Lhasa, Tibet

Sera, the Monastery of the Sacred Debate


Mistrust
Monk from the monastery of Sera reflects, with skepticism, on premises presented by an enthusiastic counterpart
Age of Innocence
Tibetan baby watches in amazement the intellectual commotion carried out by the dozens of monks in front of him
at the center of the debate
Monk sunk amidst others and an intense debate
juzu
Monk holds a juzu (Buddhist rosary).
Entry to the Debate
Tibetan portal announces the entrance to the Sera Monastery's debate courtyard.
Motorized
Debate spectators leave Sera Monastery on a sui generis motorbike
Tibetan Buddhist chimney
Architectural-religious detail of the Sera Monastery.
On debate
Monk seeths as he conveys his reasons to a debate opponent
Is it so?
Monks counter arguments with all their conviction.
Argument Projection
Monge launches a new argument with the projection of the body forward and a clap of hands.
meditation break
Monk reflects during an argument with a fellow Buddhist apprentice.
one against all
Crowded monks confront a colleague who proposes a controversial premise
Passage in this life
Passersby pass a building in Sera Monastery, at the foot of Pubuchok Mountain, on the outskirts of Lhasa.
Sera vs Pubuchok
Side facade of one of the Sera Monastery buildings with the Pubuchok Mountains in the background.
term sisters
Two women hold terms next to the Sera monastery, in another winter morning of clear but icy skies on the Tibetan plateau
Passage in the shade
Believer turns a Tibetan Buddhist wheel as he travels along the long façade of the Sera monastery, illuminated by the sun that often falls on the Tibetan plateau.
In few places in the world a dialect is used as vehemently as in the monastery of Sera. There, hundreds of monks, in Tibetan, engage in intense and raucous debates about the teachings of the Buddha.

We are at the height of winter. There is not a drop of cloud in the blue sky over Lhasa or over most of the Tibetan Plateau.

Lobsang, the Tibetan host highlighted by the Chinese travel agency, tells us that we have arrived at the most genuine time possible, that there must not be even twenty foreigners in all of Tibet.

We soon realize that he feels annoyed at having to work for the invader. Since we arrived, he has been keen to cut the time he dedicates to us as little as possible.

This morning, sunny but icy, as each of the following ones would prove, would be no exception.

"But do you really want to go to Sera?" “You have visited so many monasteries here in Lhasa. Sera is just another one. THE architecture is the same as the others. What they will see there will make little difference to what they found in the previous ones, I assure you.”

Passing through, Sera Monastery, Sacred Debate, Tibet

Believer turns a Tibetan Buddhist wheel as he travels along the long façade of the Sera monastery, illuminated by the sun that often falls on the Tibetan plateau.

Luckily, we had read about the place. We knew what made him distinct. We don't give in. Lobsang then opts for a non-confrontational strategy: “Well, this morning I have to go and deal with the papers of some Germans who are coming in May. If you really want to go there, I'll call you taxis and call a comrade who can accompany you”.

The Short Trip from Lhasa to Sera. In Bell-Rally Mode

Do it without appeal. A few minutes later, two modern cars with Chinese license plates and drivers appear.

That colleague is already in one of them. We got in the front. Ryan, a “valet” (in charge of parking vehicles in hotels, casinos, etc.) North American.

And Jacob, a Swedish teenage student measuring more than 1 meter and 90 who attracted around him groups of Tibetans fascinated by his height were the travel partners we had even met in Chengdu (the capital of the Chinese province of Sichuan). The two of them got into the taxi behind.

The monastery was less than 2 km away. Even so, the driver appeared fully equipped for driving, with gloves and sunglasses. He decided it was more than enough distance to challenge his colleague.

Thus, they traveled the route as if it were a rally competition, with creaky starts and jumps precipitated by the lowered slope of water pipes.

We were still struggling with a terrifying altitude sickness caused by having traveled, in just an hour and a half, from the 500 meters altitude of Chengdu to the 3650 of Lhasa.

Passing through, Sera Monastery, Sacred Debate, Tibet

Passersby pass a building in Sera Monastery, at the foot of Pubuchok Mountain, on the outskirts of Lhasa.

When we got out of the taxis, with the parched mountain of Pubuchok in the background and in the vicinity of the monastery, the conversation remained centered on this theme: “These Chinese really ruin everything! complains Ryan, the only one who had skipped the Chengdu flight:

"I came three days tight on the train to get rid of the headache and it only took a few minutes in that hellish car to feel myself bursting as much or more than you guys!"

The Buttered Tour through the Interior of Sera Monastery

Lobsang's friend invites us to walk along a lane bordered by bare trees and white Tibetan buildings. At the top, we find the main entrance to the monastery, built in 1419 by Jamchen Chojey, disciple of one of the main Buddhist masters of the time.

In order not to vary, it is forbidden to photograph or film the interior and it stinks of yak butter, the fuel chosen by the Tibetans to ensure the lighting and maintenance of the flame in the candles offered by the believers.

Term Sisters, Sera Monastery, Sacred Debate, Tibet

Two women hold terms next to the Sera monastery, in another winter morning of clear but icy skies on the Tibetan plateau

We do the full circuit of the various rooms in the temple. And we followed the exhaustive explanations of the group's newly inducted new guide. At a certain point, we felt the justice of giving at least a partial reason for what Lobsang told us: the dissertation of the guide substitute sounds quite repetitive to us.

Like Lobsang, this friend also refrained from addressing Tibet's sensitive integration by force into the China, let alone Sera's dramatic contribution to the 1959 uprising.

The Damages of the Chinese Invasion Also in Sera Monastery

That year, the Chinese army damaged several of the monastery's colleges and murdered hundreds of the more than 5000 resident monks. after the Dalai Lama have taken refuge in India, many of the survivors took refuge in Bylakuppe, near the Indian city of Mysore, Karnataka state.

There they established a parallel Sera monastery, with its own Buddhist colleges and a Great Assembly Hall with the same architectural lines as the original.

Chimney, Sera Monastery, Sacred Debate, Tibet

Architectural-religious detail of the Sera Monastery.

The assistance of the Indian government has allowed them to settle in them more than 3.000 Tibetan monks who carry out Buddhist missionary activities in India and in several other countries.

Beyond the buddhist architecture and the compassion professed by the Buddha, the monks also took from Tibet the habit of meeting day after day in order to debate, as dialectically as possible, the teachings of their enlightened master.

Juzu, Sera Monastery, Sacred Debate, Tibet

Monk holds a juzu (Buddhist rosary).

From the end of the 600th century, the Gelupga (Yellow Hat) sect of Tibetan Buddhism to which the XNUMX apprentice monks still resisting in Sera belong, became predominant in Tibet. He got used to studying Buddhist doctrines through a step-by-step process.

During their apprenticeship, even lamas should participate in these debates in order to improve their understanding and evolve to more advanced levels of study.

The Buddhist Outdoor Debate Sessions

As a rule, the sessions take place at three in the afternoon, from Monday to Friday. They last an hour and a half. They are only suspended due to a coincident religious celebration or ceremony or extreme bad weather.

Portico, Sera Monastery, Sacred Debate, Tibet

Tibetan portal announces the entrance to the Sera Monastery's debate courtyard.

When we leave the dismal interior of the Buddhist monastery, we come face to face with a door that announces “Debating Courtyard”. In this wide playground, among trees bare by the long winter of the plateau, on a floury gravel, the multiple disputes were already being heard.

Scattered across the courtyard, several nuclei of monks dressed only in their red robes and holding "juzus” (Buddhist rosaries) in their hands, they exchange argument after argument.

Meditation, Sera Monastery, Sacred Debate, Tibet

Monk reflects during an argument with a fellow Buddhist apprentice.

In certain groups, one or two of the religious took the lead. They are closely followed or challenged by small audiences huddled together with relative intimacy. To better express their arguments, these prophets of the occasion pull their interlocutors and sound their juzus.

Or, more often, they repeat the same movement of retreating, advancing and projecting the body forward that ends with an exuberant clapping of the hands.

Projection, Sera Monastery, Sacred Debate, Tibet

Monge launches a new argument with the projection of the body forward and a clap of hands.

The successive “claps” resound throughout the courtyard. They make the authors' hands as red as their costumes. They seem to help convince opponents. When they are forced to recognize the reason, they let out extended “oooooohhhhhs” in chorus.

Then, they go back to analyzing the flaws and virtues of their allegations before the injudicious scrutiny of the public, then mostly Tibetan.

One against all, Sera Monastery, Sacred Debate, Tibet

Crowded monks confront a colleague who proposes a controversial premise

The hour and a half pass. The lamas retreat to the almost spartan comfort of the Sera monastery buildings. Assistance stampedes down the lane.

Motorbikes, Sera Monastery, Sacred Debate, Tibet

Debate spectators leave Sera Monastery on a sui generis motorbike

According to telephone instructions from Lobsang, we return to the center of Lhasa by bus.

The one we climbed is still full.

Among the passengers intrigued by the presence of foreigners and already dressed for another chilling evening, we find the Tibetans' unconditional smiles and their familiar aroma of yak butter.

Dali, China

The Surrealist China of Dali

Embedded in a magical lakeside setting, the ancient capital of the Bai people has remained, until some time ago, a refuge for the backpacker community of travelers. The social and economic changes of China they fomented the invasion of Chinese to discover the southwest corner of the nation.
Bingling Yes, China

The Canyon of a Thousand Buddhas

For more than a millennium and at least seven dynasties, Chinese devotees have extolled their religious belief with the legacy of sculpture in a remote strait of the Yellow River. If you disembark in the Canyon of Thousand Buddhas, you may not find all the sculptures, but you will find a stunning Buddhist shrine.
Tawang, India

The Mystic Valley of Deep Discord

On the northern edge of the Indian province of Arunachal Pradesh, Tawang is home to dramatic mountain scenery, ethnic Mompa villages and majestic Buddhist monasteries. Even if Chinese rivals have not passed him since 1962, Beijing look at this domain as part of your Tibet. Accordingly, religiosity and spiritualism there have long shared with a strong militarism.
Guwahati, India

The City that Worships Kamakhya and the Fertility

Guwahati is the largest city in the state of Assam and in North East India. It is also one of the fastest growing in the world. For Hindus and devout believers in Tantra, it will be no coincidence that Kamakhya, the mother goddess of creation, is worshiped there.
Dunhuang, China

An Oasis in the China of the Sands

Thousands of kilometers west of Beijing, the Great Wall has its western end and the China and other. An unexpected splash of vegetable green breaks up the arid expanse all around. Announces Dunhuang, formerly crucial outpost on the Silk Road, today an intriguing city at the base of Asia's largest sand dunes.
Lhasa, Tibet

When Buddhism Tires of Meditation

It is not only with silence and spiritual retreat that one seeks Nirvana. At the Sera Monastery, the young monks perfect their Buddhist knowledge with lively dialectical confrontations and crackling clapping of hands.

Altitude Sickness: the Grievances of Getting Mountain Sick

When traveling, it happens that we find ourselves confronted with the lack of time to explore a place as unmissable as it is high. Medicine and previous experiences with Altitude Evil dictate that we should not risk ascending in a hurry.
Nara, Japan

The Colossal Cradle of the Japanese Buddhism

Nara has long since ceased to be the capital and its Todai-ji temple has been demoted. But the Great Hall remains the largest ancient wooden building in the world. And it houses the greatest bronze Vairocana Buddha.
Bagan, Myanmar

The Plain of Pagodas, Temples and other Heavenly Redemptions

Burmese religiosity has always been based on a commitment to redemption. In Bagan, wealthy and fearful believers continue to erect pagodas in hopes of winning the benevolence of the gods.
San Cristóbal de las Casas a Campeche, Mexico

A Relay of Faith

The Catholic equivalent of Our Lady of Fátima, Our Lady of Guadalupe moves and moves Mexico. Its faithful cross the country's roads, determined to bring the proof of their faith to the patroness of the Americas.
Kyoto, Japan

A Combustible Faith

During the Shinto celebration of Ohitaki, prayers inscribed on tablets by the Japanese faithful are gathered at the Fushimi temple. There, while being consumed by huge bonfires, her belief is renewed.
Mount Koya, Japan

Halfway to Nirvana

According to some doctrines of Buddhism, it takes several lifetimes to attain enlightenment. The shingon branch claims that you can do it in one. From Mount Koya, it can be even easier.
Residents walk along the trail that runs through plantations above the UP4
City
Gurué, Mozambique, Part 1

Through the Mozambican Lands of Tea

The Portuguese founded Gurué in the 1930th century and, from XNUMX onwards, flooded it with camellia sinensis the foothills of the Namuli Mountains. Later, they renamed it Vila Junqueiro, in honor of its main promoter. With the independence of Mozambique and the civil war, the town regressed. It continues to stand out for the lush green imposing mountains and teak landscapes.
Skipper of one of the bangkas at Raymen Beach Resort during a break from sailing
Beach
Islands Guimaras  e  Ave Maria, Philippines

Towards Ave Maria Island, in a Philippines full of Grace

Discovering the Western Visayas archipelago, we set aside a day to travel from Iloilo along the northwest coast of Guimaras. The beach tour along one of the Philippines’ countless pristine coastlines ends on the stunning Ave Maria Island.
hippopotami, chobe national park, botswana
safari
Chobe NP, Botswana

Chobe: A River on the Border of Life with Death

Chobe marks the divide between Botswana and three of its neighboring countries, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Namibia. But its capricious bed has a far more crucial function than this political delimitation.
Young people walk the main street in Chame, Nepal
Annapurna (circuit)
Annapurna Circuit: 1th - Pokhara a ChameNepal

Finally, on the way

After several days of preparation in Pokhara, we left towards the Himalayas. The walking route only starts in Chame, at 2670 meters of altitude, with the snowy peaks of the Annapurna mountain range already in sight. Until then, we complete a painful but necessary road preamble to its subtropical base.
Architecture & Design
Castles and Fortresses

A Defending World: Castles and Fortresses that Resist

Under threat from enemies from the end of time, the leaders of villages and nations built castles and fortresses. All over the place, military monuments like these continue to resist.
Totems, Botko Village, Malekula, Vanuatu
Aventura
Malekula, Vanuatu

Meat and Bone Cannibalism

Until the early XNUMXth century, man-eaters still feasted on the Vanuatu archipelago. In the village of Botko we find out why European settlers were so afraid of the island of Malekula.
Saida Ksar Ouled Soltane, festival of the ksour, tataouine, tunisia
Ceremonies and Festivities
Tataouine, Tunisia

Festival of the Ksour: Sand Castles That Don't Collapse

The ksour were built as fortifications by the Berbers of North Africa. They resisted Arab invasions and centuries of erosion. Every year, the Festival of the Ksour pays them the due homage.
Casario de Ushuaia, last of the cities, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina
Cities
Ushuaia, Argentina

The Last of the Southern Cities

The capital of Tierra del Fuego marks the southern threshold of civilization. From Ushuaia depart numerous incursions to the frozen continent. None of these play and run adventures compares to life in the final city.
Fogón de Lola, great food, Costa Rica, Guápiles
Lunch time
Fogón de Lola Costa Rica

The Costa Rica Flavour of El Fogón de Lola

As the name suggests, the Fogón de Lola de Guapiles serves dishes prepared on the stove and in the oven, according to Costa Rican family tradition. In particular, Tia Lola's.
scarlet summer
Culture

Valencia to Xativa, Spain

Across Iberia

Leaving aside the modernity of Valencia, we explore the natural and historical settings that the "community" shares with the Mediterranean. The more we travel, the more its bright life seduces us.

Bungee jumping, Queenstown, New Zealand
Sport
Queenstown, New Zealand

Queenstown, the Queen of Extreme Sports

In the century. XVIII, the Kiwi government proclaimed a mining village on the South Island "fit for a queen".Today's extreme scenery and activities reinforce the majestic status of ever-challenging Queenstown.
New South Wales Australia, Beach walk
Traveling
Batemans Bay to Jervis Bay, Australia

New South Wales, from Bay to Bay

With Sydney behind us, we indulged in the Australian “South Coast”. Along 150km, in the company of pelicans, kangaroos and other peculiar creatures aussie, we let ourselves get lost on a coastline cut between stunning beaches and endless eucalyptus groves.
The Great Mosque of Portto Novo, built by Afro-Brazilian Agudás.
Ethnic
Porto Novo, Benin

An Unsafe Harbor at the Afro-Brazilian Crossroads

In 1730, the Portuguese added Porto Novo to their slave trading posts in the Gulf of Guinea and increased the number of slaves sent to Brazil. After Brazil's independence in 1822 and successive revolts, slaves and even slave traders created a movement to return to their African origins. Today, Porto Novo is the capital of Benin and one of the Beninese cities that has been influenced by these so-called slaves. sharp.

ice tunnel, black gold route, Valdez, Alaska, USA
Got2Globe Photo Portfolio
Got2Globe Portfolio

Sensations vs Impressions

Chichen Itza, Yucatan, Mayan History, heads of Kukulkan, El Castillo
History
Chichen Itza, Yucatan, Mexico

On the Edge of the Cenote, at the Heart of the Mayan Civilization

Between the XNUMXth and XNUMXth centuries AD, Chichen Itza stood out as the most important city in the Yucatan Peninsula and the vast Mayan Empire. If the Spanish Conquest precipitated its decline and abandonment, modern history has consecrated its ruins a World Heritage Site and a Wonder of the World.
Visitor risks his life atop the basalt columns of Reynisfjara.
Islands
South of Iceland

South Iceland vs North Atlantic: a Monumental Battle

Volcano slopes and lava flows, glaciers and immense rivers all hang and flow from the high interior of the Land of Fire and Ice to the frigid and often angry ocean. For all these and many other reasons of Nature, the Southland It is the most disputed region in Iceland.
Northern Lights, Laponia, Rovaniemi, Finland, Fire Fox
Winter White
Lapland, Finland

In Search of the Fire Fox

Unique to the heights of the Earth are the northern or southern auroras, light phenomena generated by solar explosions. You Sami natives from Lapland they believed it to be a fiery fox that spread sparkles in the sky. Whatever they are, not even the nearly 30 degrees below zero that were felt in the far north of Finland could deter us from admiring them.
José Saramago in Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain, Glorieta de Saramago
Literature
Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain

José Saramago's Basalt Raft

In 1993, frustrated by the Portuguese government's disregard for his work “The Gospel According to Jesus Christ”, Saramago moved with his wife Pilar del Río to Lanzarote. Back on this somewhat extraterrestrial Canary Island, we visited his home. And the refuge from the portuguese censorship that haunted the writer.
Pitões das Junias, Montalegre, Portugal
Nature
Montalegre, Portugal

Through Alto do Barroso, Top of Trás-os-Montes

we moved from Terras de Bouro for those of Barroso. Based in Montalegre, we wander around the discovery of Paredes do Rio, Tourém, Pitões das Júnias and its monastery, stunning villages on the border of Portugal. If it is true that Barroso has had more inhabitants, visitors should not miss it.
Sheki, Autumn in the Caucasus, Azerbaijan, Autumn Homes
Autumn
Sheki, Azerbaijan

autumn in the caucasus

Lost among the snowy mountains that separate Europe from Asia, Sheki is one of Azerbaijan's most iconic towns. Its largely silky history includes periods of great harshness. When we visited it, autumn pastels added color to a peculiar post-Soviet and Muslim life.
Agua Grande Platform, Iguacu Falls, Brazil, Argentina
Natural Parks
Iguazu/Iguazu Falls, Brazil/Argentina

The Great Water Thunder

After a long tropical journey, the Iguaçu River gives a dip for diving. There, on the border between Brazil and Argentina, form the largest and most impressive waterfalls on the face of the Earth.
Albreda, Gambia, Queue
UNESCO World Heritage
Barra a Kunta Kinteh, Gâmbia

Journey to the Origins of the Transatlantic Slave Trade

One of the main commercial arteries of West Africa, in the middle of the XNUMXth century, the Gambia River was already navigated by Portuguese explorers. Until the XNUMXth century, much of the slavery perpetrated by the colonial powers of the Old World flowed along its waters and banks.
now from above ladder, sorcerer of new zealand, Christchurch, new zealand
Characters
Christchurch, New Zealand

New Zealand's Cursed Wizard

Despite his notoriety in the antipodes, Ian Channell, the New Zealand sorcerer, failed to predict or prevent several earthquakes that struck Christchurch. At the age of 88, after 23 years of contract with the city, he made very controversial statements and ended up fired.
Martinique island, French Antilles, Caribbean Monument Cap 110
Beaches
Martinique, French Antilles

The Armpit Baguette Caribbean

We move around Martinique as freely as the Euro and the tricolor flags fly supreme. But this piece of France is volcanic and lush. Lies in the insular heart of the Americas and has a delicious taste of Africa.
shadow vs light
Religion
Kyoto, Japan

The Kyoto Temple Reborn from the Ashes

The Golden Pavilion has been spared destruction several times throughout history, including that of US-dropped bombs, but it did not withstand the mental disturbance of Hayashi Yoken. When we admired him, he looked like never before.
Back in the sun. San Francisco Cable Cars, Life Ups and Downs
On Rails
San Francisco, USA

San Francisco Cable Cars: A Life of Highs and Lows

A macabre wagon accident inspired the San Francisco cable car saga. Today, these relics work as a charm operation in the city of fog, but they also have their risks.
Police intervention, ultra-Orthodox Jews, Jaffa, Tel Aviv, Israel
Society
Jaffa, Israel

Unorthodox protests

A building in Jaffa, Tel Aviv, threatened to desecrate what ultra-Orthodox Jews thought were remnants of their ancestors. And even the revelation that they were pagan tombs did not deter them from the contestation.
Busy intersection of Tokyo, Japan
Daily life
Tokyo, Japan

The Endless Night of the Rising Sun Capital

Say that Tokyo do not sleep is an understatement. In one of the largest and most sophisticated cities on the face of the Earth, twilight marks only the renewal of the frenetic daily life. And there are millions of souls that either find no place in the sun, or make more sense in the “dark” and obscure turns that follow.
Pisteiro San in action at Torra Conservancy, Namibia
Wildlife
Palmwag, Namíbia

In Search of Rhinos

We set off from the heart of the oasis generated by the Uniab River, home to the largest number of black rhinos in southwest Africa. In the footsteps of a bushman tracker, we follow a stealthy specimen, dazzled by a setting with a Martian feel.
Napali Coast and Waimea Canyon, Kauai, Hawaii Wrinkles
Scenic Flights
napali coast, Hawaii

Hawaii's Dazzling Wrinkles

Kauai is the greenest and rainiest island in the Hawaiian archipelago. It is also the oldest. As we explore its Napalo Coast by land, sea and air, we are amazed to see how the passage of millennia has only favored it.