Tibetan Buddhists Gather for the Bliss Dharma Assembly

 

Tibetan Buddhists Gather for the Bliss Dharma Assembly

Alan Taylor

The Atlantic Monthly

Oct. 31, 2015

 

In a remote, mountainous area of China’s Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, the Bliss Dharma Assembly—the last of four annual assemblies of Tibetan Buddhists—took place at the end of October, at the Larung Wuming Buddhist Institute. Getty Images photographer Kevin Frayer traveled there to capture the following captivating images of the people and their surroundings. The weeklong gathering takes place in the ninth month of the Tibetan calendar to mark Buddha's descent from the heavens.

 

 

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  A Tibetan Buddhist nomad woman prepares tea at dusk following a chanting session as part of the annual Bliss Dharma Assembly at the Larung Wuming Buddhist Institute on October 31, 2015, in Sertar County, China. #

  Kevin Frayer / Getty

            

The Larung Wuming Buddhist Institute is seen on October 30, 2015 in the Larung Valley of Sertar County, in the remote Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, China. #

Kevin Frayer / Getty

Tibetan Buddhists visit a shrine adorned with fake skulls at the sky burial site near the Larung Wuming Buddhist Institute, on October 31, 2015. #

Kevin Frayer / Getty

           

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  A Tibetan Buddhist nun walks past dwellings on her way to a chanting session as part of the annual Bliss Dharma Assembly at the Larung Wuming Buddhist Institute, on October 30, 2015. #

  Kevin Frayer / Getty

            

A Tibetan Buddhist woman carries her son in the crowd on a hillside overlooking a chanting session, at the annual Bliss Dharma Assembly, on November 1, 2015, in Sertar County. #

Kevin Frayer / Getty

Dwellings where Tibetan Buddhist nuns and monks live are seen on a hillside at Larung Wuming Buddhist Institute, on October 30, 2015.                #           

Kevin Frayer / Getty

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  Tibetan Buddhist nomads listen during the annual Bliss Dharma Assembly, on October 31, 2015, in Sertar County. #

  Kevin Frayer / Getty                           

            

Tibetan Buddhist monks, nuns, and lay-people walk home from a chanting session as part of the annual Bliss Dharma Assembly, on October 30, 2015. #

Kevin Frayer / Getty

A Tibetan Buddhist girl walks through smoke from juniper burned as a blessing, on her way to a morning chanting session at the annual Bliss Dharma Assembly, on October 31, 2015. #

Kevin Frayer / Getty

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  A Tibetan Buddhist monk prays with lay people on a hillside during a morning chanting session, on October 30, 2015, in Sertar County. #

  Kevin Frayer / Getty

            

A Tibetan Buddhist shrine lined with fake skulls at the sky burial site near the Larung Wuming Buddhist Institute on October 31, 2015. #

Kevin Frayer / Getty

Tibetan Buddhist monks and nuns make tea from yak butter and milk before a morning chanting session at the annual Bliss Dharma Assembly at the Larung Wuming Buddhist Institute on October 31, 2015. #

Kevin Frayer / Getty

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  A Tibetan Buddhist nomad boy at the annual Bliss Dharma Assembly, on October 30, 2015. #

  Kevin Frayer / Getty

            

Vultures that consume the bodies of the dead in a traditional ritual called “sky burial” fly over a crowd at the Tibetan Buddhist site where the ritual takes place during a funeral near the Larung Wuming Buddhist Institute, on November 1, 2015. #

Kevin Frayer / Getty

Tibetan Buddhist nomads pray during a morning chanting session as part of the annual Bliss Dharma Assembly, on October 30, 2015. #

Kevin Frayer / Getty

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  The Larung Wuming Buddhist Institute, photographed on October 30, 2015, in the Larung Valley of Sertar County, Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, China. #

  Kevin Frayer / Getty

            

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  A Tibetan Buddhist nomad spins a mani khor-lo, or “prayer wheel,” as he sits on a hillside during the annual Bliss Dharma Assembly, on October 30, 2015. #

  Kevin Frayer / Getty

   



Tibetan Buddhist nomads pray during the annual Bliss Dharma Assembly, on November 1, 2015. #

Kevin Frayer / Getty

Tibetan Buddhist monks and nuns walk home from the annual Bliss Dharma Assembly, on November 1, 2015. #

Kevin Frayer / Getty

 

            

Tibetan Buddhist nuns read a religious book in their tent at a campsite following a chanting session on October 31, 2015, in Sertar County, Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. #

Kevin Frayer / Getty

A Tibetan Buddhist nomad listens during the annual Bliss Dharma Assembly, on October 31, 2015. #

Kevin Frayer / Getty

Tibetan Buddhist monks and nuns walk home from the annual Bliss Dharma Assembly at the Larung Wuming Buddhist Institute, on November 1, 2015. #

Kevin Frayer / Getty

            

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  A Tibetan Buddhist nomad carries his daughter in the crowd on a hillside, on October 31, 2015. #

  Kevin Frayer / Getty