Tibetan leader’s birthday marked by traditional celebrations
By Jens Dana
Deseret Morning News
SOUTH SALT LAKE : While Pema Choedon, 63, rehearsed Tibetan prayer chants Thursday outside his Salt Lake City residence, 5-year-old Monlam Tesher played games on a cell phone.
This week, Utahns, both young and old, celebrated their nation’s independence, but members of the Tibetan community also celebrated the 71st birthday of their leader, the Dalai Lama, or — as they like to call him — “His Holiness.”
“The Dalai Lama is the most important thing in our lives,” Utah Tibetan Association Secretary Lobsang Gendun said Monday. “Ninety-nine percent of the people are ready to sacrifice their lives for him.”
Gendun and about 300 people gathered Monday to release 71 pigeons in recognition of the Dalai Lama’s birthday, but the Choedon family celebrated modestly Thursday with a mix of traditional and modern flavor. Pema; Dechen Dlokar, his wife, 54; and Lhaksam, their oldest daughter, 20, wore chupas — traditional Tibetan apparel — and burned barley flour and incense outside their home.
The Thursday event was also a celebration of Guru Rinpoche, the 10th day of the Tibetan calendar, which fell on the Dalai Lama’s birthday this year.
Dark clouds loomed overhead early in the day, and a light drizzle set in. That alone could dampen any other celebration, but the rain brightened Lhaksam’s face.
“It’s considered good luck,” she explained. “It cleans everything away.”
However, the rain stopped as quickly as it came.
The Choedons and family friends burned incense and offered spruce leaves, corn flour and other items to the gods in small ritual bowls. Then Lama Thupten, a monk from the Salt Lake City Buddhist Temple, led the group in a traditional prayer ritual.
“May the Buddhas be pleased with these offerings,” they recited in Tibetan from Riwo Sang Chot, a Tibetan prayer book. “May the desires of the six kinds of beings be satisfied, may our karmic debts and debts of flesh be purified.”
During the ritual, Lama Thupten rang a bell and beat a small drum. The sound represented an offering to the gods, he explained later.
“With great devotion, we make an offering to Buddha to receive the blessings of great compassion of all senescent beings,” he said after the prayer ritual. “If we have devotion to enlightened beings and compassion for all senescent beings, then perhaps we can discover the path to happiness. This is Buddha’s thought.”
After lunch, the group gathered around a birthday cake in the living room and sang “Happy Birthday” to a photo of the Dalai Lama.
“July 6th. Happy birthday, Dalai!” Pema exclaimed.
The Tibetan culture is rich with Buddhist philosophy. Lhaksam said one of her teachings was from an ancient text written by a monk in 700 B.C. at Nalanda University in India.
“May the pain of every living creature be completely washed away,” she read. “May I be the doctor, and may I be the nurse for all sick beings in the world until everyone is healed.”
The Choedons moved to Salt Lake City only 10 years ago from India, but Lhaksam fears the younger generation is already beginning to forget the Tibetan way of life. For her, the Dalai Lama’s birthday is an opportunity for the younger generation to reconnect with its roots.
“It’s so difficult for people to maintain their culture,” she said. “It gets harder and harder with each generation. Soon people will only find Tibetans in the history books.”
