Living on the Inner Edge": an excerpt...arriving in Lhasa, Tibet (1987)

The next day I flew to Lhasa, well close to it, as the airport is a 2 hour drive away from the capital in 1987. Compared to the old pictures of Lhasa, the Chinese have really built the city up, and modernized it. I stayed at a good hotel by Lhasa standards, which actually had oxygen tanks, and masks in every room, since Lhasa is at 11,500 feet above sea level, plus a close circuit TV system. Once I was settled, I decided to go for my first adventure in Lhasa. The sun was just setting, and the grey world of dusk was settling in. After walking for only 15 minutes, I felt a thick, heaviness descend over me making my head feel heavy, with an uncomfortable pressure pushing on my forehead. Even my eyelids felt heavy. This was different feeling than you get when you first try to walk around at a very high altitude shortly after arriving from sea level. I sensed it was some type of an astral attack, a very dark, negative force; what a welcome present. Eventually, as I struggled along, I found a small Tibetan Buddhist temple behind the Potala palace. I found a small statue of Avalokiteshvara there, and I stood in front of it, and chanted for at least 30 minutes, until I felt the heaviness lift off of me. I could feel it being pushed off by the power of the mantra I was chanting, and the feeling of discomfort was immediately gone. Leaving the temple, an old monk who had been watching me, smiled and waved as I left. I headed towards the downtown area, and found a restaurant to eat in, after which I went back to the hotel. That night the “Sound of Music” was playing on the in-house close circuit TV, and the next seven night too. The next day I took a tour of the Potala, which is now a museum. It is really something to see! There are many altar rooms with amazing statues of deities, lamas, saints, and kings of old Tibet. There is a definite mystical, peaceful feeling, as you move from room to room. Many of the altar rooms are very dark, only lit by a few oil lamps, and odd light bulb suspended from the ceiling. You get to see the room where the Dalai Lama lived before the Chinese took over. I would have liked to have meditated there, but the tour guides do not let you linger, and keep you moving on the tour.