Tibet

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Tibet

an autonomous region of SW China: Europeans strictly excluded in the 19th century; invaded by China in 1950; rebellion (1959) against Chinese rule suppressed and the Dalai Lama fled to India; military rule imposed (1989--90) after continued demands for independence; consists largely of a vast high plateau between the Himalayas and Kunlun Mountains; formerly a theocracy and the centre of Lamaism. Capital: Lhasa. Pop.: 2 700 000 (2003 est.). Area: 1 221 601 sq. km (471 660 sq. miles)

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

Buddhist monks in Tibet are taught from a young age the importance of dreams and the stages of sleep.

Tibet

(dreams)

In Tibet it is believed that various deities and demons produce dreams. Various Buddhist tantras (texts dealing with techniques and rituals, including meditative and sexual practices) agree auspicious dreams that come true indicate the approach of a tutelary (guardian) deity and success in the meditative process, whereas bad dreams indicate that both the deity and success are far away.

Among auspicious dreams, sunrise and the scattering of darkness indicates happiness with oneself and one’s country. Dreams of hearing tales of praise while surrounded by a group of servants bode well for moving upward in society. Among bad dreams, a house that caves in or is ruined by fire reveals fears for occupants of the house.

Buddhist tantras assert that a subtle energy passing up and down the central channel of the body generates the four states common to the Upanishadic tradition of waking, dream, deep sleep, and “the state beyond the first three.” The production of an artificial dream state, often called “purifying or exerting the dream,” is very common in the Buddhist tantras. Tantric manipulations of the dream state aim to mix the states of dream, deep sleep, and waking to attain the fourth state. These techniques are practiced especially by Tibetan lamas.

Lucid dreaming, which is the awareness of dreaming while in the dream state, is discussed in a number of ancient Tibetan Buddhist texts, and its teaching is one of the six yogas attributed to the Indian tantric Buddhist teacher Naropa. The teacher Marpa introduced the six yogas, including lucid dreaming, to Tibet in the eleventh century.

The six yogas of Naropa are (1) heat yoga, the creation of bodily heat through yogic practices; (2) the illusory body, in which yogic postures and visualizations show that all phenomena are like dreams and are void; (3) lucid dreaming; (4) the clear light, in which some practices are initiated during wakefulness or while dreaming to achieve the experience of clear light; (5) the death state; and (6) the consciousness transference, in which instructions are given to transfer one’s consciousness to divine realms or into a living or dead body.

Tibetan lamas do not consider lucid dreaming itself to be a form of meditation, but rather a means of accessing the dream state to learn the doctrine of illusion, to create buddhas to listen to, or to practice meditation in the dream. The ultimate aim of meditation is to achieve nirvana, the transcendence of one’s awareness of individuality and liberation from repeated rebirths (reincarnation).

Mystery Play (Elche)

August 14-15

El Misterio d'Elx, or the Mystery Play of Elche, is a medieval drama about the death and assumption of the Virgin Mary that takes place in August on the Feast of the Assumption in Elche, a town in Valencia, Spain. The first part of the play is performed on August 14, the day before the feast, and it deals with the death of the Virgin and the ascension of her soul to heaven on a throne, or araceli, carried by five angels. In the second part, performed on August 15, the Virgin is buried and the Gate of Heaven opens. The araceli descends a second time and takes the Virgin away. She is crowned at the heavenly portal while organ music plays, bells ring, and firecrackers explode.
The mystery play is performed from a raised platform in the sanctuary of the Church of La Merced. It is considered by many to be one of Spain's greatest religious dramatic survivals, and it is believed to date back to the early 13th century.

CONTACTS:
Valencia Tourist Office
Communitat Valenciana, Aptdo. de Correos 48
Burjassot, 46100 Spain
34-902-123-212; fax: 34-902-220-211
www.comunitat-valenciana.com

SOURCES:
FestEur-1961, p. 141
FestWestEur-1958, p. 203
SpanFiestas-1968, p. 164

Mystery Play (Tibet)

January-February; last day of Tibetan year

Originally performed by a devil-dancing cult to drive out the old year along with its demons and human enemies, this annual dramatic presentation was known to Tibetans as the Dance of the Red-Tiger Devil and to Europeans as the Pageant of the Lamas or the Mystery Play of Tibet. Under Buddhist influence, it was seen as symbolizing the triumph of the Indian missionary monks, led by Padmasambhava ( see also Hemis Festival and Paro Tshechu), over pagan devils, and more recently, it has been changed to represent the assassination of Lang-darma, the king who tried to rid Tibet of Lamaism. Despite its many transformations over the years, however, the play continues to retain the devil-dancing features of its earliest form.
It is performed on the last day of the year in the courtyards of Buddhist temples or monasteries and continues for two days. A group of priests in black miters is confronted by one group of demons after another, which they manage to exorcize. On the second day, a dough effigy representing the enemies of Tibet and Lamaism is dismembered and disemboweled. Pieces of the effigy are thrown to the audience, who eat them or keep them to use as talismans. The play is followed by a burnt offering and a procession.
See also Losar

CONTACTS:
Office of Tibet
Tibet House, 1 Culworth St.
London, NW8 7AF United Kingdom
44-20-7722-5378; fax: 44-20-7722-0362
www.tibet.com

SOURCES:
DictFolkMyth-1984, p. 777 (c)

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Tibet

(in Tibetan, Bod), a land in Central Asia, in the Tibetan Highlands. Tibet is traditionally divided into the Dbus-Gtsang (central and western Tibet), A-mdo (northeastern Tibet), and Khams (eastern and southeastern Tibet) regions. Administratively, Tibet is divided between the Tibetan Autonomous Region and the neighboring provinces of the People’s Republic of China, where several autonomous districts and cantons have been formed.

References in periodicals archive ?

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Lhasa's population took to the streets, proclaiming Tibet's independence.

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China said a week ago it would reopen Tibet to foreign travelers soon.

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In that speech, the Dalai Lama made a five-point proposal for resolving the Tibet question that was well-received in the United States and had significant consequences on congressional attitudes toward Tibet.

The Tibetan Policy Act of 2002: background and implementation

The essentially narcissistic focus of Free Tibet campaigners is revealed in their two main obsessions: passionate opposition to China's modernization of the Himalayan kingdom and outrage that Beijing will not allow the Dalai Lama to return and assume his "rightful" position as Tibet's leader.

Radical chic: why liberals love Tibet

"We all understand the significance of providing better service for Indians, who undertake the pilgrimage in Tibet. We will maintain this policy and do what we can to make Indians visiting Tibet feel at home," Xiaobo said.

Tibet can play an important role in promoting India-China ties

Branstad met Chinese government officials and Tibetan religious and cultural figures, and "raised our long-standing concerns about lack of consistent access" to Tibet, the U.S.

US ambassador urges China to talk to the Dalai Lama

Tibet was forcibly annexed by the People's Republic in China in 1950 after officials were made to sign a 'Seventeen Point Agreement' that handed Tibet's sovereignty over to China in exchange for 'protection' and regional autonomy.

Activists in Taiwan march to support human rights and freedom for Tibet

The religious people of Tibet faced oppression under China's communist government, who passed the anti-religious legislation.