doesn't require complete vegetarianism, but forbids killing in Tibet.

'At 6 pm, the door will be open, free of charge to pilgrims only,' as informed by him, I arrived on time and after long waiting with hundreds of Tibetans, I was sort of pushed to the face of the holy statue and seconds later pushed away by those excited Tibetans surrounding me. Inside the air was heavy, stale and with strong smell of yak butter. 'Seeing this statue is like being blessed by the Buddha himself 2500 years ago. Try and listen,' he put his ear onto a small hole in a rock, in great smiles and purity,'it's waves from the sea.'



Tsasi invited me to his very small room, which was rather a small shelter under the stairs, however he was very happy with it.

It was some day three months later, I got a call at home. The number was a strange one but from Lhasa. It was him, after completing 100,000 prostrations and traveling with other three lamas to many places in Tibet, Bhutan and Sikkim. He was ready to go home.
'How are you? It's been quite hard, hasn't it?' I inquired.

His answer was,' Well. Happiness at heart, it is the best happiness. I wish you well and happy. Tsaxi-delek!'