The region’s first Buddhist monastery is a complex of chapels and stupa towers from a vast mandala – a symbolic and spiritual representation of the whole universe
The region’s first Buddhist monastery is a complex of chapels and stupa towers that form a symbolic and spiritual representation of the whole universeurrounded by the bright green and gold of barley fields, the braided channels of the Yarlung Tsangpo River, and mountains rising beyond, Samye is Tibet’s first Buddhist monastery. Founded in 775, the complex of chapels and stupa towers form a vast mandala – a symbolic and spiritual representation of the whole universe.
In the middle is a hall representing Mount Meru, the sacred mountain, the centre of everything. The ground floor of the hall is Tibetan in design, the first floor Chinese, the uppermost is Khotanese . Walls are painted bright reds, yellows and whites, echoed in the vivid colours of prayer flags and sacred textiles, and gaudy images of demons – Tibetan Buddhism isn’t soft and quiet, it’s visceral and energetic.
Samye was a particular target of suppression during the Chinese Cultural Revolution in the 1960s. It languished for decades, but since 2010 it’s been the focus of a careful restoration project. When I visited in 2016 to film a documentary, one of the traditional roofs was being repaired. I was invited to join the work team, an army of 50 or so eclectically dressed Tibetans who’d given some of their holiday time to come and work on the historic buildings..
I asked some of the roof stampers if they were giving their time to the monastery because they wanted to keep Tibetan history alive. They shook their heads and smiled – the question was too political to answer. Were they proud of their role in rebuilding this ancient monastery? They frowned at me in puzzlement – to express pride would be to make it about the self, and this work was about emancipation from self. These hours stamping aga were shuffling steps towards Enlightenment.
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