After diligent research on a tough topic, journalist Michael Kohn delivers an unusual book, Lama of the Gobi, How Mongolia's Mystic Monk Spread Tibetan Buddhism in the World's Harshest Desert (2010, Blacksmith Books, 248 pages, HK$118). It's an offbeat biography about an unusual religious leader, Danzan Ravjaa (1803-1856).
The book falls far short of the usual standards that readers expect for the proper telling of a life story. Even so, it greatly widens the scope of understanding about a long-dead Mongolian “saint” and the past of a little-known region.
Kohn confesses: “Much of what has been recorded about Danzan Ravjaa is fiction or contradictory. There were no real journalistic accounts or records of what he was like and scant information about the activities of his monasteries. Much of the research herein was pieced together from the most reliable and reasonable sources. Much of it is simply guesswork.”
Revered in his homeland, Ravjaa remains obscure elsewhere. “My hope is that this book will reveal his life to an ever-greater audience,” Kohn writes.
Significantly, Ravjaa's deeds and reputation still influence Mongolia. “His written words have struck a chord with modern Mongolians seeking social change and a reformation to the ills of their troubled society.”
For most of the 20th century, Communist rulers in Mongolia strived to destroy religious sites, beliefs and memories. They largely succeeded, leaving Kohn with information that's sketchy at best. “Too much was destroyed by the Communist cultural purges to enable us to gather a complete picture of things….”
So the author mixes scant facts with anecdotes and myths, two centuries of hearsay, about Ravjaa's teachings, creative genius and even supernatural powers. “Fabulous legends tell of Ravjaa curing the sick from great distances by using mental telepathy and prayers in all manner and form.”
Once a literature student, Kohn even resorts to analysing poetry, plays and operas attributed to his subject. “Danzan Ravjaa is now considered, quite simply, Mongolia's greatest writer and playwright.”
“Since Ravjaa wrote while sober and drunk, the poetry itself has a duality about it – oscillating from clear-headed teachings and observations of the world to romantic ramblings that often end with vague abruptness.”
Little at all might be known about Ravjaa, the Fifth Noyon Incarnate Lama of the Gobi Desert, except for boxes of artefacts and his writings buried for safekeeping by his followers. Mostly recovered, the contents fill a rudimentary museum.
What does the author know for sure? Kohn calls Ravjaa “one of the most complex and misunderstood personalities in the history of Mongolia. He has been called a drunken womanizer, a madman, an uncompromising tyrant and a heretic. But he has also been called a genius, a living Buddha, a social critic, a man of compassion and a champion of human rights. In some ways, from different perspectives, he may have been all of these.”
Doubt surrounds even Ravjaa's death, creating a murder mystery. “All the Mongolian versions of the death agree that he was poisoned, but few can agree as to who gave the poison or why.”
Kohn, a Californian, taught English in Japan and travelled in Southeast Asia before reaching Mongolia and editing at the Mongol Messenger newspaper from 1998 to 2000. He also wrote the Lonely Planet Guide to Mongolia.
Anyone eager to enjoy Lama of the Gobi should cast aside the word “biography”. This book gives greater satisfaction if regarded as an “investigative account”.
Approval rating: 64 per cent.
For more information: www.blacksmithbooks.com or www.michaelkohn.us
(August 9, 2010)
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Seen in this portrait, Danzan Ravjaa still
influences Mongolia. One thing known
about him is that too little is known.
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