We visited a Tibetan monastery a week ago. The monastery was so incredibly vivid. I guess I was expecting a dull place but it was as bright as the mandala sand painting that Tibetan monks made at W&L this winter. While the place was beautiful, I can’t get over how commercialized it was. Outside of the monastery was a little Tibet with Tibetan refugees selling all sorts of goods.
As a journalism major, I love the idea of being able to see what used to be a private place, a monastery. On the same token, I respect religion and I find it terribly disruptive and disrespectful to all of the monks there to have their lives on display. With eyes watching sacred ceremonies, they somehow lose their sacredness.
What also struck me was how young some of the monks were. I never realized that children literally grow up in the monastery. I can’t help but wonder how these children define normalcy. They spend their whole lives on display. If they ever leave the monastery, as some do, how do they integrate themselves into society?
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