My fortune is horrible! A couple of
days ago, we were on our excursion for a week as part of our program. During
this excursion we visited many urban and rural cities in Yunnan to learn about
the culture and medicine. We also had lots of fun going out and exploring the
cities. At the city of Lijiang, we studied the Dongba culture and their
ceremonies and chants, which are done to get rid of evil spirits, to preserve
health, and to treat sickness.
We also visited a
blind Dongba fortuneteller. He has been blind his whole life and has been
performing chants to dispel bad spirits and for health preservation. The first thing we did was sit down to
watch him chant. It was an interesting chant! Then he individually told us our
fortune. The blind fortuneteller asked for my lunar calendar birthday, which is
August 2nd. Finally he did the magic! I was kind of nervous about
anything he would say. Okay so he foretold that I would have obstacles with my
career and marriage. I almost didn’t want to believe him but he seemed legit. He
was able to accurately point out scars on my classmates so he had to be legit! He
told me that in order to fix my bad fortune I needed to get a new name. So I
did. The next day was the perfect
opportunity to fix this bad fortune. We were going to Tibet and to visit a
monastery.
At the monastery, we
visited a Buddha. A Buddha! I thought it was big deal and it felt like a dream.
We had a question and answer session. My only question: “May I please have a
new name?” I told him my birth year and then he pulled out some dice-looking
things and he did his magic. My name is Losang Tashi. My name means
auspiciousness. However, I am still a little bit skeptical about my fortune so
I may have to confirm once I am back in Chicago.
The Buddha was
inspirational. Him being full of enlightenment, we had so many questions. We
were wondering if today’s media and entertainment ever offended him. We were
wondering if world news about war and violence ever caused him to break down.
And I think his answer was my favorite. “Nothing shakes me”.
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