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shalu monasteries |
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Lying 20 kilometers (12 miles)
south of Shigatse, the monastery was founded in 1040
by Chetsun Sherab Jungnay. Shalu, meaning New Bud in
Tibetan, was named after a story. His teacher
suggested him to built a monastery where his arrow
hit. The flying arrow finally hit a new bud. In
1320, Buton Rinpoche, one of the greatest religious
scholars was invited to be abbot of the monastery.
Buton's religious knowledge |
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covered so wide a range that he
brought together the one hundred and eight volumes
of the fundamental texts of Buddhism, Kanjur, and
the two hundred volumes of "treaties and
commentaries", Tenjur, and attracted over 3,000
monks to attend his teachings. Shulupa, or Butonpa
took form under his leadership. However since he had
no interest in politics, his sect was not very
influential. The most magic feats of Shalupa were
monks learned to raise their body temperature to
such a level that they wore the simplest clothing to
resist coldness and to run at superhuman leaps to
cover a long range without rest. In 1329, the
monastery was demolished in an earthquake and in
1333, Buton rebuilt it under the patron the Chinese
Mongolian emperor. Since many Chines Han artisans
participated the reconstruction the monastery
combined Tibetan and Chinese style of the Yuan
dynasty (1271-1368) together, the only one of its
type existing in Tibet.
Shalu Lakhang is the center of the monastery. On the
ground floor, in the Tshomchen, Sakyamuni and his
disciples are enshrined. The chapels flanking it
houses Tanjur and Kanjur respectively. Chapels on
the roof floor are typical Chinese blue tiled
structures, housing Sakyamuni, Buton, and Arhats.
Massive delicate and old murals cover the walls of
the monastery, mostly depicting stories from the
life of the Buddha. Restoration and preservation are
badly needed to protect those arts.
Shalu has four treasures, which are a sutra board,
which is 700 years old and cannot be reassembled
once broken apart, a piece of sutra printed against
the board regarded a good luck; a brass urn, which
is usually covered with a piece of red cloth and
sealed, the holy water may clean 108 filths and is
changed every 12 years; a stone basin, which was
Chetsun Sherab Jungnay's washbasin; and a stone
tablet, which was uncovered in the first
construction of Shalu and on which a mantra, om mani
Padme Hum and four dagobas are carved. |
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