Mongolia | Ulaan Baatar | Summer Solstice

The Summer Solstice will occur here at exactly 1:46 p.m tomorrow, June 21. Usually I go to the summit of Bogd Khan Uul to celebrate the Summer Solstice, but this year due to circumstances beyond my control I had to do my annual Bogd Khan trip on June 7. Accompanying me were Saraa and Croatian Castle Restorer and Badarchin Vedran.

Vedran

As long-time readers of this blog know, I consider myself a connoisseur of drinking water. The water in this small stream not far from the start of the trail from Mandzhir Khiid to the summit is some of the best to be found locally. It is worth the drive from Ulaan Baatar just to sip this icy-cold water straight from the recesses of Bogd Khan Mountain.

Saraa sampling sumptous water

Proceeding on, we soon reached the 7,440-foot summit of the mountain.

Saraa didn’t even work up a sweat climbing to the summit

Ovoo at the summit

Saraa telling her beads at the summit

Since I have already been to the summit of Bogd Khan Uul this summer I will probably go to some pinnacle near my hovel in Zaisan Tolgoi to celebrate the Solstice. According to Sky & Telescope, the Summer Solstice is also “called ‘Midsummer’ Night—traditionally a time of all-night bonfires and partying, when the veil between our world and the world of elves and fairies was supposed to be unusually thin.” I will light no bonfires or engage in any bacchanalias, but will instead recite orisons suitable for the troubled times in which we live. Retire to the mountaintop of your choice for appropriate ceremonies, but in keeping with Buddhist principles please refrain from making any animal or human sacrifices.

Russia | Astrakhan | Dambijantsan

Who was Dambijantsan?

A Buddhist monk; a freedom fighter for Mongolian independence; the descendant of Amursanaa (1723–1757), the Western Mongol who led the last great uprising against the Qing Dynasty of China; the incarnation of Mahakala, the Buddhist god of war; bandit, torturer, murderer, or evil incarnate? During his lifetime no one was sure who he really was, and even today the controversy about his life continues.

Born in what is now the Republic of Kalmykia, part of the Russian Federation, Dambijantsen traveled throughout Tibet, India, and China before arriving in Mongolia in 1890 where he tossed gold coins to bystanders and announced to one and all that he had come to free Mongolia from the yoke of the Qing Dynasty of China. After disappearing almost twenty years he returned to lead the attack on Khovd City, the last Chinese outpost in Mongolia. Honored by the Eighth Bogd Gegeen, the theocratic leader of Mongolia, for his efforts in achieving Mongolian independence, he went on to establish his own mini-state in western Mongolia, which he hoped to use as a base for establishing a Mongol-led Buddhist khanate in Inner Asia. His dictatorial nature and unbridled sadism soon came to the fore and he was finally arrested and imprisoned in Russia. After the Russian Revolution he returned to Mongolia, gathered new followers around him, and established a stronghold at the nexus of old caravan routes in Gansu Province, China. He robbed caravans, grew opium, and once again dreamed of creating a new Mongolian khanate in Inner Asia. Finally the new Bolshevik government in Mongolia, fearful of his rising power, issued orders for his assassination. Dambijantsan died in 1922, but in Mongolia legends persist to this day that his spirit still rides on the wind of the Gobi and continues to haunt his former lairs.

For more on Dambijantsan see False Lama of Mongolia: The Life and Death of Dambijantsan. 

Mongolia | Panchen Lama Plots | Red Faith Lamrim

Digital Tibetan Altar as an interesting blurb about some Hare-Brained Scheme to fly one hundred million dollars in gold out of the Tibet on behalf of the Panchen Lama back in the 1930s. Apparently some Iowan named Gordon Bandy Enders was involved in the plot (beware of Iowans). This was just one of many conspiracies swirling about the Panchen Lama at the time. The Roerichs were also involved in some nebulous plot to create a Pan-Buddhist country in Inner Asia with the Panchen Lama at its head (of course the Roerichs wanted to model this country on Shambhala). Enders wrote a book about his adventure entitled Foreign Devils. How much of it is true is hard to say, but it is a rip-roaring read.

Speaking of books, I popped by the Internom Bookstore the other day for the Gala Book Party celebrating the recent publication of a Mongolian translation of The Words of My Perfect Teacher by Patrul Rinpoche.

 

English Language Version

Mongolian Language Edition entitled Red Faith Lamrim

Ma Lama, one of the publishers of the book

Ma Lama handing out free copies to distinguished guests

Baasan Lama introducing a visiting Korean monk who happened to drop by

Russia | Astrakhan | Dambijantsan | Pestelya Street

Who was Dambijantsan?

A Buddhist monk; a freedom fighter for Mongolian independence; the descendant of Amursanaa (1723–1757), the Western Mongol who led the last great uprising against the Qing Dynasty of China; the incarnation of Mahakala, the Buddhist god of war; bandit, torturer, murderer, or evil incarnate? During his lifetime no one was sure who he really was, and even today the controversy about his life continues.

Born in what is now the Republic of Kalmykia, part of the Russian Federation, Dambijantsen traveled throughout Tibet, India, and China before arriving in Mongolia in 1890 where he tossed gold coins to bystanders and announced to one and all that he had come to free Mongolia from the yoke of the Qing Dynasty of China. After disappearing almost twenty years he returned to lead the attack on Khovd City, the last Chinese outpost in Mongolia. Honored by the Eighth Bogd Gegeen, the theocratic leader of Mongolia, for his efforts in achieving Mongolian independence, he went on to establish his own mini-state in western Mongolia, which he hoped to use as a base for establishing a Mongol-led Buddhist khanate in Inner Asia. His dictatorial nature and unbridled sadism soon came to the fore and he was finally arrested and imprisoned in Russia. After the Russian Revolution he returned to Mongolia, gathered new followers around him, and established a stronghold at the nexus of old caravan routes in Gansu Province, China. He robbed caravans, grew opium, and once again dreamed of creating a new Mongolian khanate in Inner Asia. Finally the new Bolshevik government in Mongolia, fearful of his rising power, issued orders for his assassination. Dambijantsan died in 1922, but in Mongolia legends persist to this day that his spirit still rides on the wind of the Gobi and continues to haunt his former lairs.

For more on Dambijantsan see False Lama of Mongolia: The Life and Death of Dambijantsan.