The Khams Seng ze Village Ma Ni

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Dkon mchog dge legs was born in 1973 in seng ze village, Yul shul County, Yul shul Prefecture, mTsho sngon (Qinghai) Province, China. he was educated in Seng ze Primary Schol, the Nationality Middle School of Yul shul County, and Mtsho sngon Nationalities Institute in Zi ling. His study of Yul lshul folklore has focused on Tibetan tricksters (Kun mchog dge legs, dPal ldan bkra shis, and Stuart 1999), Tibetan New Year rituals, land Tibetan song and dance. Kevin Stuart has lived in Mtsho sngon since 1987, except for a year in Mongolia. He is a teacher of English, small-scale development specialist, and ethnographer. He earned his doctorate from the University of Hawaii-Manoa in 1996.

Millions of stones shine forth ancient wisdom at the Seng ze Ma ni, five km from the capital of Yul Shul Prefecture, Qinghai Province at the site where the largest number of Ma ni stones in the world are in a single contiguous location. Some stones are as small as computer mouse, some are huge boulders featuring a single syllable from the sacred Buddhist mantra om ma ni pad me hung, and some are "pages" of scripture. No English word adequately represents the Tibetan concept ma ni rdo phung, which could, inelegantly, be translated as Ma ni stone "pile" or "stack." Local people refer to the large number of Ma ni s tones as Seng ze Village as "Ma ni." This monumental collection of stones is called rGya nag (China) Ma ni because the Incarnate Lama that established it travelled inner China before coming, at last, to Seng ze Village and founding the Ma ni. Local people believe he was born in Chab mdo three centuries ago and eventually set out to find a place where he could, as an Incarnate Lama, develop Buddhism, and help sentient beings find enlightenment. His subsequent travels took him to numerous Tibetan areas and to India. Finally, he came to Seng ze and established the Ma ni. The seventh life of Rgya Nag Incarnate Lama died in 1994. In 1997, a local one year old boy was recognized as the eighth incarnation.

THE MA NI FOUNDER ARRIVES. There are many s tories about the First Incarnation. One says that when he reached the banks of Yangtze River (which originates in Yul Shul, along with the Mekong and Yellow rivers), he asked local boatmen to help him cross. They were busy harvesting barley and ignored him. rTogs ldan grew tired of waiting, unfurled his shawl, and flew across the river. Two boatmen saw him in flight and concluded that he must be a great saint. They invited him to cross the river in their boat whenever he chose. Rtogs ldan told the boatmen that they should help impoverished people and not charge them to cross the river if they could not pay. The boatmen agreed. This explains why Tibetan yangtze River boatmen did not historically charge people who could not pay to cross the river. In a second story, while Rtogs ldan was traveling in Sichuan, he noticed a young man sobbing because his beloved horse had died. Rtogs ldan sympathized, put his prayer wheel on the dead steed’s head, ad melodiously chanted om ma ni pad me hung. The horse revived. This prayer wheel is called Do ba ro rtseng khor lo (horse revival prayer wheel) is used in Thub bstan Monastery, Khri du County in Yul shul today. In a third account, Rtogs ldan traveled to Emei Mountain in Sichuan and raised a scripture flag before the palace of the local king named lCags la. When Lcags la saw the scripture flag, he angrily demanded to know who had put it up. When he learned that the responsible party was a monk, he ordered his subordinates to bring the monk to him. After Rtogs ldan was found, the king’s men tried to handcuff him but his hand were smaller than the handcuffs. When still smaller handcuffs were tried, they suddenly disintegrated. When the king was informed of this he wished to test Rtogs ldan and told him to throw, at the same time, sixteen tea bricks up to the palace top. Instead, Rtogs ldan threw them so far away that it required one day by horse to find them.

SACRED RELICS. Sacred relics kept in Seng ze Temple are also traced to Rtogs ldan. These include a rock with his handprint, a rock with his footprint, two stones upon which Rtogs ldan carved Ma ni with his finger, a stone that he squeezed, a talking thang kha, and a talking Buddha image. The thang kha zhal grags, or talking thang kha, is said to have come from Gro mgon Chos phags, the well-known Yuan Dynasty tutor, who presented it to sKal bzant Monastery in Khri du County and predicted that a man would come to fetch it in the future. Many years later Rtogs ldan visited Skal bzang Monastery. When he saw the thang kha zhal grags, he asked for it but the monastery refused. As Rtogs lldlan was leaving the monastery the thang kha suddenly said, "Don’t leave me! You are my real master!" The monks were so shocked that they gave it to him and he brought it to Seng ze. When Seng ze Villagers and Rtogs ldan began to dig for white stones locally upon which to carve Ma ni, Rtogs ldan drunkenly danced and sang. Villagers said, "Rtogs ldan has become crazy." Rtogs ldan said, "Today, I am drunk and mad," picked up a white stone, squeezed into various shapes, and finally fashioned it into a squeezed spiral. Next, imprinted his hand, his foot, and, using a finger, wrote om ma ni pad me hung on three rocks. This convinced local people of his powers and he was easily able to establish Seng ze ma ni.

MANI RITUALS. A dance found only in Seng ze Village is related to the ma ni and is performed only by men. Dancers are divided into two groups. The two groups sing antiphonally while dancing. The songs are characterized by solemn, long-drawn-out syllables and the dance movements mimic this in being slow and graceful. On the 14th and 15th day of the Twelfth and First lunar months, several thousands of Tibetans from Yul shul, Ser shul, rMa stod, and Chab mdo arrive in Seng ze Village, circumambulate the ma ni, and purchase ma ni stones made by local villagers that they add to the ever-growing Ma ni. On the 15th day, sKye rgu Monastery monks conduct a public empowerment ritual.

MANI IN THE LIFE OF THE VILLAGERS. One middle-aged villager told us about his experience with the ma ni. "During my early childhood in the late 1940s and early 1950s, the ma ni festival in Seng ze attracted several thousand Tibetans. They circumambulated the Ma Ni and purchased ma ni stones which they then put on the Ma ni. Every village home had several small rooms for guests and no money was charged for accommodation. Families hoped that guests would purchase ma ni stones from them and also introduce more customers to them. "The ability of the village to accommodate guests was limited. Many people camped in nearby fields and near a river by the village. Yaks and horses brought by the visitors surrounded what had temporarily become a large camp. The yaks were used for transporting ma ni s tones. Many nomads had no money so they exchanged animals or animal products for ma ni stones. "People seized this public occasion to exhibit splendid personal clothing. It was one of the few annual occasions for a huge crowd to gather in this vast, sparsely populated land. "As devotees chanted melodiously along the circumambulation route, nearby, along the road that ran by the village, a bustling market emanated a merry clamor of endless bargaining. Products offered included leather boots, clothing, incense, fruits from India and Lhasa, tea and rice from Sichuan, and dried noodles and jujubes from Xining. Local products included wood kegs, knives, saddles, and salt. "This was an important trade opportunity for farmers and nomads. Both had plans for their families?annual food requirements, consequently, there was a large exchange of barley, butter, meat, and livestock. "A huge crowd gathered in our village. We village children were very excited whereas the nomad children were timid and cautious. We joyously crossed in and out of the crowd, market, and nomad camps as dogs ran about. Our parents encouraged us to take care of `the little herdsmen friends.?

We were very proud to take the nomad boys into the crowd and explain and show them what was what. "Some village boys played pranks on nomad girls. They put small stones on prayer wheels. When the girls rotated the wheels in the course of their circumambulations the small stones flew off land hit their heads."There was a relationship between farmers and nomads based on trust, mutual gift-giving, and annual visits. Both farmers and herdsmen were proud to have friends in herding and agriculture areas. In late fall and early winter, villagers took barley to give for butter and livestock in herding areas. Herdsmen gave sheep and yaks in return. "The more nomad friends you had, the more benefits you received and villagers tried their best to contact as many nomads as possible. This was frequently difficult. Young men who went to herding areas the first time braved strong wind and snow and discovered the extent of their immature social skills. It was an unforgettable experience. This was an important part of the process of boys becoming men. "Carving ma ni bon boulders was also a common post-death activity. When my paternal grandfather died in the 1950s, my father and his brothers carved innumerable ma n on cliffs near our village. All summer they camped in a deep gorge, rose when the sun did, and worked until the sun set. Their clothes were worn ut f rom scrambling on the cliffs and their hands were toughened from months of stone carving. They carved both large and small ma ni. "In time, the memory of Grandfather faded and their lives returned to normal but the ma ni deep in the stones of the cliffs are everlasting, though the passage of time may cover them with moss. And I still can hear the gorge echoing with the sound of stones being carved as images of my father and uncles flash before my eyes."

PRIDE IN THE MA NI. The very large number of ma ni stones concentrated in Seng ze Village and the sacred objects associated with the founder of the Ma ni combined to created an attractive pilgrimage site. To purchase ma ni stones in the village, add them to the Ma ni, and to circumambulate the Ma ni are considered helpful fro one’s karma. Seng ze Villagers are very proud of the Ma ni. They derived a unique sense of identity from the village having been chosen by Rgya nag Rtogs ldan. They believe that the ma n is of such religious significance that it is unnecessary to visit other religious pilgrimage sites. This reverence for the Ma ni is evident each morning as most middle-aged and older village residents circumambulate the Ma ni before beginning the day’s activities. During the New Year period of village performances related to the Ma ni, many buses run back and forth between Seng ze Village and Skye rgu Town with pilgrims. The unique daces and songs performed by Seng ze villagers during the lunar New Year period further attract visitors. Seng ze villagers historically kept the words of dance absolutely secret because they did not want outsiders to learn the words. To this end, when two teams danced and sang, each team would begin singing before the other team finished, thus it was virtually impossible for spectators to understand the words. With the rapid growth of Skye rgu Town as the political land economic center of Yul shul Prefecture, only the religious importance of Seng ze Village remains. But remains it does as the thousands of pilgrims who come during the Tibetan New Year Period testify.