20-24 septembrie 2009 - Biblioteca Metropolitana Bucuresti

On the symbolism of the Tibetan book 705Fig. 2Most traditional Tibetan books deal with Buddhist topics. As a mediumof the Word of the Buddha and his representative, the religious teacheror lama (bla-ma), in Sanskrit guru, the book is the symbol of religiouswisdom (shes-rab, Skr. prajñā). 2 Therefore, it is held in particularly highesteem. Nobody may step on it, it may not be placed on the floor, and itmay not be thrown away. If books, in the course of time, become damaged,they must, if possible, be “buried”, that means disposed of in a holy place.The book as a medium for conveying the word of the Buddha is oneof the three means through which the believer can learn and practise thepath to nirvāṇa, the disappearance of suffering. It is the symbol of one ofthe three aspects in which the Buddha is available to the living beings: theaspect of Word or Speech (gsung). The other two aspects are Body (sku),symbolised by the image of the Buddha, and Mind (thugs), symbolised bythe stūpa (mchod-rten, Skr. stūpa), a building serving as the architecturalrepresentation of the Buddhist doctrine. Moreover, Body, Word and Mindare the three means that every living being possesses and that he or she canemploy in order to reach enlightenment and salvation.One of the various methods to learn and practise the teaching of theBuddha is ritual. The Buddha can symbolically be invited as honouredguest to visit a community of monks and laymen in a temple in order toask him for blessing and help. There, the Buddha will be provided witheverything his aspects Body, Word and Mind need. The Body, for example,needs washing vessels, clothes and jewellery, an ear-pick to clean theears, pincers to clean the nose, and a spoon for eating. The Word, which isrepresented by the book, needs covers. The Mind, represented by the stūpa,needs a wooden pole as an ornament on its top and a seat, a substructure,on which it is erected.2Cf. Helmut Hoffmann 1967, Symbolik der tibetischen Religionen und desSchamanismus, Stuttgart, 61.