Religion in China: Tibetan Buddhism and "Touch Evil Cypress"

We’ll start with another smell: incense.  Big, wafting clouds of it at the Tibetan Lama Temple in Beijing.  Tibetan Buddhism seems more mystical, more “religious”, than other forms of Buddhism.  Prayer wheels spinning, deep fire pits of incense, smoke bulging in the courtyards, smoke curling up among heavy wooden beams painted with golden dragons.  Pilgrims light giant sticks of incense and bow repeatedly toward the Buddha.  It’s clearly meant to be a sensual experience.

There are many Buddhas, of course.  Many manifestations.  Stelae covered with rows and rows of micro-Buddhas seem to be a favorite.  But in the Lama Temple in Beijing there are three dominant Buddhas: one for past, one for present, and one for future.  The temples are progressive, growing in physical stature as you go toward the “future”.  The largest Buddha’s noggin brushes the ceiling rafters!  There are also other, much more savage-looking statues with bulging eyes and blue skin.  These are meant to thwart the invasion of evil spirits, and they are dutifully terrifying.

There are plenty of ways to honor the gods: depositing money in the coffers, buying incense, having a snack, or taking home a souvenir.  Religion and capitalism* are a contradictory enough marriage of ideologies anywhere… but in China!  Mao is turning over in his grave as all these influences creep in.  On top of it all: the oppression of Tibet.  And here, right in the middle of Beijing, sits one of the most active Tibetan Buddhist temples in the world.  Visiting the Lama Temple is a rather dizzying experience.  It's a sensory overload.  We explored the temple grounds for quite some time, and when we finally made our exit, it was with incense smoke clouding our heads.

The Confucius Temple, on the other hand, was quiet and dead by comparison.  There was no ritual, not much evidence of religion.  It felt more like a neglected park than a temple.   There’s a sprawling 700-year-old tree along the path to the temple buildings called “Touch Evil Cypress”.  Legend has it that one of the branches plucked off the hat of a duplicitous public official passing by, earning the crafty tree the reputation for discerning evil.  Well, whatever the case, it’s very old and very gnarled.  Among the knobby trees were a dozen or so pagodas inhabited by gigantic stone turtles.  There was something very Neverending Story-ish about it.

In Maoist China, of course, religion was outlawed for decades.  Recent history revealed a cultural void, so religion was again reinstated (though with governmental restrictions).  However, for the time being, only atheists* are allowed to hold government positions.  But it is said that Christianity is the fastest-growing religion in China.  It will be interesting to see how that narrative plays out.

*I do use the term loosely.
**As a side note: why is atheism not considered a religion?  Its followers are far more fanatical than your average run-of-the-mill agnostic.  Fanaticism aside, I think it can definitely be defined as a religion using several of the accepted definitions of religion.