"FASHION STARS OUT OF DOG DUNG"

Alexandra David-Neel, Magic and Mystery in Tibet, with an Introduction by A. D'Arsonval (first published in 1929 in French as Mystiques et magicien du Thibet; first English translation, 1932) (Escondido, CA: The Book Tree, 2000) (" 'Tell him I have come to ask why he mocked at the crowd seeking the benediction of the Dalai Lama.' 'Puffed up with a sense of their own importance and the importance of what they are doing, Insects fluttering in the dung,' muttered the naljorpa between his teeth. This was vague, but the kind of language one expects from such men. 'And you,' I replied, 'are you free from all defilement?' He laughed noisily. 'He who tries to get out only sinks in deeper. I roll in it like a pig. I digest it and turn it into golden dust, into a brook of pure water. To fashion stars out of dog dung, that is the Great Work!' " Id. at 7. "Sorcery loses much of its prestige when seen by broad daylight and in a crowd." Id. at 49. "I had vaguely imagined that beyond the Himalayas the country would become wild, but now I began to realize that on the contrary I was coming into touch with a truly civilized people." Id. at 83. "Learned monks belonging to poor families may earn their livelihood as teachers, as artists if they are gifted at painting religious pictures, as resident chaplains at the houses of rich lamas or laymen, or by occasionally performing religious ceremonies at householders' homes. Besides these various professions, divination, astrology, drawing horoscopes may be reckoned amongst their sources of income." The lama doctors create very favourable situations for themselves if they show their skills by curing a sufficient number of distinguished people. But even with a smaller amount of success, the medical profession is a lucrative one." "However, the profession which looks the most attractive to many is trade. The great majority of those lamaist monks who are not especially religious minded, become traders. If they lack the money needed to undertake a business of their own, they engage themselves as secretaries, accountants, or even as mere servants of a trader." Transacting business, in a more or less unostentatious way, is to a certain extent allowed in the monasteries. As for those of their members who have a really big business they obtain leave form the authorities of the monastery to ravel with their caravan and open shops or branches wherever they like." "One may think that trade does not fit in very well with religious pursuits, but we must also remember a monk has very seldom chosen his own profession. Most of them are led to the monastery as little boys, and it would be unjust to reproach them for not following a mystic avocation which has never been their own choice." Id. at 107-108. "The followers of the Zen sect in Japan, who meditate together in a common hall, appoint a kind of superintendent who is skilled in detecting when a monk is overcome by fatigue. He refreshes the fainting and revives their energy by striking them on one shoulder with a heavy stick. Those who have experienced it agree that the ensuring sensation is a most pleasant relation of the nerves." Id. at 196. Right!).