"If anyone does not know this place:" "It is the Kingdom of Ling, the centre of the world." "If anyone does not know me:" "I am Ma Nene Karmo." "I live in the blue turquoise palace in the divine paradise." "You appeared in this world where there is so much sorrow and hate." "The people hunt the animals." "They kill and eat them." "The people catch the fish with iron hooks." "When you destroyyour enemies, the gods and Padmasambhava take them to the Kingdom of Heaven." "I, Ma Nene Karmo, always feel compassion for living creatures and never hate for them." "Brahma also always feels compassion for living creatures and never hate for them." "You have to subjugate the 1 8 kingdoms ofthe demons and all their other domains" "Collect the treasures for Ling and spread the teachings of Buddha." "You must go to the underworld." "When you get there, beware of the boar-headed" "and the dog-headed spirits." "Furthermore, you will also find the cold hell and the hot hell there." "There, too, is a bottomless river." "Onlyyou and your horse can cross this river." "Midshung, Drugmo and Pekar Lhatse" "are personifications of the goddess Tara." "They appear in the world to save the living creatures." "I, Ma Nene Karmo, work in the upperworld of the gods, in the middle world of Ngen, in the lower world of the water spirits." "I work forthem all and do not remain idle." "You, too, must be active." "Do not stay here long." "Go to the underworld to save the living creatures." "You must pass judgement on what is good and what is bad." "Follow the white light and go to the underworld." "OM MANI PADME HUM." "In this way Ma Nene Karmo sang about the work of Drugmo in theworld, about King Gesar's descent into hell and about his horse." "From the victorious golden throne" "King Gesar, the heavenly ruler, the earth's tree of life, looked upon the assembly with loving and watchful eyes." "All the fathers and mothers, sons and daughters of Ling offered their adoration and good wishes to the King." "Theyjoyfully sang old songs and performed propitious dances." "They drank tea and barley beer in a festive mood." "OM MANI PADME HUM." "Is the 24th a Friday?" "." "It is a Friday!" "." "All right then." "On that daywe bring burnt offerings." "Yes, burnt offerings and prayers." "Margen, is Monday your neutral day?" "." "Yes." "Is Monday a good day?" "." "Yes, it is a lucky as well as a neutral day." "Then let's set out on Monday!" "." "It's the right time ifit's a neutral day." "A neutral day is good!" "Yes, it is." "Leave on Monday and celebrate the preparation feast on Friday?" "." "Yes, dear, that's what we'll do." "Friday is Margen's most favourable day." "And the element water is available twice over." "It is an excellent day for the preparation." "Yes, my dear." "Let us also play equestrian games, so that all the lucky signs agree." "Zopon's horse will have to show what it can do." "That remains to be seen!" "Kiang or these two horses will win!" "Kiang must do his best;" "ifhe loses, he's lost his chance!" "Ifhe loses, he is finished." "But we are betting on him." "...Nextyear at this same time, maywe" "all bejoyfully reunited." "Maythere be peace in theworld." "May all beings know of Buddha's teachings." "May all the tutelary gods protect us." "May H.H. the Dalai Lama live long and maywe soon meet him..." "This is our salt." "That's what our 4 men are going to bring from Lake Tsentso this year." "I don't know ifwe'll find salt there." "They say there are many salt lakes." "Lorries collect the salt mostly from other lakes, butyak caravans go to Lake Tsentso." "Whoever has been to Lake Tsentso will go there again." "We exchange salt for grain." "This year the price of salt is very low." "So we have to keep it for the time being." "Ifthe price goes up, it's good for us." "Ifit stays low, we can't do anything." "It isn't easy to keepyaks." "Fetching salt with yaks is hard work, and then the price for the salt in no way pays us for our effort." "When the salt was worth more, we would exchange it for barley." "But nowadays the value has gone down." "So we have to sell ouryaks to get barley." "Without salt we nomads have no barley either." "Is the Gomshe family sending fouryaks?" "." "No, threeyaks." "Then we have a total of 1 60 yaks, 40 yaks per man?" "." "Three from you?" "." "Yes, three." "And 21, that makes 1 60 yaks altogether!" "Who is the sheep from?" "." "It's from Margen." "Margen" " The Old Mother" "I have a lot of experience because I've been fetching salt for manyyears." "So I can show the others the way and explain to them how it's done." "And besides, I'm the oldest." "Ifwe're in a hurry, I quickly make some simple tea." "But ifwe have time," "I make real strong butter tea and we have a rest." "That's Margen's work." "I was Margen for manyyears, and they all want me as Margen again." "Margen wishes you all good luck!" "Thank you for your wishes, all the best!" "Pargen" " The Old Father" "Is it already 4 o'clock?" "." "Ifit's alreadyfour, we can gradually start the horse racing." "Yes, we'll soon go outside." "Pargen's best wishes for all of you!" "We thankyou foryourwishes." "Good luck!" "Bopsa is the favourite son ofthe salt men, so they say anyway." "Ah yes." "The favourite son?" "!" "." "Oyes, each one of us has a position." "Yes, you each have your position." "One is the Old Mother, one the Old Father and one is Lord of the Animals and one the novice!" "Zopon" " The Lord of the Animals" "The Lord of the Animals wishes good luck!" "Thankyou." "Long life and success!" "Dear Bopsa, have another!" "You're like our only son." "Bopsa" " The Novice" "Bopsa wishes you all good luck!" "Yes, thankyou!" "Bopsa's nose quivers when he drinks!" "They say that in the olden days a woman once went to the salt lake to get salt." "She was so greedy that she took an awful lot of salt and stuffed it all into her trousers." "That upset the salt lake and made it angry." "Since then women are no longer allowed to go to the salt lake." "That's what people say." "There is a salt language." "But the salt men say that they aren't allowed to use this language in the presence of women." "Women don't go to the salt lake, they aren't allowed to." "I don't know why." "In all my more than 70 years I have never heard ofa woman fetching salt." "There must be some reason for it." "Women don't even turn their faces in that direction." "When my son goes to the salt lake as Lord ofthe Animals I worry a bit about him catching a cold and about other small things." "Otherwise I'm notworried because he really is strong enough and can go on the journey." "People say ifa woman goes to the salt lake the salt disappears, women don't get it." "The reason for this may be because women are different from birth, they are different from men." "The first time I was Bopsa it wasn't very difficult because I had an older man at my side." "That time we went to Lake Biru." "Later on we nearly always went to Tsentso, where my grandson goes now." "But there we usually had trouble because ofthe mud." "With the heavy salt sacks on our backs we often sank deep into the muddy ground." "It was hard work." "I and Derma, we fight as equals for the Kingdom Ling." "This has been determined by the gods." "We must ride toJang and take possession of the twelve precious salt lakes." "It is time now to conquer the eighty demonic warriors ofJang." "Margen means that I prepare tea and other things for all of us, as a mother does for her family." "Pargen stands for father." "Pargen and Margen take on the roles offather and mother." "Pargen's jobs are to make burnt offerings, to distribute the meat, to prepare the dumpling soup, and if something has to be discussed, to go to other tents." "There is an old story about the different kinds ofwood:" "One day the woods spoke to each other about having to go into the fire ofthe salt men the next day." "All the woods said:" "I don't want to go," "I don't want to," "I don't want to go!" "But then one wood called Wodu came forward and said:" "I shall go by hiding myself under the ground." "Wodu wood is yellowish and only grows under the ground." "When it rains it is difficult to find dung to make a firewith." "But luckily it hardly ever rains at this time of the year." "The journey to Tsentso takes a month and a day or two more." "Ifwewalkfast, it takes just a month." "In the past we used to meet other people almost every day, but nowadays far fewer people live here." "Many days we don't meet even a single soul." "There used to be many tents and many herds." "We even had the problem ofthe animals getting mixed up, so that we kept having to look for them." "Once we get beyond the 'stone goat' behind the pass, we have to start following the rules." "They must be obeyed as from this point." "Even when we are sitting in the tent, each one of us has to take up the right position." "And we are by no means allowed to use bad words." "After passing the "stone goat" we also speak the salt language." "Whateverwe do now, we must obey the rules." "It's the first time for Bopsa." "He's a novice here and is initiated into it like a monk who is entering a monastery." "That's why he also brings us butter and tea as presents." "Everything is new to Bopsa, so we older ones have to show him everything for him to learn." "Today is the day that he is admitted to our community." "As from the Bopsa ceremony he will really belong to the salt men." "We call him Bopsa because there are many things he still can't do." "Whatever he does, he lacks experience." "Nothing works without experience," "like this he won't achieve anything." "At the salt lake he has to learn how to extract salt, how deep you're allowed to scrape, how to handle the tools, all kinds oftricks." "And how to carry the sacks, but here it depends on whether he is strong enough." "May the gods be with us on the way there and receive us on the way back." "Hail to the gods and the water spirits." "Protect us from all evil!" "The Lamas, meditation gods, sacrificial goddesses, tutelary gods, enemyvanquishers, local gods, the lord ofthe area and all his servants, may they all come and accept the burnt offerings and ablutions." "The gods ofwisdom, the gods ofactivity, the gods of magic power, the Lamas and Tantrics, the earthly tutelary deities, the wish-fulfilling gods ofthe treasure," "Jambhala with all his servants, maythey all accept the offering and make riches fall upon us like rain." "Whereveryou gods appear, may mywishes be fulfilled, obstacles be overcome, illnesses be cured and all negative influences be kept away from me." "May the banners ofbliss rise in all ten directions." "May the lords of the areas, the water spirits, the Ngen, the gods ofthe country, the local gods with their servants, who live in all worlds and in this place, appear and accept the offering." "May the Lamas ofthe three bodies, the Lamas of the three traditions, the peaceful and wrathful deities, the three jewels, the sacrificial goddesses, the gods and guardians of the treasure and all higher creatures accept the pure" "alcohol offering and fulfil mywishes." "The Earth, the flowers and plants on it, the four continents and Mount Meru, adorned with the sun and the moon," "I shall take them to Buddha as an offering." "May all living creatures be reincarnated in the perfect world." "Good fortune and blessing!" "May all you do be successful!" "With other salt men we speak only the salt language." "If e.g. at the salt lake someone from our tent meets someone from the neighbouring tent, they speak the salt language." "Anyone who can't speak the salt language isn't respected, especially ifit is an older man." "One thinks badly of someone like that." "The salt language is the salt men's secret language." "When we meet non-nomads we don't use a single word of it." "And especially when women are there we keep the salt language absolutely secret." "We've got that from our forefathers." "That's all I know." "The caravan consists of two parts." "We call the front one Bobyak." "It goes on ahead with the luggage and takes it to the next camp." "The remaining yaks are led by the Lord ofthe Animals to good pastures where he lets them graze in peace." "Where there isn't good grass, he makes them walk faster." "The Bobyak has to be exchanged every day because some ofthese yaks get weak from carrying loads." "That's whywe exchange them and let the others do the carrying." "Where there is good grass" "I let the animals walk slowly, and where there is little grass" "I drive them a bit." "While the other men go on ahead to the next camp," "I look after the animals." "I make myself some tea, that's all." "In the evening I try to reach the camp with the animals." "At the salt lake, when the others have finished preparing the salt, they send me a message to bring theyaks." "As soon as I get there" "I check the saddles and yak carpets." "That's myjob as Zopon, as Lord ofthe Animals." "Doyou live down there?" "." "Yes, I live down there." "Down there?" "." "Yes, there." "You're called Kunga?" "." "Yes." "Would you like some snuff?" "." "No." "Was there a lot of snow here this year?" "." "Not so much,just a little." "But it snowed more back there?" "." "Yes, there was more snow there." "Was there less here than lastyear?" "." "Yes." "Normallywe have to move..." "Doyou?" "." "...so the animals can survive." "In that case the grass must be better than lastyear?" "." "Yes, there's more grass here this year." "So that's whyyou didn't move!" "This yak has been ill since last night." "It has a twisting ofthe intestines." "It hasn't been well for a few days." "We need somebodywho knows something about this illness." "I don't know how to go about it." "When there isn't enough grass, the animals eat sand." "That's why this has happened." "There's no good grass here." "The other three have gone to look for theyak herd." "But they still aren't backyet, they've been a long time." "We have to find somebody who can help us with theyak!" "I'm afraid it will die." "It has to have an operation!" "Ifwe have it operated on," "I hope it will survive!" "What are we to do with this poor little yak?" "." "How are you?" "." "Fine." "So we meet after all." "Pardon?" "." "I thought you wouldn't go to Lake Tsentso this year." "I'm away a lot these days." "Yes." "Yes, then..." "You look younger every year." "Really!" "?" "." "Yes, you do." "Myyaks called Drawu, Rokpu," "Jawu, Zagur, Bandung..." "I have lost them all and still haven't found them." "They disappeared in December, still no trace ofthem." "If there really is salt in LakeTsentso, that's good for us." "That's good for you people." "But we can't fetch the salt" "like the lorries do." "And who knows how deep the mud is?" "." "It's better than it used to be." "I hope so." "What am I to do?" "." "I think it's better if the yak has an operation now that we're here at the doctor's." "And then we also need time for the preparations and rituals." "It goes nyok-nyok!" "It has already burst." "Already burst!" "?" "." "Really!" "?" "." "Come here and listen!" "Why cause even more suffering?" "." "An operation is useless and nothing but unnecessary pain." "Come here, come here." "Burst!" "Nothing more can be done." "Why kill, when it isn't necessary?" "." "We people of the land of Dharma don't kill any animals if it isn't necessary." "The animal will die anyway, why cause it additional suffering?" "." "I promised the salt men that if the yak dies, I'll pay them 200 yuan." "The meat will be eaten." "We shall use it, we don't throw it away." "For me and my people, salt is our life." "Like this time, those people who sent their animals along with us, they also expect us to bring salt back with us when we return." "Therefore we have to do our best." "It's just as the proverb says:" "Until victory is won, you have to strive for it." "We have to fight until we've reached our goal." "Isn't that so?" "." "That's one thing." "And it would also be unthinkable to come home without salt." "That's how it is, we have to do our best." "Pushuk, pushuk, what an awful wind!" "We, the warlords Shenpa," "Bernag, Mishang and Ngebum must lead the army against Jang and conquer the precious salt lakes." "Mywarriors from Horwill set up their camp with three different-coloured tents:" "tents as white as the snow mountains, tents as black as the night, tents as red as blood." "Our people say that Lake Tsentso is the heart of His Holiness Karmapa." "After the death ofthe former Karmapa it was a problem for sixyears to find salt in this lake." "So many salt people went the long way to Lake Yaggen, others to Angtang, to Chuwo or to Lake Biru." "Since Karmapa has been reincarnated there is again salt in Lake Tsentso." "And from year toyear it seems to get better." "This salt lake is the heart of Karmapa!" "That's what one used to say, but it really is so!" "This is the quality of the salt." "Is this here good?" "." "No difference, almost as good." "This is from here, and this from over there." "This one looks a bit better." "Which one?" "." "It's almost the same." "If I scrape the salt together with my golden tool, it makes itselfinto a heap." "The little heaps look like halo-flowers." "There are salt flowers as far as the eye can see." "Ifyou don't know where there is salt, there is salt under my scraper!" "Ifyou don't know where the scraper is, the scraper is under the handle." "Grainy, the salt is grainy." "It doesn't depend on efficiency in this work." "It depends on the karma!" "And when fetching salt, on the favour ofthe goddess." "Matsenten Gyalmo is the mistress of the" "lake, they say." "I don't know much more." "Matsenten Gyalmo - if I imagine her as a human being, she is a woman." "We salt men call her mother." "She is also a goddess who keeps us from starving." "We are deeply grateful to Matsenten" "Gyalmo for helping us to live." "When you think ofthe mother at home," "then work fast." "When you think of the mother of the salt lake," "then work slowly." "When there is no salt in the salt lake it comes from not obeying the rules." "Ifyou pollute the lake, kill here or aren't friendly with each other, the lake doesn't like it, then it isn't willing to give the salt." "I once had to wait a whole month and then I was only able to" "load halftheyaks, therewasn't enough salt." "The reason was that we were here in people's communes and the leader of our commune had sleptwith women on theway, and this disturbed the salt lake." "You had towait, and at times it looked as if there was going to be salt - but when you went there, there was again no salt." "More water came and flushed the salt away." "So much salt is in the carrying skin, it is heavy and full to the brim." "The salt is plentiful!" "The carrying skin," "lift it to the right, tip it to the left." "That's how we throw the salt on the heap." "You, nomad from Changtang, don't remain idle, come and work with the salt!" "I don't feel lonely." "Since I was 1 3 to 1 4 years old" "I've always been herding animals." "My merit is that I can handle animals, that I love them and care for them, not that I'm good at business." "I can't do business or convince others by talking." "I'm no good at smooth talking." "When I talk about responsibility - this may sound like pride - but it is so that the otherthree have far fewer worries." "They do have to go to the salt lake, extract the salt, carry it to the shore, stuff it in sacks." "But at night they can sleep peacefully while I always have to worry about the animals." "I do stuffthe salt sack tightly, stuffand stuffthe lower part, so the salt won't float away on the way across the river." "I do stuff the salt sack tightly, stuff and stuff the middle part, so I can rest it on my chest when loading." "I do stuff the salt sack tightly, stuff and stuff the top, so the rain won't wash the salt away." "Hello, Pargen!" "Hello!" "Is the salt soon ready?" "." "Yes." "So soon?" "." "Quicker than last year!" "Yes, this time it went well." "Was it hard work?" "." "No, it was quite easy." "Then I'll slowly bring the animals round to the salt lake." "Take some snuff!" "." "Never in my life did it go as quickly as this time, it's like a dream!" "Even such things can happen." "An old proverb says:" "Stay at the salt" "lake for eight days, leave on the 9th, that's how it must be." "Yes, that's the most convenient time." "And that's just the case with us this time." "We really are lucky!" "That all went so well this time..." "That is pure luck!" "...is thanks to our local god Tanglha, the Lamas or our own efforts." "The goddess accompanies the salt men all the way right to their front door, where the women and barking dogs greet them." "Yes, that's what one used to say." "The goddess Matsenten Gyalmo has shown us her great favour." "The soft snow this morning is like a water offering for the goddess." "Are there many lorries at the salt lake?" "." "At first only two, now there are more." "That's never been." "Only so few!" "?" "." "Now the yaks, too, will be happy." "The olderyaks, who have been to the salt lake before, think:" "We shall go hungry today, but tomorrow we can return to the pastures." "The yaks who have never been here wonderwhy they have to walk so far and yet never get to the grass." "And they can't talk either!" "Pull up with the left hand, sew with the right hand," "whoever can't do that may not belong to the salt men." "The sack has an opening ofa "to"." "Take needle and thread, sew the sack up tightly." "Theyak is wild." "At the opening ofthe sack the thieflurks." "You'll regret not having sewn it well!" "Her character is that of a rather angry goddess who is very sensitive to disturbances." "If the men here quarrel, if they sleep with women or break wind at the lake, she reacts very strongly and directly to these things." "Only Margen enjoys a certain freedom here." "He doesn't have to be as careful as we." "The lake forgives him the most." "Bad deeds aren't allowed here, otherwise there's no salt." "Negative actions have the same results." "Nowadays the goddess has become more gentle, that's what the older people say." "I myselfhaven't so much experience here." "The good father is Amu Kangri." "The good mother is Matsenten Gyalmo." "The good sons are Gedun and Busum." "Maywe return to the salt lake next spring with manyyaks, many Bopsas and in good company and return safely back home again." "The Lamas, meditation gods, sacrificial goddesses, tutelary gods..." "Mayyou," "Mother Matsenten Gyalmo, accept with pleasure the sacrificial yak." "We, your good sons," "return home with joy." "You accept, Mother Gyalmo, accept the offering with joy." "And now the goddess allows us one last shovel of salt." "We, your good sons," "return home with joy." "The god of victory in the body of man," "King Gesar," "looked at the warriors with the eyes of the ruler and the merciful." "And he gave them the initiation ofthe ninefold Vajra and the transformation of the soul." "Finally the great" "King Gesar raised his divine voice and sang the song of the conquest of the twelve salt lakes, ofthe capture of Yulha and ofthe subjugation ofJang." "OM MANI PADME HUM." "After a return journey of 45 days the caravan came back to their families." "For one more year the salt secured them their living." "The systematic modernization increases the serious threat to the right of existence of the Tibetan salt nomads and so to the last feeling of freedom in this country." "With the decline ofthe salt men's tradition another part of cultural identity of the Tibetans will be lost." "This film is dedicated to the salt men and their families." "Our most sincere thanks go to Margen," "Pargen, the Lord of the Animals and Bopsa for having allowed us to accompany them on their extraordinary journey."