Girl Backpacker’s Backpack

I’ve been travelling constantly since summer 2005. And from that time onwards all my belongings never took much more space than one backpack. Gradually its size became much smaller than in the beginning and contents were tested live: now I’m carrying almost nothing I would not use, and I have most things that are really needed.

Note: Article is dated september 2007, new version would come in april 2009 once I buy new bag as the one pictured is almost broken now.

Some time ago I was astonished by fact that actual buddhist monks could own only 7 things. It’s clear that in less hospitable climate than indian it will be hard to get along with only one piece of cloth as a dress. Also possibility of working and properly keeping in touch with the world would require even more devices with a paper notebook on top of the list and a laptop and mobile phone at its end. It’s also understood that the minimal set for plain survival and minimal set for comfortable life will be dramatically different, and here it’s very important to keep balance between what can really lighten your life on the road and what only makes your bag heavier.

Also, as you can imagine, set of things for Iran can be quite different from Goa’s set. What you possibly could not survive without in Russia would be of no use in Tibet. And some of the necessary things do not have to be carried along all the time as you can buy them upon arrival.

This photograph shows the content of my bag on the way from Europe to Asia: what I would call optimum set of belongings for travelling in all those not quite rich and clean asian countries.

And, of course, boy backpackers can replace some items with whatever would be useful for men.

1.Backpack

It’s extremely important to have a high quality backpack. Its solidity, capaciousness and handiness influences a lot in your travels. Simply imagine how many times during your trip you will have to pack and unpack it and you will understand everything. Clothes and sleeping bag go into lower part, laptop goes into special pocket by back, everything else goes as it fits. After a number of shifts you will most probably develop most convenient order of placing things. But please remember that no matter how few things you have and how big your bag is it will be anyway totally full. Knowing it choose the bag of the size that you can carry easily. The things that would not fit into it will give you one more occasion to review what you really need and what not.

2.Small bag

Your backpack stays in the hotel and you go for a walk in the city. Accordingly your second bag should be big enough to accomodate a purse, camera, warm jacket or shawl, possibly a vacuum flask with some tea and sometimes laptop if you still don’t get internet from your mobile phone and have to go for sending mails and uploading pictures into the nearest cyber-cafe. Read more »

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Dalai Lama Reincarnation Must Have China Approval

BEIJING (AFP) — China’s communist government will decide on the reincarnated successor of the Dalai Lama when Tibetan Buddhism’s highest spiritual leader passes away, state press said Thursday.

“Besides religious rites and historical conventions, there is also a very important condition for the reincarnation of the Dalai and that is the approval of the central government,” top Tibetan legislator Legqoq told Xinhua news agency.

Legqoq, who goes by only one name, was speaking on the sidelines of China’s ongoing annual session of parliament which coincided with this month’s 50th anniversary of a Tibetan uprising that led to the exile of the current Dalai Lama.

Legqoq said China’s State Religious Affairs Commission issued regulations in 2007 that mandate government approval for all reincarnated “Living Buddhas,” or lamas.

The rules were widely seen as an effort to bring Tibetan Buddhism more firmly under China’s control, after decades of unrest over religious freedom and the plight of the Dalai Lama.

Living Buddhas are an important element in Tibetan Buddhism, forming a clergy of influential religious figures who are believed to be continuously reincarnated to take up their positions anew.

Often there is more than one candidate competing to be recognised as the actual reincarnation, and the authority to decide who is the true claimant carries significant power.

This is especially true in the case of the Panchen Lama, the second-most influential figure in Tibetan Buddhism behind the Dalai Lama.

Chinese authorities detained the Dalai Lama’s choice of the Panchen Lama in 1995 when the boy was six years old, and he has not been seen in public since.

The Chinese government’s choice as the Panchen Lama has meanwhile been paraded around the country in recent years to promote China’s rule over Tibet.

He will also likely oversee the reincarnation of the next Dalai Lama, after the 73-year-old incumbent passes away.

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Chinese Premier Calls Dalai Lama a Political Exile

By Stephanie Ho, VOANews
Beijing, 13 March 2009

China has issued its strongest recent criticism of Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama - calling him a political exile who directly heads an illegal theocratic government. The comments came Friday in Premier Wen Jiabao’s press conference at the end of the annual session of China’s legislature, the National People’s Congress.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao discussed a host of issues in a news conference that stretched for more than two hours.

These topics ranged from the global economic crisis, to the Central Asia-focused Shanghai Cooperation Organization, to debt relief for developing nations in Africa.

The issue that the Chinese Premier spoke about most forcefully, though, was Tibet, which he stressed was an inalienable part of China’s territory.

Wen says Tibet-related issues are completely China’s internal affairs and that Beijing will accept no foreign interference on the matter.

The Chinese leader also had strongly critical words for Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, who fled to India after a failed uprising against Chinese rule in his homeland.

The premier said Beijing considers the Dalai Lama a political exile, not a religious figure.

Wen pointed to the Tibetan government in exile, which is based in Dharamsala, India. He called that government theocratic and illegal, and said it is under the direct leadership of the Dalai Lama.

This comment preceded his recitation of what has become a standard phrase - Beijing wants to see what the Dalai Lama does, not what he says.

Premier Wen accused the Dalai Lama of misleading political figures around the world, but added that some western leaders are also trying to use him for their own purposes.

The Chinese leader had a much different approach to Taiwan, a separately-governed island Beijing considers a renegade province and has been trying to woo.

Mr. Wen called Taiwan a “treasure island” and said he has a long-cherished hope of going to visit it someday.

In the only comments that elicited apparently spontaneous applause, Mr. Wen said he is already 67 years old, and even if he could no longer walk, he would crawl to get to the island.

On other issues, the premier said he is, in his words, “a little bit worried” about China’s “huge amount” of U.S debt, which totals about $1 trillion. He urged the United States to continue to be what he called “a credible nation” that can “ensure the safety of Chinese assets.”

Meanwhile, he said China is working very hard to cope with the negative effects of the global economic downturn. He said China is aware that no country can overcome these economic difficulties alone. But at the same time, he said his country’s view is that, in his words, “we would rather dig a well for ourselves than beg for water from others.”

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European Parliament Urges China to Negotiate with Dalai Lama

On Thursday, March 12, the European Parliament (EP) held a debate and resolution to mark the 50th anniversary of the Tibetan uprising against China, calling on Beijing to resume dialogue with the Dalai Lama.

On 10 March 1959 the people of Tibet rose up against the Chinese occupation of their country. The anniversary of that failed enterprise was marked this week by MEPs who passed a resolution 338 votes in favour with 131 against calling for China and the Dalai Lama to pursue dialogue based on the “Memorandum on Genuine Autonomy for the Tibetan People”.

Speaking in the debate German Christian Democrat Thomas Mann said, “the Memorandum must be the basis for further discussion with China.” He regretted that the non-violent appeal of the Dalai Lama for dialogue found no echo in Beijing.

British Labour MEP Glyn Ford said the resolution was “counter-productive” to Chinese-EU dialogue. In his view the way forward is “through dialogue and engagement not through rehash resolutions.”

EP’s official press release

In a resolution adopted by MEPs on Thursday to mark the 50th anniversary of the Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule, the Chinese Government is urged to resume talks with the Dalai Lama’s representatives with a view to “positive, meaningful change in Tibet”, not ruling out autonomy for the region, a solution that MEPs believe need not compromise China’s territorial integrity.

The EP’s call for talks to resume came as Tibetans in many countries commemorated the 50th anniversary of the 1959 revolt against China, which led to the flight of the Dalai Lama and the beginning of his exile in India.  Eight rounds of dialogue in recent years between the Dalai Lama’s envoys and Chinese Government representatives have produced no breakthrough and no further talks are planned.  In recent days the Chinese authorities have tightened security in Tibet, banning journalists and foreigners from visiting the region. Read more »

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Tibetan Buddhist Art

Early Tibetan Buddhist art was used to depict the life of Gautama Buddha in the Indian subcontinent in the sixth and fifth centuries BCE. Throughout Asia, Buddhism spread widely and with it its influence over Tibetan art and culture in Asia. The first traditions of Tibetan Buddhist art followed the practices of aniconic artwork, meaning that the use of Buddhist symbols and emblems to represent the Buddha and his travels and teachings without actually using a human form to represent the Buddha himself. This was the typical way that Tibetan Buddhist art was made until the first century CE, when the Buddha was finally represented in human appearance, which is still followed to this day. In every new country or region in Asia, where Buddhism went, Buddhist art followed its worshipers and artists as the faith developed in many different ways.

Tibetan Buddhist art is considered sacred and religious in nature, or was always thought of as religious in Asiatic cultures throughout the continent and in ancient Himalayan kingdoms such as Ladakh, Bhutan, and Nepal.

The Tibetan Buddhist art that was created previous to the middle of the twentieth century was steeped in traditional techniques and devoted to the vision of sacred iconography. Not only are the works of these early Tibetan Buddhist artists festooned with the central topics of philosophy and spirituality, they were also dedicated in showing the energy of the aesthetics that Tibetan Buddhist art was known for as it came into eminence during the growth of the various schools of Buddhism all over Asia and the regions it influenced with its presence over the years.

The main influence of Buddhism in the fourth century was the Mahayana influence, which was known for its emphasis on the denial of Nirvana in order to better help others in need. Chenrezig is the chief deity depicted in the Tibetan Buddhist art of this time period of Mahayana influence. He is most often as a god with a thousand arms and in each hand is an eye.

Another great influence in Tibetan Buddhist art is the Tantric influence, its main symbol being the diamond thunderbolt. Tantric influence art is most often depicted as having many gods with angry faces that actually represent guardians of those who are dedicated to the practice and teaching of Tantric Buddhism and the purging of negative thoughts.

In the Himalayas, a shamanistic tradition known as Bon is considered another great influence of Buddhism and Buddhist art. In this shamanistic practice, many local deities are depicted in Buddhist temples as being with the Buddha as their conqueror and are considered to serve him by keeping mischief and evil away from the people.

A great variety of techniques are used in Buddhist meditation in order to achieve mindfulness, concentration and the promotion of well being. Ancient texts were set down by priests and other practitioners of Buddhism to preserve the core techniques that are passed between teachers and pupils.

Tibetan Buddhist art also greatly influenced Hindu art, but in the tenth century, Buddhism was all but gone from the Indian subcontinent by the rise of popularity in Islam along with Hinduism.

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