Twenty generations of Bon in a side valley
Bon is the religious tradition that Tibetans associate with the time before and alongside the arrival of Buddhism. Modern Bon, called Yungdrung Bon, traces its teachings to Tonpa Shenrab and has its own monasteries, scriptures and lamas, and in practice it resembles Buddhism in many ways, with enlightenment as the main goal. Bon communities survive in pockets across the Himalaya, including in Dolpo and Mustang, and Lubra is one of the oldest in Nepal. Its survival in Mustang, surrounded by Buddhist villages, says a lot about the tolerance of this valley.
Local tradition says it has been about 20 generations since the Bon lama Tashi Gyaltsen founded Lubra. The village grew around its monastery, with a few families farming barley and buckwheat on terraces watered by channels from the Panda Khola, keeping animals and trading with neighbouring villages. Religious life was in the hands of a lineage of Bon lamas, and ritual texts and painted images were kept in the monastery and in family shrines over the centuries. The village has always been small, and that has helped it keep its character.
Life in Lubra has always depended on water, and that is now its greatest risk. In recent years flash floods down the Panda Khola have damaged fields and irrigation channels, and villagers have had to rebuild terraces again and again. Many young people have moved to Jomsom, Pokhara or Kathmandu for school and work. Those who remain, around 16 households, keep the monastery and the rituals going, and visitors who walk up the valley are part of how the village gets by.
