bs TAN-VDZIN-DBANG-GRAGS RIN-PO-CHE OF BON RELIGION文：李小林According to the most ancient Bonpo texts, Don-pa Shen-rab, forefather of Bon religion, descended from heaven on the sacred Mt. Gang-rin-po-che. Today, in front of the sacred Mt. Kailas, there lies a mysterious triangular area composed of Chos-lung, rGya-nyi-ma and Mon-rtsher (the sources of the Elephant-like River), where stands the only surviving monastery of Bon religion in mNgav-ris. bsTan-vdzin-dbang-grags Rin-po-che, who enjoys the highest position in Bon religion, acts as both abbot of the monastery and president of mNgav-ris Tibetan Medicine Hospital.It is believed that bsTan-vdzin-dbang-grags holds two keys in his mysterious yet chaotic mind. One is to find the distant and mysterious history of Bon religion, the other serves to search for the secrets of the remote Zhang-zhung civilization.However, in fact, the author tells us that bsTan-vdzin-dbang-grags still keeps another key in his hand, that is, the key to find the clue of mysterious history of Tibetan medicine.I finally interviewed bsTan-vdzin-dbang-grags Rin-po-che on September 8, 1999, several years after I heard of his name.In the past, I felt so remote from him, but now so close to each other that I believed that we had been together all the timeand never separated. He is kind and amiable. I presented him a piece of Hata (ceremonial scarf) while he returned on to metogether with a box of saffron crocus and a box with something inside, which is, actually, a kind of Tibetan medicine made from materials collected from Mt. Gang-rin-po-che and Ma-phan-g yu-mtsho Lake. (It is said that Tibetan doctors use it to cure diseases after baking it over fire.) He told me that this medicine was of great significance as far as religion was concerned. Just at this moment, came in two Tibetan women patients who came over to seek for his medical advice. They kowtowed to him, half-kneeling in front of his seat while he made diagnoses. I saw that he was very patient with the two women patients.As for the relations between Buddhism and Bon religion, bsTan-vdzin-dbang-grags said: “The water in the Yar-klung-gtsang-po, Lhasa and Seng-ge-gtsang-po rivers are the same, and people can drink it to quench thirst. The names of these rivers differ, but water is the same.”bsTan-vdzin-dbang-grags treated patients and received guests in his inner room on the first floor where a low cupboard was covered with all kinds of pictures and photos, including photos of him taken in various places of Tibetan-inhabited areas as well as postcards of the Potala Palace and many other monasteries. On the Tibetan-style bookshelf is displayed his work entitled “Ancient History of mNgav-ris” in Tibetan, which was specially printed in Lhasa. Although there were only 500 copies, they were printed on traditional strips of Tibetan paper in an ancient printing technique, evoking a sense of the past. Touching it looks like touching remove antiquity.bsTan-vdzin-dbang-grags related his story in an unhurried manner. In these two days, I kept on sitting in front of his bed quietly. It seems to me that his narrating with a strong mNgav-ris accent was more like chanting a classical epic.Born in sBra-chen County, northern Tibet, bsTan-vdzin-dbang-grags became a monk at the age of 5, and received the degree of dGe-bshes (Doctor of Divinity) at 16. And he began to learn Tibetan medicine at 23. By virtue of his diligence, he is proficient in religion, history, Tibetan grammar, astronomy and calculation as well as Tibetan medicine. It is said that he only sleeps 5-6 hours a day. Legends say that he meditates in the Sutra Hall instead of sleeping and I verified it true in my interviews. He begins to have a meal, the only one each day, at 1:30 in the afternoon, usually including rTsam-pa (barley flour), milk residues and butter tea. Occasionally, he has Chinese cabbage. That is all he has. He never eats sugar while having milk residues, nor eats meat. He drinks a little butter tea, only one kettle a day. He conducts isolated meditation in a mountain cave near sGur-ru-rgya monastery from October to March every year. Even in this unusual period, he would find 3 hours (from 1:00 to 4:00 in the afternoon everyday) to treat patients, only leaving 5 minutes for him to eat some rTsam-pa. Generally speaking, nothing is more important for monks than meditation and nothing can interfere with it. bsTan-vdzin-dbang-grags, perhaps, the only exception, believes that treating patients is also a way of meditation.I came to see him in order to find out answers to some questions about Tibetan medicine. So we extended our conversation along this direction. 78-year-old Rin-po-che has been working in mNgav-ris Tibetan Medicine Hospital for 37 years. There used to be only one doctor of Tibetan medicine and one house in the entire mNgav-ris area when the hospital was set up. Now, there are more than 200 local Tibetan doctors in mNgav-ris. “I remem