As the sun sets in Varanasi, we (Karen, Mike, and Luigi) collect out thoughts and gather our energy on the rooftop of the Dolphin Hotel, taking in the views of the Ganga river and rooftops of the city. It’s been an amazing and busy day. It began in the morning with chants from the monks in front of the Dhamekh Stupa in Sarnath. We sat with the monks as they chanted facing the Stupa, and later shared the famed Tibetan butter tea with them. Unfortunately, we were later informed, it was not yak butter in the tea, but just plain old buffalo butter. Still, it tasted quite strong, and salty, but not in an unpleasant way. We all agreed, however, that a glass was about all we could drink of it.

Then we decided to head to Varanasi, “just for a few hours”. That turned into a full day of walking around, taking another boat ride, which took us so close to the funerary pyres that we started to feel sweltering from the heat of the burning logs, a visit to a temple dedicated to Hanuman, the monkey god, which is overrun by wild monkeys, and two passes through the main Ghats, the Dasasvamedha Ghats. So we found ourselves to be within a couple of hours of the night puja ceremony, and decided to stick it out, and witness it.

A few minutes before 6pm, the ghats are teeming with people, some already sitting on the raised platforms that serve as bleachers, and some scattered over the steps, on the roofs of nearby building, and, of course, on boats on the river. Loud music is playing over the loudspeakers, and at first I couldn’t identify the source. Eventually I found out that it was a harmonium player and a table player in the front, play and singing. By the river, there are seven smaller raised platforms, each with a small altar in front, with a few items on top of it, waiting for the holy men to take their place on them. Next to each platform, high up on the scaffolding, there are two bells, connected via long strings to someone in the public.

Eventually the time comes for the ceremony to begin. A candle is lit on each of the platforms, and the holy men take their place. The music becomes a devotional chant, slow and mesmerizing. for the entire ritual, each of the seven men will repeat exactly the same motions: the ritual begins with the playing of a conch shell, staccato at first, and ending with a long sustained note. Then the slow repetitive dance begins: first incense sticks are waved, toward the river at first, and then with identical motions in the other three directions.

Then big incense burners are lit, and waved in the same way, its sweet smell filling the entire audience.

One by one, different offerings are presented to the deities, some of them spectacular in their fiery glory, others as simple as marigold petals. The whole puja lasts for an indefinite amount of time, I really can’t tell if it’s been 10 minutes or 3 hours. Eventually the conch shell is sounded again, and most people start to leave.

However, the ceremony is not over yet. An even slower and more mellifluous dance with a feather brush begins, while the audience joins in the chanting and more upbeat singing. Finally, the holy men all gather at the front, facing the river, preparing for their last veneration. A yell goes out, from the singer and the crowd, hands in the air. A final farewell to the holy Ganga.

 

 

“Failure is the pillar of success”
       - Tibetan proverb

The next day we set the monks onto their next challenge: to construct a machine, or a kinetic contraption of some kind, based on some of the qualities of light that they had noticed the day before. During the previous day’s discussion about the light exploration exercise, we noticed that, while being extremely skilled debaters on a logical and analytical level, the monks had some trouble either noticing or talking about the aesthetic qualities of what they were seeing. This turned one of our preconceptions on its head: before leaving, we had a feeling that the monks might find the cardboard automata activity too mechanistic for their enlightened minds, and that they would be taken in by the inherent beauty of light reflections; the opposite happened. So, being mindful of their attitudes, we tried to emphasize that they should concentrate on the aesthetic (a word that doesn’t exist in Tibetan) qualities of light when thinking about their machines.

Another thing that surprised us is how quickly the monks come up with ideas that are creative, ingenious, and well formed. A few of them started by sketching out design ideas on their notebooks, while some others had an initial concept that they started, we would say, “prototyping”, by either modeling a certain motion or projected image with their hands, or building quick and limited versions of what they intended to ultimately realize.

By now, the monks have become much more comfortable and skilled at building. They approach the materials table with an air of purpose, and quickly scour it for the materials they need. They are also becoming much more comfortable flagging one of us down to ask for help, where to find materials, opinions on how to make something specific happen, and just to share their excitement at some of their discoveries.

At the beginning of the session, Mike made an introduction in which he talked, among other things, about the difference between low-tech, middle-tech, and high-tech, specifying that all three types of technologies are equally important as ways of learning through building, and that they could choose to use any of them in their contraptions. The monks took this to heart, and we had examples of all three:

Lobsang Dhondup made a contraption that is technically very simple, but very beautiful and ripe with meaning. His process was interesting and relatively unusual, in that he spent a very long time just playing with the materials, making observations, letting the quality of the reflections, and the interactions with the material (Mylar, in this case) “speak” to him and dictate what he was going to make. Initially he expressed frustration that he did not know what to do, did not have an idea for a machine. After being encouraged by us that what he was doing was exactly right, he made a number of observations about the way that light reflects, and how minute changes in light source and material positioning result in big changes in the image that it projected. Eventually he stumbled onto a reflected shape that reminded him of a lotus flower, and immediately knew what it was what he was going to do. This is the beautiful result.

Konchok Choephel and Tenzin Choegyal made an example of what we called “middle tech”: their contraption projects beautiful and multi-colored light by using a simple slow-moving motor to rotate a disc. Interestingly, this was a direct off-shoot of their previous explorations with Mylar in a cardboard tube. They also first built a prototype, using just two tubes and turning the disc with their hands to see if their concept would work. The final piece projected a dazzling light show on a surface, which they further modified by reflecting that off a piece of crumpled Mylar.

Finally, Tashi’s machine made use of a PicoCricket computer. We introduced these as a possible tool for the monks to use, but left it entirely up to them as to whether they wanted to incorporate them into a machine. We noticed before that Tashi’s creations are very much rooted in Buddhist philosophy, and this one was no different. He fashioned a selector, which would rotate between three possible choices: buddhist, scientist, or neutral. We then helped him program a cricket computer so that when a button was pressed the motor that spins the selector would start running, and when it was pressed again it would stop. The idea was that of a game, in which a person could close their eyes, press the button, and after a while press it again, and the machine would tell them which of the three they were! Of course, to keep with the “assignment”, he had to enclose it in a Mylar box, so that, when a light was shined on it, it would also project beautiful reflections on the ceiling.

Some of the monks’ choices surprised us for their creativity and playful spirit. Two monks decided to create a Mylar dish that could project beautiful reflections on the wall, and also double as a water boiler (for tea, maybe?). Others made a “peeking box”, lined with Mylar and filled with balls, the object of which was to trick observers so that they would not know how many balls were inside. Finally, Geshe Niyma made a machine that could be activated by either the wind, a motor and a switch, or a cricket, therefore combining low-, middle- and high-tech in the same machine.

Once again, these inspiring individuals surprised us with the insights they brought to the activity, their engagement, and humor!

One of our goals for presenting the automata activity was to encourage the workshop participants to construct their own understanding about mechanisms by first observing motion machine models, then discussing their ideas about the ways they worked, and ultimately, building their own automata in their unique way. Although the group was eager to discuss (and argue) their ideas about the inner workings of the mechanisms, they were a bit tentative when they started to construct. Their ideas and initial thoughts were challenged, and ultimately strengthened as they completed their models.

Many commented on this activity during the discussion session (roughly translated):

“What I thought of in my mind and in reality were two different things [when making their own mechanisms]. What I imagined worked perfectly, but was harder to build things perfectly.”
        – Ngawang Lobsang

“I was reminded of the inner workings of a water pump from when I was younger in Tibet.”
        – several participants mentioned this

“When we started, the mechanisms looked strange, but opening them up made us focus on how they worked even more.”
        – Kalsang Gyatsen

“One thing influenced another thing’s movement, and so on. I did not realize this fully until I tried it.”
        – Geshe Nyima

“In Buddhism we say that the creativity in each person is different because of the experiences from a previous life.”
        – Geshe Yeshi

“This workshop is very different from the others, because in this one the responsibility [for the learning] is on us. This is very good.”
        – Geshe Nyima