In
the midst of the lovely prayer flag field, we looked at Lhasa from the
mountains hugging the growing town. We were surrounded by Sanskrit-covered
flags that were overlaid with various mantras. The wind was lively in
such a high place and was responsible for the flags’ echoing crackle
sounds. Some of the flags were vibrantly new; some revealed their old
age with their sun-baked streaks and knotted tatters. The ground was
covered with a stubborn sea of them. Walking through the field was
cushioned but begged for cautioned steps. We quickly learned that there
could be holes or unsteady rocks that were hiding beneath the flags.
A
little further down and at the heart of the Himalayan field was a
raised mound that resembled a chimney. It was earthy and imperfect but
its view of the valley was glorious. When we went to look at it, we
found over a dozen small clay trinkets nestled at its highest point.
The trinkets were incomplete because they had not been put through a
kiln. To the touch, the clay was still wet and very delicate. Some were
whole and some were crumbling. All of the stone-sized tiles were
neatly stamped with enlightened Buddha figures and all were splashed
with modest, random bits of gold paint. These tiny tiles struck me as
products of celebrated spirituality and ritual that were so thoughtfully
crafted, carried, and placed in a site of alluring dramatic beauty and
peacefulness. The serendipitous discovery of the trinkets was like
stumbling upon hidden treasure. But before long, we continued hiking
towards the nunnery.
It
has been a few years since that mystifying hike near Lhasa. Since
then, I’ve thrown myself into other nations that have been shaped by
Buddhism. The traveler in me is drawn to such mystic places, but what I
am most interested in is how these Buddhist societies are going about
nation building, modernization, and development. What is amazing to me
is having recognized various derivatives of Lhasa’s small clay Buddha
tiles in places like Bhutan, Western China, and Mongolia. Buddhism has
so many different forms and has been interpreted, accepted, applied
depending on the societal context. In many ways, the trinkets symbolize
this characteristic: different in art form, nuances, symbolism; similar
in tradition, application, ritual.
Another
component I found striking takes on more of a historical tone. During
the age of colonialism, these scattered nations of Asia came into
contact with the British Empire and were heavily impacted by
imperialism. However, as I stood in the Himalayan Mountains,
overlooking the small Lhasa town of pastel blue rooftops and brown
colored structures with rare bits of red, I realized how untouched the
Tibetan Plateau seemed to be, despite the complicated relationship with
China. I learned later that the link between the British and Tibet
happened over the course of only two years. It started with a British
intervention in 1903, and ended with The Treaty of Lhasa in 1904. This
treaty and the 1906 Anglo-Chinese Convention are significant links that
explain much of the knotted political influence and China’s role as an
authoritarian entity. The justification for the intervention on the
British side was born out of fear of the Dalai Lama’s appeal for Russian
protection at the turn of the 20th
century. The fear of Tibet entering a Russian sphere of influence and
losing a significant buffer state for India was the catalyst for the
British to engage with the Chinese and to send an imperial army into
lands of yaks, sherpas, and thin air.
To
achieve monetary gains, British colonialism and imperialistic
intervention took on a business model. The East India Company sought to
extract rare dyes, salt, cotton, silk, and opium from countries across
Asia in order to engage in trade. Shuffling materials around the globe
reaps profit, especially when selling such precious goods from far off,
exotic places. As the British grew in influence and as she grew in
wealth, the power that the empire had throughout Asia grew
exponentially. British influence evolved into colonization of nations
like modern day India, Pakistan, Myanmar (Burma), Cambodia, Iraq, and
Egypt. British influence in China resulted in multiple rebellions of
the peasantry class, addicting one of the world’s largest nations to
opium, and weakening the Qing Dynasty.
I
have thrown myself into two countries that were unaffected by British
intervention. Although relatively untouched as they develop and
modernize in this increasingly fast-paced world, both Bhutan and
Mongolia have been heavily influenced by their comparatively large
neighbors.
My
interest in Bhutan started when I discovered their concept of Gross
National Happiness (GNH), as a counterpart to the western economic
measurement Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The very notion that this
tiny nation, which finds itself wedged between two of the world’s
fastest growing economies was successfully applying such a beautiful
concept grabbed my attention. How could the measurement of a value term
like ‘happiness’ be done objectively by a political entity? And how
could the government transform an abstract term into something that is
defined and actually measurable? I learned that Bhutan is very aware of
the dangers of modernization and the government has assumed a
protective role for the society’s wellbeing. Based on core Buddhist and
human values, GNH is defined by four pillars: good governance,
sustainable socio-economic development, cultural preservation, and
environmental conservation.
There
are only eight pilots in the world that are certified to fly through
Bhutan’s captivating Himalayan Mountains. My plane twisted and turned
as it negotiated its way through the narrow, empty crevices between
mountains. As we landed at the International Airport of Paro, I took in
the scene of steep cliffs covered in blue pine trees with random
splashes of wildflowers and cherry blossoms. Not long after, we met our
guides. Over the course of three days, my guides helped me to
understand the relationship that Bhutan has with Mahayana Buddhism and
India. Buddhism first came from India, but over centuries the belief
evolved into two major schools: Theravada and Mahayana. Bhutan believes
in the latter, which is less focused on an individual’s journey to
liberation, but rather about compassion and the liberalization of all
living things. The Mahayana teachings were developed in northern India
before pouring out, northbound, towards the Silk Road. Traveling along
the major artery through the heart of China, Mahayana teachings
transformed ideas, rituals, and beliefs in Tibet, Bhutan, Japan, China,
and Korea. In later centuries, the Vajrayana teachings emerged from the
Mahayana school. Vajrayana, or Tantric Buddhism, was embraced in Tibet
and over the centuries it divided into various schools, each with its
own philosophical, social, and political outlook. Despite the
differences between the Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana schools, they
each embrace the Buddhist concept of linking ignorance with
enlightenment in order to achieve liberalization. Through their own
rituals and teachings, they seek to break the cycle of suffering to
enter a space of freedom.
The Bhutanese call themselves and their language druk.
In English, this translates into meaning the people of the dragon.
Their national flag is a simple design: divided diagonally with yellow
on the top left side, orange on the bottom right, with the white thunder
dragon placed in the center. In the early 1900’s, Bhutan elected its
first Dragon King as head of state. Due to the increasing Chinese
influence in Tibet, the king realized the importance of maintaining
healthy relations with the British and colonial India. In 1910, The
Treaty of Punakha stated that the British government would not interfere
with the internal administration of Bhutan. The treaty also maintained
that Bhutan would be guided by advice from the British Government. The
Bhutanese refused to allow British residency and managed to maintain a
policy of isolation to protect its own sovereignty during an era where
much of the world was being carved up and colonized.
The
storm of World War II struck, yet left Bhutan unharmed and unaffected.
For Bhutan, the biggest impact of World War II was that the world was
entering an era of decolonization, thus giving India its independence in
1947. In the 1960’s, India began to realize the importance of its
textile industry as well as the importance of wheat as an exportable
good. During this time, Mao Zedong was leading China towards the
Cultural Revolution, and in 1959 the Red Guards invaded and took control
of Tibet. This event inspired the Third King of Bhutan to end the
nation’s isolationist policy and instead move towards planned
development. He realized that modernization and building international
relations was the key for Bhutan to preserve its sovereignty in this
fast-paced contemporary world. Equally as important, he understood the
value of establishing an identity for Bhutan that would be
internationally recognized. The Third King of Bhutan is known as “The
King of Modernization,” as he is credited for Bhutan’s entry into the
United Nations and for establishing formal diplomatic ties with India by
1971. Leading up to these international developments, Nehru agreed to
help finance and construct the Chhukha hydroelectric project in western
Bhutan. Today, generating hydroelectric power is Bhutan’s number one
industry, followed by tourism. While the sustainable power is used to
fuel Bhutan’s population, close to 75% of it is generated, exported, and
sold to India, the world’s most densely populated country.
With
respect to development and modernization, the relationship between
Bhutan and India is unique. Bhutan began to modernize soon after India
was entering a new era of its own – an era of independence. The
liberation of ending British rule in India came with traumatic
predicaments: the creation of the Islamic state of Pakistan, the exodus
of much of the Muslim population, and establishing an agricultural model
that could feed the entire domestic population. Nehru realized that no
modern nation became wealthy by using agriculture and textiles as its
primary industry and leading exportable goods. He realized that to get
India out of poverty, they would have to industrialize. With the
leadership of Nehru and his daughter Indira Gandhi, India became an
industrialized nation within the span of just one generation. While
this quick turnaround did raise the standard of living and improved
education standards, there were many reactions and widespread societal
consequences due to the rapid changes.
Bhutan
found itself in a situation where it could concentrate on learning from
India’s development successes, policies, and techniques. Not only was
Bhutan able to focus on developing a strong internal identity as it
avoided colonization, but it is also blessed with its many snow and
glacial-fed rivers. In addition, it is filled with abundant minerals
and mining potential. Perhaps as a reaction to its large, rapidly
developing, and electricity-hungry neighbors, Bhutan is a global leader
in conservation projects. Despite its great mining potential, the
nation has decided to leave the earth’s resources untapped for future
generations to use.
Nomadic,
landlocked Mongolia has had to make decisions about how it fits into
the modern world as well. I remember riding the Trans Siberian Railroad
from Beijing to Ulaanbaatar. Everything about that train ride was
surreal: The crowded, congested train station; Feeling as if we were
tiny fish swimming upstream a sea of people to get to our train;
Watching the landscape shift as the train left chaotic, tall, fast
Beijing, and approached the vast emptiness of the Gobi Dessert, and
eventually spilled into the lush open areas of wild horses, clear skies,
and tiny clusters of gers. The old stomping grounds of some of the
most glorious rulers of the world like Genghis Khan and Kublai Khan come
from the Mongolian steppe. But rather than facing colonization by the
British, Mongolia was part of the Chinese Qing Dynasty for over 200
years. When the Qing dynasty collapsed in 1911, Mongolia claimed its
independence, only to be invaded by Soviet Russia and made into a
satellite state. Mongolia did not achieve its independence until 1990.
Thereafter, it established a new constitution, a democratic system, and a
market economy. Currently, approximately half of the nation’s
population is concentrated in the Ulaanbaatar capital. The capital is
maturing quickly, and offers a strange mixture of dust, pot-holed roads,
and BMW dealerships; tall apartment complexes, single-story houses
accompanied with backyard gers, ger slums on the very outskirts of the
town. The range of languages was incredible as well. As we walked
around Ulaanbaatar, we saw the uchen Tibetan cursive, Russian Cyrillic,
Mongolian script, Chinese, and English. Depending on the history behind
the place and how modern it was would determine the languages seen. In
old temples, it was normally a combination of the horizontal Uchen
Tibetan script, complimented by the vertical cursive writings of the
Mongolians. Advertisements, city centers, directions, and bathroom
signs were always in English. Street signs, directions, names, product
descriptions were written in both Russian Cyrillic and the Mongolian
script.
The
clash of old, established beliefs with Mongolia’s modern history of
gaining Independence from China, only to be occupied by communist Russia
until the 1990’s has created a dynamic society that has multiple
identities surging through its city dwellers and its nomads. In
comparison to Bhutan, Mongolia is not as concerned with conservation.
In actuality, mining and the oil industry is the ticket that Mongolia
has used to modernize and to improve its economy. Many Russian,
Canadian, and Chinese businesses have established branches in Mongolia
to take part in Mongolia’s rising mining industry.
Mongolia’s
belief in Buddhism has not been as consistent as that of Bhutan.
During the Soviet occupation, not only was livestock collectivized, but
also during the Stalinist repressions monks were persecuted and many
Buddhist monasteries were destroyed. Although the Soviets defended
Mongolia from Japanese aggression during the Soviet-Japanese Boarder War
in 1939, the obliteration of the national religion was devastating for
the population, and was developmentally shaping for the relatively
modern spiritual outlook of the youths. Mongolian culture is like that
of a shape-shifting, ever-morphing ameba. Their historical outlook
towards religion has been open and willing to absorb multiple outlooks
on spirituality. During the reign of the Mongol Empire, leaders like
Genghis Khan and Kublai Khan did not control conquered lands by
projecting and forcing their beliefs onto the new Mongol societies.
Rather, they married into the society in order to maintain loyal bonds
and established well-defined social positions to maintain order. This
resulted in an exchange of culture, outlooks, language, and belief
systems. The Mongolian Empire housed spiritual orientations ranging
from Shamanism, to Christianity; and from Buddhism to Islam. Mongolia
has been shaped by a mixture of Shamanism and Buddhism, but this unique
openness to other cultures and societies has been incredibly shaping for
its identity and its history. However, the Stalinist occupation was
disruptive with respect to practicing rituals and passing down
collective, national memories to the next generation.
Mongolia
was entrenched, persecuted, and monitored by communist Soviet Russia
during the age of colonialism. At the end of the Soviet regime,
Mongolia lacked exposure to an empire that had a parliament and open
market system. Since the 1990’s, Mongolia has had to learn what to do
with its resources and how to transform its culturally scattered and
politically centralized nation into one that follows a democratic
system.
Bhutanese
and Mongolian cultures, heritage, and histories have been affected by
Buddhism for centuries. However, the way that Buddhism shaped the
pre-existing social systems is different, as was Buddhism’s impact on
nurturing distinct national perspectives. In addition to the
differences in spiritual and moral cultivation, the modern history of
Soviet intervention in Mongolia and Bhutan’s right to sovereignty
impacted the nation building of the two developing countries. For
Bhutan, the events that played out between Tibet and China encouraged
them to instead nurture a healthy international relationship with India.
Bhutan was able to develop its own identity during its era of
isolation, yet quickly transitioned to learn from the modern world, and
India’s nation building process. For Mongolia, although it avoided
colonization by the British as well, it was ruled by two very
centralized regimes. Imperialization left Mongolia unaffected, but at
the cost of Soviet influence, and religious persecution. With respect to
nation building, both have created their own interpretation of
liberalized democratic systems that operate within an open market
society.
