Butter Lamp Marathon
Drepung Monastery, a few miles outside of Lhasa 2007
A pious Buddhist woman rushes past prayer wheels carrying a thermos of ghee. She wants to contribute some ghee to the lamps flickering at each shrine in the rambling monastery and she must run to carry out her act of devotion.
Pouring ghee into butter lamps is similar to putting money in the box under the votive candles in Orthodox or Roman Catholic churches. I love the custom. Lighting a candle or adding ghee to a butter lamp adds solemnity to your prayers.
Portrait of a Tibetan
An old woman from the countryside, smiles sweetly at me. A second before, she had stuck her tongue out at me. It’s the way Tibetans greeted each other in times past. She still had the custom. It was a bit of a shock, but I sensed that she was friendly.