Printing the Ancient Way Keeps Buddhist Texts Alive in Tibet<br />Of course, it’s good to make offerings to the Buddha using a lot of money,<br />but it’s more faithful to make offerings using your body, mouth and mind." So went a typical afternoon in one of the most revered institutions in the Tibetan world, the Parkhang printing lamasery in the mountainous heart of the Kham region.<br />The monastery was one of three pilgrimage sites in the Tibetan world, each representing the body, mouth and mind of the Buddha, Ms. Pema said.<br />The press, in the town of Derge, dates to 1729 and draws pilgrims from across the Tibetan plateau to the<br />three-story monastery, its walls painted scarlet and its roof adorned with golden Buddhist icons.<br />It has more than 320,000 wooden printing blocks that are on average more than 260 years<br />old, said Ms. Pema, a volunteer who cleans the monastery’s objects and guides visitors.<br />" Ms. Buffetrille said. that The operations of the printing press are today similar to what they were in 1985,<br />In hills to the east of the monastery stood clusters of red three-story wooden homes, a traditional design around religious centers in Kham.
