Walkthrough Jokhang Temple 導覽大昭寺

Date: 21/6/2010

Location: 拉薩, 西藏

Remarks:大昭寺導覽

我想我真的很喜歡大昭寺，我很少把一個地方寫得很仔細，但大昭寺卻在我的遊記占了一定的編幅，是故一定要在這多寫一篇大昭寺。

G/F
大殿中心有2尊佛像，左邊是蓮花生大師(眼超大，神情較兇狠)，右邊是未來佛。殿內的人超多，藏民排隊進側門供佛。我們都進不了去。藏王松贊干布一出生就懂說話和走路。執政了20年。33歲死。藏王的左邊是尼泊爾的赤尊公主，右邊是漢文成公主，故赤尊公主帶入的佛像面向西以示對尼泊爾政府的尊重，而文成公主帶入的佛像面向東以示對中國政府的尊重。文成公主帶入的12歲䆁迦牟尼佛像在“覺悟䆁迦民主殿”。此殿排滿了長長的供佛的人龍，見到喇嘛幫佛像抹面。殿內的導遊說為什麼12歲的佛像這麼大呢，是因為它每年都給塗上金漆，是故它每年都會越來越大。

在主殿的後面是十世班襌，被稱為最偉大的喇嘛，圍繞着佛像全都是用供佛的水果。

主殿2/F
一上2/F, 見到一羣喇嘛悠閒的圍着坐， 其中一個在玩電話呢！2樓一直走到最尾有一個很大的轉經輪， 比人還要高 。輪上有金色的經文, 輪的旁邊有一間房， 裏面有個喇嘛在念經， 而且是很有節奏的在打鼓和敲銅鑼 。在2樓的另一邊是法王修行洞， 門框全是好精緻的木雕， 藏民在進去每個側殿的時候都會用哈達抹門框 。橫樑有像有像獅身人面像的雕刻， 腳下有圓形的銅片 。

主殿3/F
往3樓的梯間有吉祥拉母， 和青蛙白旦拉面， 樣子也滿卡通的 。3樓的牆壁是黑色的壁畫， 黑底金燙， 很美 。主殿的中央有2排喇嘛坐的位置， 位置前有2排鼓， 位置上鋪了藏毯 。

天台
出了主殿， 2樓是紀念品店， 往下望可見到地下人們排隊的情況 。3樓是天台， 可見到屋簷和金頂 。可以在天台見到布達拉宮的全景啊 (雖然其實我都已經拍得夠多了 )


More than 大昭寺
http://fontraveljournal.blogspot.com/2013/04/jokhangtemple.html

Monks Debates @ Sera Monastery, Tibet 辨经@ 拉薩色拉寺

Date: 19/6/2010

Location: Lhasa, Tibet
Remarks: Day 7, Monks Debates @ Sera Monastery

Sera Monastery is one of Great Three monasteries in Lhasa, located in the suburbs, around 2km north, of Lhasa. The Sera Monastery is a huge complex, spreading along the hill scope with some dozens of hermitages.The buildings is very Tibetan in style.

Sera Monastery is a fun place to visit, stood out from the other monasteries in Tibet with its "Monk Debates". It is, from what I have heard, the best location to witness the "Monk Debates" on the teachings of Budda in Tibet. The Monk Debates started at 3pm from Monday to Friday, and it was opened to tourists. At around 3pm, you would find crowds of tourists in the Debate Hall, witnessing the debates among the monks in discussing Buddhism related topics in Tibetan. Though we might not understand the Tibetan language, the Debates are accompanied with vigorous gestures which were said to have symbolic meaning. The dramatic gestures made by the monks enlivened the entire embience. The monks debated in pairs, with a defender and a questioner. The questioner has to present his case and the defender has to answer within a fixed time frame. Each time a question is asked, the questioner would outstretch his left palm, strike the left palm with his right palm. 

The pair of monks sitting right before me were adorable. The sitting monk appeared having problem in answering the questions and had lots of little cute gestures: playing with his fingers, rubbing his head, hands covering his face, stretching out his tongue... Even the old monk, presumably his teacher, who originally sit under the tree could not help coming forward to explain. He was so cute.

P.S. There were super many visitors in the Debate Hall at the time of the Debates. You can find tourists from around the globe, with lots of different kinds of camera. It was like an international camera exhibition!!

The Debate Hall

清晨的大昭寺 Jokhang Temple @ 拉薩 Tibet

Date: 21/6/2010
Location: 拉薩, 西藏
Remarks: 清晨8am的大昭寺

拉薩有很多寺廟，在西藏兩個星期，我們平均每一天去一個，去了布達拉宮、大昭寺、小昭寺、色拉寺... 其中大昭寺是我最喜歡的一個。大昭寺沒有布達拉宮的堂煌，也沒有色拉寺的好玩，但我就是喜歡大昭寺的活力，喜歡它的活生生的感覺。

清晨的大昭寺

大昭寺該是繼布達拉宮後西藏第二大的寺廟，拉薩最古老的寺廟，已經有1350多年的歷史。是西藏的中心寺 ，歷來佛教活動的中心。從前的西藏人相信，大昭寺是世界的中心，因此所有的人與物，都是圍繞大昭寺而轉動。圍繞大昭寺的八廓街，是西藏最有名的轉經道 。

大昭寺是樓高4層，金頂的木土建築物。 清晨的大昭寺人超級的多。跟著轉經的人潮在八廓街轉了一圈，他們走得一點也不慢。大昭寺廣場有很多人帶同墊子朝佛，五體投地。大昭寺的門口排了長長的人龍，藏民人貼人的排隊進去朝拜。每個人的手裡都拿著熱水壺，壺裡是用以供佛的酥油。廣場還有一堆賣酥油和甜茶的小販。

跟著藏民人貼人的排隊進大昭寺是不給錢買門票的，但我啊，該受不了他們排隊的方式，所以還是乖乖的付85元的門票，從正門入。

殿內的壁畫已有1350年，柱子上的雕花都給摸滑了。大殿中心有2尊佛像，左邊是蓮花生大師(眼超大，神情較兇狠)，右邊是未來佛。殿內的人超多，藏民排隊進側門供佛。我們都進不了去。藏王松贊干布一出生就懂說話和走路。執政了20年。33歲死。藏王的左邊是尼泊爾的赤尊公主，右邊是漢文成公主，故赤尊公主帶入的佛像面向西以示對尼泊爾政府的尊重，而文成公主帶入的佛像面向東以示對中國政府的尊重。

在大殿的時候有個喇嘛看見我們在寫筆記很感興趣似的，還用普通話和英文問我們從哪裡來，跟我們聊天。原來他們會說四種語言呢。他其後還很好的特意的在人羣中找我們給我們大昭寺的簡介！(殿內的人可是超級超級的多，要在人羣中找我們可一點也不容易)


More on 大昭寺
http://fontraveljournal.blogspot.com/2013/04/walkthrough-jokhang-temple.html

Route to Tibet

Date: 13/6/2010
County: Tibet, China
Remarks: Routes to Tibet, Hong Kong to Tibet

Tibet has always been my dream place to go. As a hongkonger, we are very lucky that we need not to apply visa and can go there whenever we can. So here I came, in summer 2010.

Worried about the high altitude sickness, we decided to first get to Xining, the capital of Qinghai province, with an average altitude of 2,200 meters, for sometime to adopt to the high altitude before heading Tibet. We took 6.5-hour flight from Shenzhen to Xining, stayed for 2 days before renting a car to Lhasa of Tibet. The car ride from Xining to Lhasa took around 5 days and we passed via Qinghai Lake 青海湖, Chaka Salt Lake 茶卡鹽湖, Geermu 格爾木, Kunlun Mountain 崑崙山, Tanggula Shan 唐古拉山 and Namucuo 納木錯, and finally arrived Lhasa, with an average elevation of 4,900 metres.

The car ride was an expensive one. We rented one near the train station in Xining. There were lots of travel agents near the train station and it costed from RMB6,000 to 16,000 to go from  Xinan to Lhasa for vehicles from ordinary RV to 4-wheel drive. They asked RMB6000-8000 for RV, RMB12,000 for MPV (Multi-Purpose Vehicle) and RMB16,000 for a 4-wheel drive. We eventually got a MPV at $9,000 (incl 2 drivers). I guess this is the price we have to pay during peak season. There is indeed an cheaper alternative of taking the Qinghai-Tibet Railway 青藏鐵路 but they eventually decided to rent a car so that we could stop at all the scenic spots on the way.

Tibet 西藏: 一個我一定會再回去的地方

 Date: 18/6/2010
City: Lhasa. Tibet
Remarks: Day 6

西藏一直是我的好想好想去的地方，或者應該說，這幾乎是每一個旅行者的夢想。尚未去西藏的时候，西藏是一個神秘寻夢园，去过以后是一個你會愛上的地方。我一直告訴自己，我一定會再回去的。

拉薩就像很多其他中國城市，很現代化，乾淨整齐，很宽的马路，很多的車。西藏現代的部分是枯燥的，但西藏的文化和宗教色彩令西藏非常豐富多彩的。其實在拉薩市内大多數的人都是從鄰近省份过来工作/做生意的，大部分跟旅客觸并不是藏人，是漢人。西藏人都很虔诚，藏傳佛教说的是來生，修的是今生來生。故此西藏人对目前的生活没有很重視，对做生意并不是很感興趣。每天早晨和晚上你可以看到許多藏人，特別是老人家，绕着寺廟走，边走边轉手上的轉經輪。轉經輪每轉一次代表念了一次經。

PS。記得轉轉經輪/绕着寺廟走的时候要順時針。如果不知道怎么做的话，只需要隨着人群做。

拉薩是一個非常有趣的地方。一個擁有亮藍色的天空的土地，一個可以让你親眼目睹藏民如何生活的地方，一個可以让你見證藏民如何延續他們的歷史和文化的地方，一個去过以后會愛上的地方。

Tibet has always been my dream place to go, or maybe I should say it is almost every traveler's dream . It was a mystery spectacular before visiting, and a place you will fall in love with after going. I am definitely going back.

Lhasa was just like all other Chinese cities, very modernized, neat and clean, with lots of cars on the road. The modern part of Tibet was boring, but the Tibetans and the temples make the place very colorful and culturally rich . Indeed most of the people in Lhasa are Hans from nearby provinces for work/ business, so most of the people you as a tourist dealing with are not Tibetans, but Hans. From what I have understood, most of the Tibetans, especially the elderly, are not very interested in doing business, instead very devoted in Tibetan Buddhism. Tibetan Buddhism is about afterlife. It do not place much emphasis on the current life, but afterlife instead. One have to act in good faith in his current life for his afterlife. That is probably the reason why not many Tibetans are interested in doing business in Lhasa. You can find many Tibetans, especially the elderly, circling around the temples, spinning their Prayer Wheel in their hands during the mornings and evenings. Each spin of Prayer Wheel represents having chanted scriptures once.

PS. Always spin the wheel/ walk around the temples CLOCKWISE. If you have any confusion, just follow the crowd.

I found the Tibetans a very interesting ethnic. With them, Lhasa is a very interesting place. A place to witness how the Tibetans live their religion and believe. A land you can indulge yourself into the peace and culture, religion and spirit of the Tibetans under the bright blue sky. And it is not only a place with just culture and religion. It is also a place with lots of to see, lots to eat, and lots to shop. A place I felt in love with.