Min tibetanska barndom i Zorgay - Life and Culture on the Tibetan ...

deity tried to rein him in, the yak broke its wood nose-ring <strong>and</strong>
fled, terribly humiliating the yak-riding deity, who then left.
This explains why the nose ring of his yak is broken when you
see his image in a temple. In contrast, our Bonguh Labtsi looks
magnificent in his images, riding his black horse with an
impressive air of supernatural importance.
Villagers believe offering song to Bonguh Labtsi
counteracts evil, consequently we piously make offerings to
Bonguh Labtsi <strong>and</strong> invite monks to perform special rituals. The
lead monk draws a vajra on a flat stone, wraps it in a dirty black
cloth, <strong>and</strong> tells us to curse it, which we do, as though it is our
enemy. We wear angry-looking expressions, grimace
ferociously, <strong>and</strong> br<strong>and</strong>ish real swords to frighten evil beings
away. After the cursing, we carry the wrapped stone a short
distance from the labtsi, bury it deep in the ground, <strong>and</strong> spit on
it to annoy the evil being as though to say, "We can defeat you."
Next, we fire guns, set off firecrackers to scare evil away for
good, return to the labtsi, <strong>and</strong> put up prayer flags to further
prevent evil from returning.
As I came out of the bedroom the next morning, I
noticed villagers were performing these rituals more often than
usual <strong>and</strong> overheard a quarrel between an old man <strong>and</strong> his son
next door:
"Father, an offering of song is not the way to cure my son's
illness. Today, let me take him to a doctor."
"This is what we've done for generations. No one has
ever raised such doubts before! Please let me die peacefully! I
don't want to regret having a son such as you," said his father.
"Father, I don't mean that offering song isn't good. It's
just that under these circumstances, medicine is essential.
Just see for yourself. You have offered song since the day
Dondrub caught a cold, but he's getting worse, not better,"
said the son.
"Then go see a doctor, but my gr<strong>and</strong>son must be
better when you return," said the father.
Father then called, "Kondro, come eat something. Let's
go see a doctor today."
"Yes, Father. I'm coming," I replied.
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