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Who knows. Maybe it was the lack of oxygen. Tibet had a powerful affect that hit me as soon as I arrived and remained with me throughout the trip. Tibetan Buddhism sometimes talks in terms of supports, things that facilitate meditation. For example, practing meditation on the breath in the middle of a downtown rush hour is not ideal. It’s not impossible but a better support is the tranquility of a meditation room, a yoga studio or a retreat centre. These environments make the practice easier. They support it. Another example would be the practice of Green Tara. Tara is an important female Buddha who embodies the activity of the Buddhas. It is said practicing her meditations in settings like forests and gardens enhances the meditation and increases its benefits. In this regard, Tibet had an unusual presence and I am not surprised it has produced so many great yogis and masters.

I should however put this into context lest the gods of religious studies strike me down where I write. Doing a master’s degree and the better part of a Doctorate in religious studies taught me to be wary of romanticizing Tibet and Asia. Romantic fantasies obscure the realities of different communities and their histories. People are people no matter where they are. They have hopes and dreams, fears and aspirations, for themselves, their families and their communities. Or as Buddhism puts it, no one wants to suffer. Everyone wants to be happy. Everyone wants to be healthy. As a result, people around the world have an awful lot in common and romantic fantasies often obscure those commonalities.

Europeans and North Americans have had a long-standing habit of romanticizing Asia and the Middle East and romantic attitudes towards Tibet fall into this category. “Timeless”, “mystical”, “ancient”, these are all adjectives used to describe Tibet, its culture, and its religious traditions. A lot of this comes from Orientalist literature and art, much of which was roundly critiqued by the writer Edward Said in the 1970’s. According to Said, this stretches back to the Ancient Greeks (to Herodotus if I remember correctly) who dubbed anything east of Turkey “the East”.