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Traditional Environmental Calendar |
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Tuesday, 31 January 2006 |
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A
traditional environmental calendar, indicating the dates for
worshipping natural sacred sites, has been published by the World Bank,
the Alliance of Religions and Conservation (ARC) and Gandantegchenlin
Monastery, with funding from the World Bank's Netherlands-Mongolia
Trust Fund for Educational Reform. The calendar was produced following
a recommendation of the Northern Buddhist Conference on Ecology and
Development held in Ulaanbaatar last June, stemming from a proposal
made by the Venerable Kh. Byambasuren of Erdene Zuu Monastery.
According
to Mongolian and Tibetan Buddhist teachings, mountains, waters, the
earth and plants are all controlled by invisible beings known as lus and savdag,
which arrive and return on specific days of each month. Special
appeasement offerings ought to be made to these beings on their dates
of arrival, and any taking of life or disturbance of the natural world
should be avoided on the dates of their return. Yet the astrological
customs for identifying the dates of arrival of these spirits vary
considerably, with the result that many Buddhists remain unaware of the
actual days on which the natural spirits are supposed to arrive, and
consequently perform forbidden actions such as cutting trees or killing
animals on such dates.
This calendar, prepared with the rare
collaboration of expert astrologers from different schools, has aimed
to unify the various astrological customs into an authoritative
schedule of the dates of the arrival of the lus. It is hoped
that the distribution of this calendar through rural monasteries, on
the eve of the lunar New Year, will support the campaign to revive some
of the traditional rituals and taboos that formerly served to protect
Mongolia's natural environment.
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