bayal. Tibetan. Traditionally, a "hidden land," a place where deities and other sacred beings reside.
bharal. Tibetan. A "blue" sheep found in high elevations in Tibet, today almost extinct.
chakpa. Tibetan. A bronze funnel used to convey sand onto a mandala sand painting.
chang. Tibetan. Tibetan beer, typically made of barley.
changtang. Tibetan. The vast high plateau which dominates north central Tibet.
chenyi. Tibetan. Literally, "right eye."
chorten. Tibetan. The Tibetan word for a stupa, a traditional Buddhist shrine including a conspicuous dome shape and spire, usually used as a reliquary.
chuba. Tibetan. A heavy cloak-like coat traditionally made from sheepskin or heavy woolen cloth.
dhakang. Tibetan. The assembly hall of a monastery.
dobdob. Tibetan. Traditionally, a monk policeman, employed in large monasteries to maintain discipline.
doja. Tibetan. A red cream, derived from whey, used by nomads on the skin as a shield from the high-altitude sunlight.
dongma. Tibetan. A wooden churn traditionally used to churn buttered tea.
dorje. Tibetan. From the Sanskrit "vajre," a scepter-shaped ritual instrument that symbolizes the power of compassion, said to be "unbreakable as diamond" and as "powerful as a thunderbolt."
drong. Tibetan. A wild yak.
dropka. Tibetan. A nomad of the changtang; literally, "a dweller of the black tent."
dungchen. Tibetan. A long ceremonial trumpet.
durtro. Tibetan. A charnel ground, where Tibetan dead are dismembered in preparation for feeding to vultures.
gau. Tibetan. A "portable shrine," typically a small hinged metal box carried around the neck into which a prayer has been inserted.
Golok. A Tibetan tribal people who traditionally inhabited the Amnye Machen mountain range in south-central Amdo Province.
gompa. Tibetan. A monastery, literally a "place of meditation."
gonkang. Tibetan. A protector deity shrine, often found in monasteries.
goserpa. Tibetan. Literally, "yellow head," one of the terms used to refer to any foreigner.
khata. Tibetan. A prayer scarf.
kora. Tibetan. A pilgrim's circuit, a circumambulation around a holy site.
lama. Tibetan. The Tibetan translation of the Sanskrit "guru," traditionally used for a fully ordained senior monk who has become a master teacher.
lao gai. Mandarin. Literally "reform through labor," referring to a hard-labor prison camp.
lha gyal lo. Tibetan. A traditional Tibetan phrase of celebration or rejoicing; literally, "victory to the gods."
lhakang. Tibetan. A Buddhist chapel or temple.
mai xioa nu. Mandarin. Literally, "women selling smiles," a slang term for prostitutes.
mala. Tibetan. A Buddhist rosary, typically consisting of 108 beads.
mandala. Literally, a Sanskrit word for "circle." A circular representation of the world of a meditational deity, traditionally made with colored sands. (Tibetan: kyilkhor.)
mani stone. Tibetan. A stone inscribed, by paint or carving, with a Buddhist prayer, typically invoking the mani mantra, Om mani padme hum.
mani wall. Tibetan. A wall made of mani stones. Traditionally, pilgrims visiting a shrine would add a mani stone to such a wall to acquire merit.
mudra. Tibetan. A symbolic gesture made by arranging the hands and fingers in prescribed patterns to represent a specific prayer, offering, or state of mind.
naga. Tibetan. A deity that is believed to reside in water.
nei lou. Mandarin. State secret; literally, "for government use only."
peche. Tibetan. A traditional Tibetan book, typically unbound, in long narrow leaves which are wrapped in cloth, often tied between carved wooden end-pieces.
purba. Tibetan. Literally, "nail" or "spike," a small dagger-like object with a triangular blade used in Buddhist ritual.
Rinpoche. Tibetan. A term of respect in addressing a revered teacher; literally, "blessed" or "jewel."
RMB. Mandarin. Renminbi, a unit of Chinese currency.
rongpa. Tibetan. A farmer.
samkang. Tibetan. A brazier, often found in monasteries, used for burning fragrant woods.
tamzing. Mandarin. A "struggle session," or "criticism session," typically a public criticism of an individual in which humiliation and verbal and/or physical abuse is utilized to achieve political education.
tangzhou. Mandarin. Comrade.
Tara. Tibetan. A female meditational deity, revered for her compassion and considered a special protectress of the Tibetan people.
thangka. Tibetan. A painting on cloth, typically of a religious nature and often considered sacred.
tonde. Tibetan. Small relics excavated from the ground, thought to hold particular power or bestow blessings.
tsampa. Tibetan. Roasted barley flour, a staple food of Tibet.
Author's Note
While Bone Mountain is a work of fiction, the struggle of the Tibetan people to maintain their spiritual and cultural identity is all too real. There is indeed a Bureau of Religious Affairs which deploys a small army of bureaucrats against the practice of spirituality and ritual in everyday life and licenses monks based on their political, not their religious, faith. The lands of Tibet have suffered as severely as its people. It is no coincidence that Beijing's maps refer to Tibet as Xizang, its Western Treasure House. Sacred mountains have been deforested then leveled for their mineral content, scores of thousands of Chinese miners have displaced traditional farmers and herders and more than a few Tibetans have been imprisoned for trying to prevent bulldozers from despoiling their sacred grounds.
For over a thousand years Tibetan medicine drew from a vast pharmacopoeia of Tibetan herbs and Buddhist teachings to uniquely integrate the spiritual and physical aspects of healing. Sophisticated medical colleges taught noninvasive diagnostic methods and treatments unknown in the West. That rich legacy has been largely annihilated in the Chinese occupation, many of its treasured texts and teachings lost forever. But a handful of medicine lamas did indeed survive by fleeing to India, where they quietly labor to piece together the remnants of those important traditions.
Readers interested in learning more about the struggle of the Tibetan people will find excellent overviews in Tsering Shakya's The Dragon in the Land of Snows and John Avedon's In Exile from the Land of Snows. Many powerful autobiographical tales by or about Tibetan survivors have become available in recent years, including Ama Adhe: The Voice that Remembers, by Ahde Tapontsang and Joy Blakeslee, Sumner Carnahan's In the Presence of My Enemies, David Patt's A Strange Liberation: Tibetan Lives in Chinese Hands, Born in Lhasa by Namgyal Lhamo Taklha, and The Autobiography of a Tibetan Monk by Palden Gyatso. The forces at work against Tibet's natural environment are comprehensively reviewed in Tibet 2000: Environment and Development Issues, available from the International Campaign for Tibet. Introductions to the remarkable traditions of Tibetan medicine are offered in Terry Clifford's Tibetan Buddhist Medicine and Psychiatry, and Healing from the Source by Dr. Yeshi Dhonden. Lastly, readers who wish to further explore how Tibetan Buddhists blend sand and deities would find a valuable starting place in David Cozort's Mandala of Vajrabhairava.