We visited the Tibetan temple pretty soon after arriving in McLeod. I think it was the same day we went around the Kora with our host parents. After our second time around the Kora, they took us inside the temple grounds.
The building and the grounds surrounding it is quite large; a big courtyard down below and a large balcony up on the second floor. The temple itself or at least the main room of the temple is up on the second floor and is fairly small. The balcony going around the temple room acts as a mini-Kora and many people come to do these shorter laps that circle around the main room of the temple.
After a few passes around with our host parents they took us inside. Like most religious or holy places in India, we first took off our shoes before entering the room. It was a small space. At the front, as I’ve seen in all Buddhist temples, was a large figure of Buddha. Not the plump jolly Buddha that many people think of, but the slender, peaceful-looking, meditating Buddha, with a golden body and blue hair stacked on top of his head. Several packaged food offerings sat on a small alter in front of him, including Sugar Crackers, which were some of our favorites in India.
Off to the right was another figure with many heads stacked on top of each other. This we were told was the God of Compassion, or, as we more commonly know him in his human incarnation, His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
It was an interesting moment seeing this large mythical-looking figure and realizing that it was the same person as the jovial, elderly Tibetan leader living in this very town.
Also in the temple, lining tall shelves along the walls, were hundreds of colorful little bags. I asked my Pa-la what they were and he said that each bag contained pages and pages of Tibetan Buddhist scriptures. I kind of wondered what the pages were like since the bags were a long skinny shape. Later I found out when a girl in our group was given a stack of pages of these scriptures (from somewhere else; not the temple) and gave us a few to keep. The pages are also long and skinny, maybe a foot long and 3 or 4 inches tall. Each strip only contains a few lines of scripture, but they are hand written in Tibetan characters and each page is a brilliant work of art.
The entire experience was over fairly quickly. We went in, walked slowly around the room, and then back out again. If I had gone in all alone it might have seemed insignificant, just a tourist attraction or something slightly higher. But it was good to be in their with other Tibetans and to see how they treat the room. Many, as soon as they entered would go down on their knees and touch their head to the floor. It was very quiet and peaceful inside, and everyone was very respectful and earnest in the way they worshipped.
There are definitely differences in the ways different faiths worship in their temples or churches, but there are also so many similarities, and one of these similarities is this respect and earnestness that goes into worship. And that is something, even if I can’t understand at all times, that I can respect and appreciate.
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