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A day at Kewzing Gompa
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The abbot of Kewzing gompa, who, if I am not mistaken, is a cousin of Wanchuk's mom, gave us permission to take photos and to make sound recordings at today's funeral rites/memorial service (Shapten). The abbot is a stern-looking but kind man, and we are free to do anything we want as long as we don't disrupt the service. The deceased was an older woman from Kewzing, and her family paid for the day of prayers. The service started early in the morning but we came by shortly before lunch. The first segment of the service was over, there were only a few people in the temple, and we had enough time to set up our equipment (Zoom H4 digital sound recorder), and to take a few pictures of the temple and the accouterments.
We had a tasty vegetarian lunch. I noticed that women sat in a their own group, not mixing with men. Wanchuk struck (and recorded) a conversation with an old Bhutia man who spoke about sacred caves in the West of Sikkim.
This old man and the women are lay-persons who participate in the service: while monks chant and play musical instruments in the main temple, these folks sit in a nearby chapel turning prayer wheels and chanting. Prayer wheels are of two kinds: hand-held—small and portable, and gigantics stationary ones.
We left the chapel and went back to the temple just in time; ringing of the small bells indicated that the service resumed.
In the temple, the lamas sit on both sides, seemingly according to their rank/age. The youngest (6…7?) blow conch-shells, the ones a little older (10…12?) play drums and assist the abbot, and young men play gyalings and cymbals. The ritual is unbelievably, incredibly elaborate (anyone who says Buddhism is not a religion but merely a way of life is either a fool or an ignoramus). It was fascinating to look at the abbot's hands: evidently, every little gesture means something. The chanting and music were mesmerizing and somehow consoling. The tranquil state of immersion into a timeless ritual was, however, interrupted several times by an electronic signal of one of the lamas' mobile phone that he forgot to turn off.
Young monks train on the job: the abbot directs his young assistants what to do, where to put various implements, etc. This involves quite a lot of activities, and poor guys messed up a few times. The after-lunch ceremony we attended lasted for three hours and consisted of three segments. The family came only for the last one and then temporarily left the temple, while the lamas concluded the service with the wonderfully serene final part that included playing music upstairs. Unfortunately, I couldn't record the very end of the service because the memory card of the sound recorder got full. Incidentally, it is quite challenging to record a Sikkimese Buddhist service: while chanting is soft, the sound of gyalings, drums, and cymbals is extremely loud.
When the family came in again they made a donation to the monastery. Each lama got paid, and food offerings were divided and given to each lama to take home. Interestingly, many, if not most, lamas are not full-time monks: they have their “civilian” lives where they carry on their trade/profession; also, they can marry and have children.
Afterwards we took photographs of the monks and talked a bit with the abbot. I asked about the meaning of that part of the ceremony when he unveiled a small piece of parchment or silk that looked like a miniature sail and burned it. The young lama then mixed the ashes with mud, used a small stupa to mold the mix into the shape of a chorten, and carried it out of the temple. The abbot said the little prayer flag that was burned represented the sins of the deceased. I asked what order the monastery belonged to. The Kewzing gompa belongs to the Nyingmapa school.
Interestingly, one of the lamas who participated in today's ceremony also took part in the funeral at the Bon monastery. Maybe lama Tenzing was right: there is no difference between the branches. Or maybe there is a shortage of qualified lamas :)
At home we downloaded the photos we took earlier today to our Macs and headed back to the gompa. The abbot gathered the monks in a big room, and we played a slideshow for them. Afterwards, we went to the second floor of the chapel where the lamas played radung, gyaling, and drums. After playing in one cardinal direction they walked 90 degrees clockwise and played again in the next direction. They did so three times. The lights went out, and the sound was floating towards the dark silhouettes of the mountains under the moonlight diffused by the clouds—it doesn't get better than that. We went back, and one of the lamas joined us for for a while before he took another turn of the road.
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