Reflections on 40 years of Losar Celebrations
Susan Shannon lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for many years, where her Tibetan connections brought her into the inner circles of Tibetans who had relocated there.
The first Losar party I attended was back in 1980. At the time it was reported there were only 5 Tibetans living in California, and they were all going to be at this little party. There was excitement among them that a new Tibetan, actually a Sherpa woman, had just moved to the Grass Valley area, and was going to be there too. Being included in this party would be an experience!
Knowing I wasn’t much of a meat eater, my partner suggested we stop along the way and pick up some ‘rabbit food’ i.e. salad, so I wouldn’t go hungry. He warned me in advance there wouldn’t be much there to eat but meat.
We walked into the host Jigme’s house and were greeted with the standard Losar greeting “Losar Tashi Delek!” and draped with white khatas. The four others came out and greeted us the same way. We all found our way into the kitchen. Five large platters were piled high with different colored meat. Our cups were filled continually with traditional butter tea. The resonant sound of Tibetan language, the colors and swirls of traditional Losar pastries and smells, it was all dizzying and such a new experience for me.
The second significant memory of Losar was a little over 10 years later. There had been scattered Losar parties up until 1990, but the early nineties marked a significant shift. The US government announced they were offering 1000 visas to Tibetans who wanted to come to the US. This was the largest wave ever of the Tibetan diaspora into the States and is what provided a foothold for the thousands upon thousands of Tibetans in this country today. They had to prove they had a sponsor and gainful employment in the States. Suddenly the Bay Area Tibetan population grew exponentially. Many Tibetans came and lived with us out in West Marin over the next few years. Soon their family members began coming too.
I fully expected the next Losar to be one of great celebration. Perhaps it was somewhere, but what I recall is that a schism was revealed right away. Long standing family feuds continued here in the land of the free, as well as discrimination between Tibetans who came from Nepal versus those from India. Rather than one big happy Losar party, there were two. I was invited, and attended both of them, one a picnic up in the Berkeley hills, and another at the Berkeley Marina. I remember wondering why there were two, wondering why, with this new life, old grudges were upheld. Still, the gatherings were fun, friendly, and full of good food and ritual.
My most loved memory of Losar, though, took place about 20 years later. I was familiar with the rituals of cleaning, wearing finery, honoring His Holiness. Also, the bags of deep-fried dough called khabse that were shared generously, the traditional meal of Gu-thuk on the 29th, and the wonderful evening culture shows put on by the Tibetan Community. I looked forward to Losar every year for these reasons. (Sadly, since Jerry Garcia died in 1995, my Western New Year’s ritual of Grateful Dead shows were now longer happening. Losar easily became the only New Year’s celebration I honored.)
By this time, I had been in relationship for many years with a Tibetan man who had distant family members in the Bay Area. In fact, I had met his closest cousin long before K and I met, as he and later, his wife, came to the US with ‘the thousand.’ On this particular year they asked us to housesit their house while they went to visit relatives over Losar. They were leaving late that night before the first day of Losar so we were all able to have our traditional meal of Gu-thuk together on the 29th day.
Gu-thuk is a traditional soup only eaten on the eve of the first day of Losar. I LOVED Gu-thuk. The soup is a rich broth with lots of vegetables, and wonderful dumplings. The 29th day is focused on driving out all negativity, including evil spirits and misfortunes of the past year, and starting the new year in a peaceful and auspicious way. Rituals and prayers were done accordingly. The soup simmered all day long in a big pot, smelling up the house with wonderful Losar smells, along with the piles of khapse, Tibetan tea, incense, flowers and other special offerings on the decorative Losar altar. Tossed into the soup are special, differently-shaped dumplings with little pieces of paper rolled up. Each with a ‘fortune’ for the year, all very traditionally worded as they have been for years, written in Tibetan cursive script. It was all very exciting. Before the Gu-thuk was served the entire extended family and friends sat in a big circle on the floor -- men on one side, women on the other, with the elders sitting together at beginning of the circle. Everyone had a large bowl. A few women brought the heavy steaming pot out from the kitchen, serving the elders first, then going around the circle in order of the age of the family and friends. When everyone’s bowl was filled, we blessed the food, and ate with gusto.
As the bowls were emptied. One by one, seniors first, the little special dumplings were opened. The circle of glowing faces was full of humor and anticipation as each person’s paper was unfurled and the message shared. Some were very auspicious, some not so much. No one took it as a curse or a boon - it was just plain fun and tradition. I always got a good one! Year after year, everyone laughed as “agu” (uncle – my partner) opened the not so good ones while I got the best.
The family left for that trip later that evening. They made sure our Losar experience was going to be complete by making in advance the traditional Losar breakfast of Tibetan butter tea, dresil (sweet rice) and changkol. Changkol tastes like oatmeal mixed with Chang, the fermented alcoholic drink Tibetans love and make on special occasions. After doing prostrations and offering khatas to a portrait of His Holiness the Dalai Lama I found myself with a heady buzz from this alcoholic oatmeal. And it wasn’t even 8 in the morning yet - with whole day of celebration ahead of us!
By that time the East Bay had a thriving Tibetan Community Center, with a Tibetan population of close to 2000 living throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. The Nechung and Gyuto Buddhist Centers were traditional enough for the Tibetans to want to frequent. We spent half the day going from sacred, decorated place to place, doing kora, offering khatas and money, doing prostrations in front of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s adorned photos on the Losar thrones, lighting butter lamps, spinning prayer wheels and drinking copious amounts of butter tea. The happiness of everyone was so evident with their exuberant “Losar Tashi Deleks” and friendly acknowledgments. Everyone was in their best Tibetan finery.
As the afternoon progressed the community members went around to each other’s homes to visit and bless each other’s domain by tossing barley and tsampa in all the directions. Along with that oatmeal buzz I was having a lot of fun. It was all so counter to my own culture - starting with mind-altering oatmeal, a deep devotional and celebratory morning, then going to people’s houses and throwing grain and barley flour around their impeccably cleaned homes.
There was a drop in energy in the afternoon. People rested. Some drank more chang. Everyone was getting ready for the big dinner and my favorite event, the Culture Shows. We drove to the location of the evening event and lined up to the tables and tables of traditional food. The monastics all went first. Losar was a time when many Rinpoches, Tulkus, monks and nuns were visiting family, so there was always a sea of red and gold at the head of the line. The tables were piled high with fresh and beautifully presented meat and vegetable momos, steamed and fried breads, meats of all kinds and cuts, spicey vegetables, noodles, soup, dal, rice, you name it. Everyone ate their fill while the kids ran around in their new little chubas, fresh haircuts, or beautifully braided hair.
I’ve been a fan and collector of Tibetan music for decades, and barely missed a Culture Show in all the years I lived in the Bay Area. As more and more Tibetans came to the Bay area the shows got longer and longer, always starting with the beautiful tribute songs to His Holiness and love songs to Tibet, traditional folk songs, dance and opera. Over the years, the first generation of “the thousand” had kids who studied traditional music and dance, so they always performed too. As those kids got older, a layer of Tibetan disco type music got added to the end of the culture shows. By then most of the old timers like me had gone home. The youngsters cranked it up and rocked out till the wee hours.
Later that evening, I reflected on the energizing combination of the Losar experience. Fun, family, ritual, devotion, pilgrimage, finery, blessings, culture, offerings, aspiration, and dedication. I continue to kick off my new years in this way thanks to how memorable these Losar experiences with the Tibetan Community have imprinted me. Gotta say, fun as it was, I haven’t indulged in the fermented oatmeal since that one year though!
