20-24 septembrie 2009 - Biblioteca Metropolitana Bucuresti

582 Simona Galaţchicontrol (in such a state) of his vital functions; he fully controls his body,like any genuine master: “Weeks on end, if he had to, his body moved dayand night, without any sense of fatigue, hunger or thirst.”Gya-zò, a former monk of the sect Ñin-ma-pa, plays the role of hislife when he saves from death the abandoned child who was to become theTibetan runner in the Tashihunpo monastery, among the Gelug monks, alsoknown after the name of Yellow Hats. 7 The story hints at the invasion ofthe Chinese army in Tibet, and at the major role that an initiate (in the artof running, in this case) plays in preserving the message of this endangeredworld. Taking the story closer to our times was meant to offer a vivid imageof the Orient, with scenes of life involving material representations of theTibetan cultural area.It is also us who “run” with rTe-hu, side by side, on long distancesthroughout Tibet and India: from Lhassa to Shigatse, to Sikkim, throughBihar, through Madhya Pradesh, then in Delhi, in Shrinagar, Darjeeling,Jabalpur (where the hero dies under a car’s wheels) and, finally, weeven reach Switzerland (probably by contamination with Shrinagar,often deemed to be located in the so-called “Switzerland of India”). Wefind things about the Red Buddha of Love and Mercy, Amitâbha 8 , about7The sect of Yellow Hats represents a Buddhist school (the Gelugpa Order) foundedby the religious Tibetan philosopher and leader Tsong-kha-pa (1357-1419). The firstmonastery was established at Ganden (nearby Lhasa) and, until today, Ganden Tripa isthe coordinating centre of the school, through its most influent representative, Dalai Lama(in Tibetan language Gyalwa Rinpoché, meaning “The Precious Refuge”). In a historicalmoment when the monks manifested insubordination to the rules, Tsong-kha-pa is the onewho brings the Reform imposing celibate and abstinence, strict obeying of the monasticrules and returning to a strict interpretation of the Buddhist texts. The Gelug-pa monks(Gelug meaning “virtuous behaviour”) impressed by their exemplary way of life, lessinclined towards Tantrism than the previous orders, and dedicated mostly to the study ofthe doctrine. During ceremonies they adopted a yellow head dress, hence the name “YellowHats” given by the Chinese, by which they are known to the Western world. The “RedHats” comprises, artificially, all the other orders (Source: Davy, Marie-Madeleine 2000,Enciclopedia doctrinelor mistice (The Encyclopedia of Mystical Doctrines). Buddhismultibetan, chinez, japonez, yi-king, tch’an, zen (The Tibetan, Chinese, Japanese Buddhism,Yi-King, Tch’an, Zen),Vol. IV., 7-15).8Amitābha (meaning “Infinite Light”) is a celestial Buddha described in thescriptures of the Buddhist school of the Great Vehicle (Mahāyāna), namely in The PureLand Sūtra, which reads that Amitābha is the holder of several merits acquired as a result ofhis good deeds made during numerous past lives, when he lived as a Bodhisattva (“beingsfated for enlightenment”), also called Dharmakāra. He is a cosmic Buddha, master of aterritory situated at an inconceivable distance to the West of our Universe. Amitābha madea covenant when he was still a Bodhisattva: he was to receive all those who would trust