Adventures in India

Phuchen Lamas of the Nyingmapa sect of Tibetan Buddhism are different from the other Lamas in many ways. Phuchens are tantric Lamas.

Phuchen Lamas of the Nyingmapa sect of Tibetan Buddhism are different from the other Lamas in many ways. Lamas are usually celibate, live in monasteries, shave their heads and learn their varied roles in the monasteries they enter as children. Phuchen Lamas o­n the other hand marry and live with their families. They never cut their hair and wear it in two braids that they tie together to form a loop. Their knowledge is passed from father to son, and the son takes over the father’s duties when he comes of age.

Phuchens are tantric Lamas. They have special powers that seem superhuman for healing and destruction of bad energies. People call them to perform the stone breaking ceremony when they want to improve the energy of their homes and lives like the beginning of the construction of a new house, when someone is ill or family functions. During the Stone Breaking Ceremony, The Lama collects all the bad energies in the place and puts them in a big stone slab and breaks it.

He begins with a prayer and enters a meditative trance. After a while, he starts dancing slowly, increasing the tempo as he prepares himself spiritually to destruct evil. During the dance, he performs various feats that ordinarily seem impossible. Taking a prayer flag, he waves it around. o­ne can feel the power increasing. He pins the flag o­nto his back firmly.

He takes two swords, puts them o­n the ground, and balances himself o­n them with their tips to his stomach. He pulls some skin at his throat and pierces a dagger through. These feats change from Lama to Lama and occasion to occasion. There is no blood and no expression of pain. People believe that these physical abilities are due to his invoking the power of God in him and are progressive manifestations of increasing power.

The Lama then makes the host or person who is ill lie o­n the ground and chants invocations for him. Three assistants place a slab of stone, about a foot wide by three feet long (which is selected and washed before hand) o­n his body. The subject is also in a trance by now and does not seem to find the stone heavy. The Lama asks God to clear the energies of the people, the illness of the man and bless the house they live in and touches the stone lightly with his forehead, causing the stone to break. The evil energies are now destroyed.

The ceremony is complete. The Lama now looks exhausted, as he gathers his instruments and thanks God for His blessings. The broken stone is used to make the four cornerstones of the house being built. Incase a house is not being built; the pieces are kept safely to be used later when necessary. The people present gather a little of stone dust and wrap it in some cloth to keep them safe from undesirable happenings.

Phuchen ceremonies also form an important part of the annual festivities in the big monasteries and Phuchens are invited from great distances to add their blessings to the auspicious proceedings.

The Phuchens are a diminishing group of people. Modernization and the temptations in the outer world have had a great impact o­n their skills. Currently (to my knowledge) Nyingmapa Buddhism is followed in the Pin Valley in Spiti in India and the valley is home to seven Phuchen families.

Article by Vidyut