Astrology, Liturgy and Practice

Alexandr says that in Kalmykia people practise both Buddhism and pre-Buddhist beliefs, including a belief in the eternal sky (tengrianstvo) and shamanism. People should accept religion consciously through their life experiences and analytical thinking rather than being guided by emotions alone. He himself received a Buddhist blessing from two lamas, Palden Sherab Rinpoche and Tsewang Dongyal Rinpoche, and became a Buddhist. This does not stop him, however, from going to traditional healers who practise non-Buddhist beliefs.

Alexandr emphasises the importance of observing basic moral principles such as not stealing, not cheating, respecting one’s parents, etc. for these principles bring peace and harmony to one’s family and soul. He also talks about the role of women in the family, including the upbringing of children.

This video features a short interview with Alexei about the Book of Predictions (Aldkhl Zyarlg).

Darina: Did you hear anything about the Book of Predictions, Aldkhl Zyarlg?

Alexei: I did. It is a big teaching book with prayers. In the epos Jangar there is a fortune teller, Kyunkyan Altn Tsedzhi, who could foretell the future a hundred years ahead and see a hundred years into the past. In the Book of Predictions, it is written that the Kalmyk people will lose their native place 3 times, which has already happened. From the Volga we were exiled to Siberia. The Kalmyks ended up as far as the Arctic Ocean and Sakhalin.

D: What did people say about the Book? That certain kind of people will appear, that certain things will happen, that wars will break out, that people will disappear… Did you hear such things?

A: Yes, I did. People said this. The Kalmyks lost half of their population. Half of the Kalmyks came here (to Volga).

Anatoliy believes in Buddha, adheres to the Dalai Lama, and reads prayers. In his youth, he recalls, they also celebrated such religious holidays as Zul, Ur Sar, and Tsagan Sar. Anatoliy has Buddhist relics that he has inherited from his parents. He says that he is excited about the construction of a Buddhist temple in Moscow, which he read about in a newspaper.

Badma recounts a story about a Kalmyk man called Bryudikov Bodva who could control the weather:

In the past old men could predict the weather.  They often gathered together and talked about the weather and the land. My grandmother’s younger brother, Bryudikov Bodva, could even influence the weather. When it was windy Bryudikov Bodva used to tie up a red ribbon behind his house and read prayers. Then the wind would calm down. One day two men, Bryudikov Bodva and the lama Bataev Nyama, decided to have a competition. Bryudikov Bodva asked Bataev Nyama whether he could bring a snow storm. Bataev Nyama replied: ‘I don’t know, first let’s see what you can do’. So Bryudikov Bodva called a storm that lasted for a week. The camels were covered in snow, people stopped fetching water, they ate snow instead. In the past, sheep grazed in the steppe by scrubbing the snow with their legs. That time it snowed so heavily that the sheep could not find food. Bataev Nyama begged my grandmother: ‘Elzyat, ask your younger brother to stop the storm. People are suffering, the livestock cannot find grass, everything is covered with the snow’. To which my grandmother said: ‘I didn’t tell you to compete with my brother. I know nothing. Go and ask him yourself’. At that time people themselves started to ask Bryudikov Bodva: ‘Bodva, please help us, stop the storm’. Bodva, who was 17 years old, replied: ‘Ask Bataev Nyama to stop the storm. He says that I am young and know nothing’. Several lamas read prayers but could not stop the storm. It was Bryudikov Bodva who stopped the storm in the end. I heard this story from an old man called Bankaev Bombsh.

We (in our house) had a lot of statues of Buddhas, whom we wrapped in cloth and put on top of a high shelf. We used a ladder to reach it. We used to pray to all of them.

Boris talks about an old Kalmyk prayer-blessing that he learnt from the lama Sandzhi Ulanov. He also recites the prayer. This is his story.

This prayer is a gratitude for a gift or offering. I learnt this prayer from my teacher, the lama Sandzhi Ulanov. If someone brings me a gift, I should read this prayer in return. It is in Tibetan and reads as follows: ‘May the person who brought me this gift and food have a long and happy life. May all that person’s relatives and clan members be strong. May all their wishes and plans be fulfilled. May they not experience hardships. May they come across the teaching of Buddha, practice it and free themselves from suffering’.

The receiver of a gift should hold it with both hands, raise it and read the prayer in front of the giver three times. (Boris reads the prayer).

Another purpose of this prayer is to avoid creating karmic debt to the giver of the gift. After all, to wish someone to get acquainted with Buddha’s teaching and become free from suffering is the best well-wish.

People often say today that, ‘This or that healer or prayer practitioner charges a lot of money and that they do it for the sake of profit’. I read this prayer in order not to succumb to greed.

In this video Boris talks about how he learnt about a Kalmyk prayer called Baazr Dara and then recites it.

Boris heard about this prayer from a woman in 1992. At that time, the Dalai Lama XIV was visiting Kalmykia. Boris gave that woman a white and a red coin for sharing the prayer with him.

Baazr Dara includes the names of various Buddhas, bodhisattvas, saints and gurus. This prayer grants people abilities and blessings.

At the end of the video, Boris says that old Kalmyk prayers were destroyed by the Soviet government. Today prayers that people read in Kalmykia are in Tibetan, including Ganjur and Danjur.

In this interview Bosya talks about which animals are auspicious to see or keep (livestock, the crane) and which are not (the fox, the ferret, and a bird which makes a strange human-like sound). She also says that people should not set out on a journey on inauspicious days and relays a story about a religious practitioner who advised her husband on which animals not to keep (dark chickens and black cows).

Bosya: For example, you are riding, and all of a sudden you see a fox crossing the road. This is a bad sign. In this situation, a man has to rotate his hat from front to back. Another example: you are setting out on a journey on an inauspicious day. Today people do not care whether it is a good or bad day. They receive a call at midnight and go out. When you ask, ‘What are you doing? Where are you going?’ They say, ‘Someone has telephoned me, I’ll have to go’. This is not right. If you need to go somewhere on a bad day, leave your house by moving backwards, and then go. This is done in order to cheat (evil spirits).

Question: Which animals are considered bad, unclean?

B: The fox, the ferret.

Q: Any birds?

B: There is one bird with nasty voice. Sometimes it sounds as if a child is crying. Sometimes it sounds like a child is giggling. This is a bad bird. It looks like the owl. The others are okay.

Q: Which birds are good?

B: The crane.

Q: Which animals are good?

B: Livestock. It is good when you have livestock. We had a blue chicken. One day my husband went to a person who read prayers. That person said to my husband, ‘In your family you should not keep a blue chicken. If it goes missing, do not search for it’. Then he read a mantra, and the chicken disappeared. This really happened to us. That person also said, ‘Do not keep a blue chicken and black cows’. Back then I had a black cow who gave birth to a calf. I was thinking, ‘What shall I do?’ If a cow had a white spot, it was okay to keep. But if it was completely black, we were not supposed to keep it.

Elza says that all members in her family have their personal deity-protectors on top of Buddha Shakyamuni who is considered the protector of her whole family. One of her sons has Tsongkapa as his protector. Her eldest son’s protector is Amitayus. Elza’s sister-in-law’s protector is Namsra.

Elza reminisces about her father, a folk healer, who could read the Book of Predictions (Aldkhl Zyarlg). Her father used to say the following based on his readings. Humanity will become extinct gradually; in 2000 years there will be no humans left; livestock will come (to Kalmykia); there will be plenty of money to go around; people will understand what the state is; each khoton (nomadic settlement) will have up to 30 doctors servicing them; when luck is depleted, people, both old and young, would carry sacks on their shoulders. Elza says that she keeps the Diamond Sutra (Dorzh Zhodva), which she believes is contributing to her longevity.

She ends the interview by reading a mantra dedicated to the Three Jewels of Buddhism (Buddha, Dharma and Sangha) and wishes all people well.

In this video Elza reads ‘Baazr Dari’, a famous Kalmyk prayer, from the magazine Teegin Gerl.

Khargchin reminisces about the Dalai Lama’s visit to Kalmykia in the 1990s. Her son, who was an MP then, helped the Dalai Lama. One of the people who accompanied the Dalai Lama was Telo Tulku Rinpoche who later became the head of the Buddhist establishment of Kalmykia. Khargchin says that she always read prayers for the Rinpoche. It is under his leadership that many stupas were built in Kalmykia.

In this video Khargchin reads mantras and performs a divination with her prayer beads. She often utters the following prayer: ‘Om mani padme khum, khyarkhn, makh, makh’

In her divination she uses 3 signs, including (1) a ‘closed sign’ (butu), (2) ‘happiness’ (bair) and (3) a ‘road’ (khaalg). After the divination, she gives her verdict: ‘I see a good sign, soon you will go on a journey’. 

In this video Ksenia talks about special fasting days for Buddhists called matsg odr. This is her story:

These days are the first day of the lunar month, the eighth, fifteenth and thirtieth days. On such a day people light a zul (a candle) and pray to gods (burkhan). It is also forbidden to eat meat or drink broth. Usually people drink tea and eat bread. I myself do not follow matsg odr, because I am forgetful and miss the days. But my grandfather and two of my uncles from my father’s side were gelyungs (monks). They worked in a temple (khurul). One of them seemed not to have close relatives, so he often came to our house. Before he began to eat, he would always pray using his rosaries. Then he twisted and tied them in a special knot, touched his forehead with them, blessing himself and only then he ate.

Lidzhi recalls that when he was building a stupa his mother died. With the money that she had left him, Lidzhi bought paint and used it on the stupa. During the mourning period, it is forbidden to kill animals. If one needs meat, it is better to buy it in a shop. Karma, both positive and negative, is accumulated by people themselves.

According to Lidzhi, people come to religion though suffering. The teachings of Buddha help not only psychologically but their effects can be felt in real life. A connection with Buddha can be established via reading mantras.

Lidzhi recounts a story about a monk who accumulated bad karma. Once upon a time there lived a famous monk in a famous temple. Before his death he told his disciples about where he would be reborn. Soon the reincarnation of the lama was found in a boy. The boy was brought back into the monastery where he lived a lazy life and learnt nothing, not even how to read or write. At that time there lived another monk who was unpopular because of his harsh character and grumpiness. When the two monks got old, the grumpy one realized during his meditation that the lazy monk would be reborn in an inferior world. To help the lazy monk attain a human rebirth, the grumpy monk decided to impregnate a girl. The monk saw a girl doing the washing in the river. When he was about to proceed to what he had planned, the girl pushed him away and ran back home. Her mother, however, insisted that the girl returned to the monk, for he had a mitigating reason to have sex with her. When the girl returned to the old, grumpy monk, he explained to her that he just wanted to help another monk who had polluted his karma by living an idle and lazy life. Unfortunately for the lazy monk, at that time two donkeys were copulating and when the monk died his soul was born as a donkey. Lidzhi concludes that if one does not try hard it is easy to accumulate negative karma. Sometimes even prayers are useless in such a situation.

Maria talks about religious practitioners among her ancestors, her clan protectors (deities) and inherited sutras. 

My paternal grandmother read prayers by looking at the moon. Ur Sar is celebrated in May (when it gets warm in Kalmykia and mosquitoes come out to bite the livestock). Even in Siberia we celebrated it in May, although it was very cold. On this day people remember their deceased parents, relatives and siblings. The most important Buddha is Tsongkapa. Let this deity always shine over our heads. The deity protector of the Orgakin Temple is Ochir Vaani. We also have Okn Tengr, also known as Tavn Tengr burkhn (Five Skies Buddha).

I have two sutras. Lamas ask me to give these sutras to them, but I give them to no one, because I do not know whom to trust. Today there are so many people, both men and women, who are religious fanatics. My grandfather’s brother was a lama. Since he did not have children, he left us his sutra. He told us to keep it in purity, use it ourselves and not to give it to anyone else. The other sutra that I have, came from my mother-in-law.

In the past, there were practically no Buzavas. There were only people who were descendants of the three brothers, namely the Ik Derbet, Torghut and Bag Derbet.

Maria talks about her uncle (who was a lama), a clan ritual and a ritual to prolong one’s life.

My paternal uncle was called Mandzhiev Badma Gedeevich. He was born in 1890 in a place called Ondr Arm. I keep his photo, that I cut from a newspaper, on my altar. He was exiled to Siberia like all other Kalmyks. From Siberia he came to live in the village of Tsagan Aman where he healed people. He was a powerful lama. He was short, well built, and had a beard. He served at the Tsagan Aman Temple. I went to see him often. He gave my children amulets and advised them on various things. One day I decided to see him again. Upon hearing this from me, a woman whom I knew asked me to bring water from my uncle. At that time, I did not know that she was a healer herself. When my uncle looked at the water, he immediately told me that that woman was a healer. When you go to see such lamas, you need to have pure intentions and hide nothing. Anyway, such people can see what and who you are.

Women should not come to temples wearing trousers. By doing so, they challenge the dignity of men. When you receive a blessing from a lama, join the palms of your hands together and bow. 

One day another uncle of mine, Muchka Nadbitov, slept for 3 days. It was lethargic sleep. When he woke up, he told us that he could see what others could not. He did not return from Siberia.

Today people perform fire rituals by sacrificing animals. We do not do sacrifices. Instead we make a raft, put candies and biscuits on it, and send the raft to float on the water. In order to prolong one’s life, we bind a red ribbon around a sheep’s neck and set it free.

This video features an interview with Purvya who talks about the Book of Predictions.

Purvya: There is Aldkhl Zyarlg (The Book of Predictions). It contains the following predictions: livestock will arrive; people will understand what the state means; people will have vehicles; women will have more children; ordinary people will drink from a glass with a golden border; men will have big bellies; babies will bring a fire the day after they are born; whistling birds (i.e. planes) will appear.

The Kalmyks will live long thanks to prayers. I pray every day. In the evening I wash my face, rinse my mouth and pray as follows: ‘Great gods, Master of Universe Tsagan Aav, Bogdo Gegyan, Buddha Shakyamuni, who are protectors of our ancestors and land, do bestow your protection on us/ All gods, Ochir Vaani and Okn Tengr, have pity on people and give us good harvests, young animals and ward off unhappiness/ Let all living beings live in plenty/ Tsongkapa do protect us so that we live in tranquility and happiness, without wars and diseases/ Let all our wishes be fulfilled!’

During the Siberian exile we were sent to the Far North to Surgutskiy rayon where we arrived on 12 January 1944. The Kalmyks had brought nothing with them. My paternal uncle was a lama. Every evening he read the Book of Predictions and said that it was important for people to have kind hearts. He also said that wars were calamitous events and that we all needed to live together, helping each other. After my uncle’s death, his son handed the Book over to a temple in the village of Khar Buluk. The Book is there now. (In Kalmykia) once I asked my uncle: ‘Uncle, give me your Book. I will gather our people and read it to them’. He asked me to find a dictionary, since in our temple there was no one who knew Tibetan.

You can find everything in this Book. How did people know all about this? I don’t know. The Book says that in the future people will be as stubborn as cattle. Now, try to convince anyone. People just say okay and do nothing. Many people slipped off the right path and do not listen to advice. The Book also writes that ‘people will sink in the urine of evil forces’. My auntie asked my father: ‘Where will all these evil forces come from?’ To which he answered: ‘It is Russian vodka’. Everything turned out as he said. The Book also writes that ‘there will be 100 diseases and 99 doctors, people will fall out and be jealous of each other’. In order to save oneself from all this, people should go to the steppe, go up the hill, put a white and a red coin on the ground and pray by saying ‘O, gods, do protect me from diseases’.

Tsagan: Evil forces exist, right?

Purvya: It is obvious, they exist. The Book of Predictions writes that people themselves will become evil. Women will wear men’s trousers and challenge men. Today you see women wear trousers and shirts. It is impossible to know whether a certain person is a man or a woman. That is why we live like this (in trouble). Men are not men anymore. They drink vodka. Everything is the way it is, because we are destroying our culture and traditions. 

This video features a group of women who perform a ritual of matsg (fasting) consisting of reading prayers in the tantric temple in Gorodovikovsk in December 2017. Referred to by people as matsgta (lit. those who are fasting), in the Soviet period these women were known to have gathered to read prayers and perform healing rituals, usually on children. Such group sessions were instrumental in keeping religious practices alive among the wider population when religion was banned.

In this interview Sanal mentions about Tsagan Aav and relays a story about 2 Buddhist statues that belong to his clan.

Darina: Did hunters pray before going hunting? Did they utter certain words before going wolf or fox hunting?

Sanal: Hunters were not supposed to kill animals for fun. Hunters prayed to themselves during hunting.

D: Do people from your clan believe in Tsagan Aav?

S: We say he is Master of Universe and pray to him. Old people say that Tsagan Aav exists, but I did not meet any one who saw him personally. The Khoshuds have two yellow statues of Buddhas…

D: Could you tell me about them?

S: When we were exiled in Siberia, after curfew these two statues were stolen by someone. As the statues were yellow, the thieves must have thought that they were golden. This happened in Altaiskiy krai. Before the exile my mother had finished 4 classes and she socialized with Russian women when she lived in Sarpa (Kalmykia). Since my mother knew some Russian, she went to the commandant (to report on the theft). After some time, they returned the statues. In fact, there were 3 statues altogether. The third one got lost in Siberia and was never recovered. Today we have these 2 statues, which are kept by the granddaughter of the head of our clan. Like me, she is 60.

D: Were there any famous lamas in your place?

S: People say there were. I heard of one lama Aanya.

D: Could you tell me more about what you heard of him?

S: I only heard that a lama named Aanya lived there. I know nothing about how he lived, what he did. I heard of him when I was a child.

Lama Sanan says there are three fasting days (matsg odr) that fall on the 8^th, 15^th and 30^th days of each month, according to the lunar calendar. In the tantra of Kalachakra it is written that on these special days the ‘power of time’ comes about. People should bow on these days. The Central Temple in Elista performs special rituals on these days as well.

In Kalmykia, there are ‘old women who fast’ (matsgta emgchud) who pray and bow on fasting days. If people cannot perform these rituals, they should try to avoid consuming alcohol, meat, and other animal products. By doing so, people can accumulate merit (buyn).

Sanan points out that lamas have more merit accrued than the laity, since they follow certain monastic rules and read mantras.

Sanan says that bowing to deities at home is good. But doing so in temples is more meritorious, since they are sacred places that emanate power. Even walking in the direction of a temple can increase one’s merit.

With regard to candles, in Buddhist philosophy these objects represent the destruction of darkness and the spread of the teachings of Buddha. The motivation with which people light candles is very important. When a candle burns away, it is important to clean the candle cup. It is forbidden to extinguish a candle. A candle has to burn away by itself.

The names of mantras that people should read are as follows: the mantra of the Buddha Shakyamuni (Om muni muni makha munie suukha); the mantra of the Buddha of Wisdom, that of Dukar or of the Tara with a White Umbrella. The reading of mantras is accompanied by hand claps, which symbolizes the destruction of obstacles. To prolong one’s life and improve health, people should read the mantra of the Buddha Amitayus. The mantra of Vadjrasatva is good for cleansing negative karma, bad deeds and mistakes. It should be read in the evening after all other prayers. If someone needs protection and help, the mantra of Okn Tengr is the answer. During Tsagan Sar the Kalmyks read this particular mantra throughout night. The mantra of Sosor Dongma is good for pregnant women. This mantra has two versions – a long and a short one. The mantra of Green Tara is good for relaxation. It should be read when someone has a nightmare. Sanan advises that the more people read mantra, the better it is for them.

Sergei says that the Kalmyks of his generation were not taught about religion when they were young. He talks about his understanding of religion.

When we were children nobody taught us about religion. (Today) we do not know our religion well. I worry about this situation. I pray as I can and according to what I know. If you believe, you need to keep yourself pure. It is forbidden to swear, drink alcohol, or smoke. (In Kalmykia) we go to Tibetan lamas. But they do not know our language (they communicate with us through translators). How are they supposed to know what I suffer from? There is also a question whether the translators do a good job. I saw how to pray correctly. You take off your hat, rinse your hands, clean your teeth, and after that you can pray.

I recommend starting a day by reciting Itkl (refuge). I am interested in a Bodhicitta mind, to assist all living beings, to cultivate my compassion, my kindness, and love to all sentient beings. I recommend people to meditate, at least dedicate 10 to 15 minutes to meditation. It is effective to focus on our mind, cultivating positive thoughts, energising ourselves. It is very useful today when we live a stressful life. We are programmed and function almost as if we are robots. We have our routine every morning: at a certain time we go to work, have lunch, go home… I encourage people to dedicate some time to their inner world. We focus too much on external matters, profit, our physical comfort while we forget about our inner comfort, which is much more important. Why do people get stressed? People do not know how to balance their inner and outer worlds. This is where meditation comes to help. You do not have to be a Buddhist. Every religious tradition has some kind of meditation.

This is one of the practices that I recommend that people do. Do meditation in order to have successful and comfortable life.

Ubush describes karma as an energy field. In Buddhism, he carries on, one is advised to have positive thoughts and spiritual calmness. Expensive things could be useful, but to be sad about not having them is not worth the anxiety. Ubush advises – enjoy what you have. The Kalmyk word for life is zhirgl, which literally means ‘happiness’. Therefore, the Kalmyks try to live their lives as happily as possible.

It is forbidden to laugh at night, because this act may lead to one losing his/her karma. Karma can be accumulated by honorable deeds, for example by feeding dogs, helping people etc. Merit (buyn) is a positive energy. People can increase their merit with the help of special prayers. According to Ubush, merit is something that is real and which is possible to accumulate. The notion of karma, in contrast, is more difficult to explain, insists Ubush. According to him, the Kalmyks, as a nation, have decreased their communal karma by fighting wars for other peoples. As a result, the Kalmyks have suffered a lot. On the other hand, the Kalmyks have a strong sense of fairness and persistence, and try to help others.

A Buddhist, an Orthodox Christian and a Muslim have an argument about whose religion is the strongest. To settle this issue, they decide to pray in front of a wooden stick. From whose prayers the stick blossoms, that religion is the strongest. The Christian and the Muslim pray, but the stick does not blossom. When the turn comes to the Buddhist, he takes an amulet (bu) in one of his hands and begins to pray, while counting a rosary in his other hand. The moment he utters, ‘O, gracious gods! Let that what should happen to happen! (O, khyarkhn! Kyutskh yumn kutstkhya!), the stick blossoms.