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Conversation with a Prostrating Pilgrim
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October 5, 2000
Dear Friends of the Kham Aid Foundation,
Yesterday we reached Litang, and after attending to some project issues we paid a visit to Litang Monastery. There we met a remarkable traveler, Tenzin Dendrup, who is making a pilgrimage to Lhasa by means of prostrations.
For those who may not be familiar with this Buddhist practice, let me explain briefly what it's about. In Tibet, a pilgrimage to a sacred site, or a circumambulation around one, is undertaken by Buddhists because they believe that such acts have great merit and generate good karma, not only for the pilgrim, but for all sentient beings. The journey may take fifteen minutes, if it is a circumambulation around a local shrine such as a stupa. Or it may take years, if it is an overland journey to Lhasa's Jokhang Temple, the most sacred shrine in Tibet. The difficulty of the journey--and thus the amount of merit generated by it--varies according to the means of transportation: air, bus, bicycle, horseback, or foot. The most difficult--and most meritorious--way to travel is by means of prostrations. In each prostration, the traveler stretches at full length upon the road, touching the furthest place they can reach with their fingertips, chanting a mantra as they do so. Then they stand up and walk to that place, and begin another prostration. The result is that the traveler's body touches every millimeter of the sacred road along the sacred journey.
It is, indeed, a rigorous way to travel. One often sees prostrators on the Barkhor, making a small circuit around the Jokhang Temple. Less often, I have seen them on the highways in Kham. (One encounter with a group of prostrators is described in my book "Among Warriors.") Yesterday, in Litang, was the first time I had a chance to interview one, with the assistance of a translator. So let me tell you about the journey of Tenzin Dendrup.
His home is in Bamei, Dawu County, which is one of Kham's easternmost regions, and thus about as far from Lhasa as any Tibetan place can be. But he didn't start there; he traveled a little ways down the road to Tagong (Lhagang), where the monastery has a Jowo image like that in Lhasa, said to have been left there by princess Wencheng on her journey to the Tibetan capital to marry King Songtsen Gampo in the 7th century. By starting his pilgrimage here, Tenzin Dendrup could travel from one Jowo to the other. He began one year ago.
Tenzin is 28 years old, a monk of Rasha Monastery, which belongs to the Nyingma sect and is the root monastery of Dzogchen, in Derge. Tenzin's family consists of a father and married sister; his mother died when he was one year old. Because they are illiterate, he does not write letters to them; nor do they send any kind of support.
He calculates that he performs 500 prostrations for each kilometer. The total journey is 2000 km, for a total of one million prostrations. Not only that, but even during his month of "rest" in Litang, he is still performing 2500-3000 stationary prostrations every day. Sometimes illness or hunger or exhaustion compels him to pause for a few days at places along his route, or he stops to pay respects to a sacred temple, lake, or mountain.
Tenzin travels alone, depending on people he meets to give him food or cash for his daily needs. At each meal he eats three bowls of tsampa, and when people are generous then he can eat three times a day. Sometimes, however, he must make do with only one or two meals a day. He sleeps "anywhere," sometimes in a cave, often in the open, and carries only a blanket to stay warm.
Why did he undertake this journey? He says, "I'm 28 years old and before this journey I felt I never did anything worthwhile with my life. I feel regret for past actions, such as (accidentally) killing insects, and that I couldn't help my mother when she died. During this pilgrimage, these feelings of guilt and regret are gradually lessening. I feel cleaner now, and have greater peace of mind than at any time before in my life."
"Sometimes I have weak moments, such as when I'm hungry and I (break down and) beg people for food. But compared to before, I have a much cleaner spirit, and I'm much happier."
Tenzin expects to be on the road for about a year more. When he reaches Lhasa, he will go directly to the Jokhang Temple to pay his respects to the great Jowo shrine.
"While I'm prostrating, I feel very grateful that I'm alive to make this pilgrimage. As long as I don't die from robbery or sickness or some other cause during this journey, I'm truly a fortunate person. "
Thank you to Tseren Penlo and Siou Shiyin for translation of Tenzin Dendrup's words!