boat on a rainy day @ yamdrok lake, tibet

soul hotels @ kampala pass, tibet

(tibetans erect these rock structures as a resting places for the souls of deceased)
(this collection sits at the top of kampala pass, nearly 16 000 feet above sea level)

friendly hello @ sera monastery, tibet

ARGUING MONKS OF SERA MONASTERY SERIES

each day, the monks of the sera monastery gather in a courtyard and debate buddhist philosophy. questions are posed and free discussion takes place in conjunction with performance of repeated ritual gestures and stances.

the performative aspects are often carried out with great passion and energy.

but for all the moral lecturing that takes place, there always remains a palpable lightness, for the monks love and enjoy this ritual.

after an hour, the session adjourns and the monks pour out of the courtyard to return home. thus does the ritual conclude until the masters pose new questions and the students continue their growth the next day.

sera monastery monk debates 1 (lhasa, tibet)

(each day, the monks of the sera monastery gather in a courtyard and debate buddhist philosophy.)

sera monastery monk debates 2 (lhasa, tibet)

(questions are posed and free discussion takes place in conjunction with performance of repeated ritual gestures and stances.)

sera monastery monk debates 3 (lhasa, tibet)

(the performative aspects are often carried out with great passion and energy.)

sera monastery monk debates 4 (lhasa, tibet)

(but for all the moral lecturing that takes place, there always remains a palpable lightness, for the monks love and enjoy this ritual.)

sera monastery monk debates 5 (lhasa, tibet)

(after an hour, the session adjourns and the monks pour out of the courtyard to return home.)

sera monastery monk debates 6 (lhasa, tibet)

(thus does the ritual conclude until the masters pose new questions and the students continue their growth the next day.)

mandala @ sera monastery (སེ་ར་), lhasa, tibet

(this is traditional tibetan buddhist sandpainting. all the colored sand is laid down painstakingly with tiny applicators)

sacred yamdrok lake -- completely unedited photo 2 (btwn lhasa & gyantse, tibet)

(fisheye lens; watermark added; otherwise it's just the majesty of yamdrok lake)

sacred yamdrok lake -- completely unedited photo 1 (btwn lhasa & gyantse, tibet)

(i even left in the obvious vignetting caused by the filter to keep this honest -- all i did was add a watermark -- the colors are this surreal)

roof of the jokhang temple in lhasa, tibet

unknown flower @ norbulingka (ནོར་བུ་གླིང་ཀ་) in lhasa, tibet