miscellaneous note
[Note: For most recent edition see pdf file saint guru chod (1900-1988).]
A context question has just come to mind with regard to the death of Theos Casimir Bernard.
If TCB had in fact arranged or hired "a native boy guide [no ethnicity cited] en route to Kye Monastery," why had not more details been offered by way of Glen Bernard's prefatory remark that appeared in his son's posthumously printed books? It's funny. Since I have given this episode some thought I have always assumed that this boy guide would have been a Tibetan speaker. I had imagined the two of them trekking off alone up the narrow valleys leading to their destination. But of course a team of pack animals would have been required, and yes I suppose a "party of porters." But then in light of Paul Hackett (2004) it occurred to me as odd that the boy guide (and surely 'interpreter') would likely have been of Tibetan stock, while the porters Muslim. This presumes quite naturally – at least in my mind – a nonoccurrence of Tibetan speaking Muslims in that area at that time. In short, would not an interpreter-guide and the team of porters probably have been chosen in concert. Thus the boy, were he real, would have had a little moxie; and if not him then his father or an uncle would have likely seen to it that the whole adventure be a clan-managed event. In brief, it really seems odd to me that TCB would have hired a team of Muslims porters to haul all his gear through what can only be described as unsure Tibetan topographies. We must consult contemporary American treking guides Martin and Carol Noval (Trips into India).
A context question has just come to mind with regard to the death of Theos Casimir Bernard.
If TCB had in fact arranged or hired "a native boy guide [no ethnicity cited] en route to Kye Monastery," why had not more details been offered by way of Glen Bernard's prefatory remark that appeared in his son's posthumously printed books? It's funny. Since I have given this episode some thought I have always assumed that this boy guide would have been a Tibetan speaker. I had imagined the two of them trekking off alone up the narrow valleys leading to their destination. But of course a team of pack animals would have been required, and yes I suppose a "party of porters." But then in light of Paul Hackett (2004) it occurred to me as odd that the boy guide (and surely 'interpreter') would likely have been of Tibetan stock, while the porters Muslim. This presumes quite naturally – at least in my mind – a nonoccurrence of Tibetan speaking Muslims in that area at that time. In short, would not an interpreter-guide and the team of porters probably have been chosen in concert. Thus the boy, were he real, would have had a little moxie; and if not him then his father or an uncle would have likely seen to it that the whole adventure be a clan-managed event. In brief, it really seems odd to me that TCB would have hired a team of Muslims porters to haul all his gear through what can only be described as unsure Tibetan topographies. We must consult contemporary American treking guides Martin and Carol Noval (Trips into India).
