as last year, on the very first day of the year, i went up early to a buddhist temple to open the year with prayers along the first sunrise. it was already very crowded when we arrived, mostly of monks and people who came to pray. as in buddhist way, we circled the stupa clockwise. the oṃ maṇi padme hūṃ mantra was chanted in the air.
usually when a place fascinates you, it's either because of the beauty of its nature, of what was given by the divine, or the beauty of the architecture, that gives meaning to the place. but this tibetan buddhist temple fascinates me in a different way. architecturally the stupa and its surrounding buildings weren't the most admirable. we could see glimpse of snow-caped mountains but it wasn't really part of the scenery.
what fascinated me most of this place was the way i felt when i was here. it's one of the very rare place if not the only place where i felt peaceful in a very crowded place. it's my first time getting in touch with tibetan culture and tibetan people. it felt so foreign and fascinating. to me they look somewhat exotic, i felt almost like those people in asian villages who has never seen or rarely seen the caucasians and are fascinated by them. it's very crowded and people were moving clockwise in their own pace but it never felt suffocating like it would in some other places in similar situation. you can almost felt kindness in these people. when i saw the monks especially the little kids i was amazed at how they could dedicate their life to the religion. i live in a country where religion is a big issue and i've reached the level where i'm sick of it all. but here you could feel like the religion truly gives meaning to these people. something that you as a foreigner could also feel. maybe it's the atmosphere. maybe it's the mantra chanted over and over and over that felt really peaceful to the mind. i don't know. i just know that i'm glad i have experienced it.
