The Dalai Lama Who Loved Wine, Women and Song
Here the May lilacs blossom in the garden
Their fragrance sprawls in the air of spring.
Yet my mind drifts on wings of a daydream
To a far away land of peach-treed valleys
Embraced by snow-capped mountains.
One night there on the Roof of the Earth
A young man in the holy city of Lhasa
Listened to the chanting of mantras
Not for the sake of enlightenment
But in order to sense her breath.
That month he span all the pray wheels
Not for the sake of freeing his soul
But in order to touch her finger prints.
That year he prostrated on the ground
With his hands clasping the earth
Not for the sake of adoring Buddha
But in order to sense her warmth.
That incarnation he crossed green forests
He passed through farmlands and deserts
He climbed a hundred thousand mountains
Not for the sake of afterlife
But in order to meet her on the road.
Who was this young man?
Descending from the Monpa Tribe
He was born in 1683 at Urgelling
In the Monastery near Tawang in India.
His parents gave him the name
Losang Rigdzin Tsangyang Gyatso
In the Tibetan language it means
Ocean of Melodious Songs.
His trunk of life was cut short though
Just a child yet and he became
Like an uncrowned king in the land
And even so he remained modest
Humble and unassuming.
He traveled about on foot
He kept no personal servants
He brewed his own tea
And served his guests himself.
And he wrote magnificent poems
They are still loved and revered
And sung throughout Tibet and China.
He loved women, friends and wine
Although he was chosen as His Holiness
The Sixth Dalai Lama of Tibet!
But he had no plans to accept the role
Renounced the vows of a novice monk
And then asked the forgiveness
Of the Panchen Lama
For refusing to accept the duties
Of full ordination.
He had rather lived his life
As a rake and stud.
He gambled and practiced archery
Grew a long hair embellished with jewels
Called himself the Turquoise Bee
Acting as a playboy and dressing as a layman
A gadabout debaucher in blue silk brocade.
He roamed through the countryside
Reveling with his friends
In the parks in daylight
And then spent the dark hours
In the taverns of Shol-town.
Drinking barley beer stuffed in bamboo barrels
Or enjoying the intoxicating rice chang
White and sweet and pungent in taste.
He had 'never slept a night
Without a sweetheart'
He wrote in one of his love poems
To the indignation of the opulent Potala palace
As servants traced back his footprints
In the fresh snow leading to the brothels.
However, the Dalai Lama had a broken heart
He wanted to wed his beloved lady
The sweetheart who truly loved him
But she “has been stolen to wed another”
And he became sick with hankering sorrow.
That night in the holy city of Lhasa
He listened to the chanting of the mantras
Not for the sake of enlightenment
But in order to sense her breath.
That month he span all the pray wheels
Not for the sake of freeing his soul
But in order to touch her finger prints.
That year he prostrated on the earth
With his hands clasping the soil
Not for the sake of adoring Buddha
But in order to sense her warmth.
That incarnation he crossed green forests
He passed through farmlands and deserts
He climbed a hundred thousand mountains
Not for the sake of afterlife
But in order to meet her on the road.
Then turbulence shook the Roof of the World
It was now the fragile year of 1706
And a Mongol army invaded Tibet
Their leader Lhasang Khan did not believe
That the Dalai Lama was the real one
And he wanted to depose him.
A foreign army besieged Lhasa
And Lhasang Khan ordered the Dalai Lama
To relocate at the Mongol military camp
In Lhalu Garden.
Soon afterwards, on June 27,1706,
The Mongol warlord ousted
The Head of Tibetan Buddhism.
And since the Chinese Emperor Kangxi
Approved it the Mongols took the Dalai Lama
On a journey to the east to banish him
To the imperial court
Of the Manchu-led Qing Dynasty in Beijing.
It was a long voyage, joyless and exhausting
Escorted by a group of Mongolian soldiers
In the fall of 1706 he reached Gunga-Nor Lake
On the road to the Chinese capital.
However, the Dalai Lama did not want
To spend the rest of his life in humiliating exile
And on the night of November 14,1706
He escaped under the veil of darkness.
A Mongol sentry noticed the fleeing figure
And placed a fir arrow on his birch bow.
The archer aimed his weapon
At the running target, he drew the curved bow
Gripping the string
Between his horn-ringed thumb and index finger
Until his left arm was fully extended
And then released the metal-bladed projectile.
The arrow took to the air
With a sharp snapping sound.
A moving shadow emitted
A subdued moan of pain
But vanished away
On the nightly lake shore.
White crane, lend me your wings
I go no further than Lithang
And thence, return again.
While in Mongol captivity
At Lithang Monastery in Kham
Tsangyang Gyato, the Sixth Dalai Lama
Predicted his own rebirth.
In 1708, two years after his disappearance
The Seventh Dalai Lama, Kelsang Gyatso
Was born in Lithang in Kham.
poem by Paul Hartal
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Related quotes
Tibet- A Lost Land and People
They want to live in peace,
The people of the ‘Roof of th’ world’;
They want to sleep in Nature’s lap,
But cannot do with ease!
A Buddhist country wedged between
World’s two most-populous nations;
Twelve thousand feet high MSL;
A culture most unique.
The Chinese eyes were on Tibet,
They’d eyed the plateau high;
The Dalai Lama- their leader
Is in exile in India.
One thirty-thousand refugees,
Are mostly in India;
They want Tibet’s independence,
But China won’t accede.
Oh, what a sorry tale to hear!
Their land is long denied;
A mountain terrain, beautiful
Their home is ‘Land of snows! ’
They wish to rid their Chinese yoke;
But China won’t give in;
And proud about His Holiness,
The Lama who can’t sleep!
The Chinese invaded Tibet
And will not simply leave;
They’ve put their own people in here;
While Tibetans have fled.
Why China with her vast terrain
Should seize the mountain-land?
-Denuding forests of its trees,
And planting own settlers!
Monks or nuns, none are spared;
Thousands have just been killed;
And many more have spent their lives,
Tortured life-long in jails!
The people of Tibet are strong
With spirit not weakened;
They hope the Chinese will relent-
Return their land to them.
Can not the UN solve this case?
They’ve passed resolutions;
But nothing more is being done.
As selfishness, still rules.
Most Tibetans have little choice;
‘They are a dying race’!
Their pleas and protests go awaste;
Won’t someone fight their case?
Copyright by Dr John Celes 3-20-2008
poem by John Celes
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
What the Dalai Lama had to resolve was whether to stay in Tibet or leave. He wanted to stay, but staying would have meant the total destruction of Tibet, because he would have died and that would have ripped the heart out of his people.
quote by Martin Scorsese
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Underhand Han Hand
For fifty years Han hand has lain
heavy on Lhasa's mountain land,
acting in manner underhand
on peaceful population. Pain
and persecution, thousands slain
on whim, as Chinese thugs expand,
manhandle monasteries, demand
obedience to illegal reign -
discrimination's bridle rein
with basic human freedoms banned,
protests punished out of hand.
Upon collective conscience: Stain!
The Dalai Lama's aging fast
who'll liberate Tibet at last?
poem by Jonathan Robin
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Hundreds of political prisoners still suffer in Tibetan prisons. Freedom of speech is not allowed in any sense. It is illegal to possess a photo of the Dalai Lama.
quote by Joanna Lumley
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
For 20th Century Historians
how did a few
thousand
royal tibetan lamas
come to so influence
modern consciousness
research, psychiatry,
psychology
in only
40 some years?
i guess
the atheist
regime in power
in beijing
was right all along-
the cuckoo's a gangster.
the Dalai Lama a terrorist?
so was Gandhi.
poem by Doug Bentley
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can't help them, at least don't hurt them.
quote by Dalai Lama
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.
quote by Dalai Lama
Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
Vote! | Copy!
If you can, help others; if you cannot do that, at least do not harm them.
quote by Dalai Lama
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
I believe that to meet the challenge of the next century, human beings will have to develop a greater sense of universal responsibility. Each of us must learn to work not just for his or her own self, family or nation, but for the benefit of all mankind.
quote by Dalai Lama (1994)
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
You don't have to be the Dalai Lama to tell people that life's about change.
quote by John Cleese
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Sleep is the best meditation.
quote by Dalai Lama
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Where ignorance is our master, there is no possibility of real peace.
quote by Dalai Lama
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
I also saw the Dalai Lama a few times.
quote by Martin Scorsese
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
The purpose of our lives is to be happy.
quote by Dalai Lama
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
I asked Dalai Lama the most important question that I think you could ask - if he had ever seen Caddyshack.
quote by Jesse Ventura
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
I am optimistic that the ancient values that have sustained mankind are today reaffirming themselves to prepare us for a kinder, happier twenty-first century. I pray for all of us, oppressor and friend, that together we succeed in building a better world through human understanding and love, and that in doing so we may reduce the pain and suffering of all sentient beings.
quote by Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama
Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
Vote! | Copy!
If you have a particular faith or religion, that is good. But you can survive without it.
quote by Dalai Lama
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.
quote by Dalai Lama
Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
Vote! | Copy!
In the practice of tolerance, one's enemy is the best teacher.
quote by Dalai Lama
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
With realization of one's own potential and self-confidence in one's ability, one can build a better world.
quote by Dalai Lama
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!