GEOGRAPHY & HISTORY
This immense country (1.566.500
sq.km) remains up today the Asian country with the least population, with only 2
million inhabitants. All the southern region, as far as the border with China, is made up
of steppe like plateaus that continue in the desert of Gobi, while to the north, the
border with Russia, we find the highest mountains of Mongolian Altaj, with the
Tabyn-Bogdo-Ola, 4355 m, and the chain of the Tannu Ola. In the central plateaus, we
found the chain of the Sajani Mountains. The climate is sourly continental, the
annual medium temperature in the Capital, Ulan-Bator, is of – 4 C.
Thanks to this climate, the sky of Mongolia is
nearly always clear and limpid.
The violent summer rains originate rivers, lakes
and ponds that last only one season. Important rivers are the Orhon tributary to the Lake
Bajkal and the Onon. Breeding cattles, sheeps, horses and camels is practiced long since
in Mongolia, while farming is a relatively new development in these areas because it has
been introduced only around the '50s.
The construction of the railroad has been very
important for the modernization of Mongolia, as it was part of the Transiberian,
connecting Ulan Ude to Bejing since ‘40s.
Mongolia has always been a land of nomads,
it is only since the XII century that the Mongols became the dominant group of Central
Asia. It was Gengis Khan, the "Ocean", who started the great mongol epic
that led to the formation of the greatest empire never existed, then extended from
the coasts of the Pacific Ocean to the Adriatic sea, under the guidance of the Eternal
Blue Sky.
In the following centuries starting from Khubilai
Khan, tibetan Bhuddism gains a foothold in Mongolia.
Galdan of Dsungara’s descent in XVII century
took by storm the historical city of Karakorum, the Capital of Gengis Khan empire,
arriving to Urga, the present Ulan-Bator, and he formed a flourishing state, crossroad of
the trades in the middle of Asia. Subsequently the destiny of the mongolian regions will
be marked by the continuous interference of the Manchu empire until the arrival of the
Bolsheviks.
At the beginning of the XX century the fights for
supremcy in Asia between China Japan and Russia left a certain indipendence to the
mongols. The 8th Jebtsundamba also known as Bogdo Eghen or Maidari, spiritual leader of
the country, whose lineage of the "Reformed Yellow Sect" goes back to the 1635,
in the 1911 was proclaimed King of Mongolia, the country became a theocracy, and he sailed
Mongolia through the setting of the Manchu Empire and the raising of the Bolsheviks. The
historians describe the 8th Jebtsundamba as an important religious and political figure,
at times extravagant, gifted with extraordinary extrasensory powers.
He alternated alliances with the Czar, the
Chinese, the White Russians and the Bolsheviks, while weaving diplomatic relations with
Europe and U.S.A.
The legend narrates that when he received as
a gift from Ford, one of his first cars, he repayed him with an entire
dinosaur skeleton.
He inspired major democratic reforms to the
legendary communist leader Süke Bator and tried to keep the nobles, always ready to
conspire, under control, while fascinating the people with his miracles.
Mongolian communism therefore arose among magic
rituals, secret ceremonies and court intrigues emphasizing a religious, magical and
ritualistic stile of life completely accepted by the mongolian society.
Until to his death in 1924 the 8th
Jebtsundamba was respected and praised by both his believers and the communists. After
1924, in agreement with the Soviet politics, the nationalization of lands and resources,
State atheism and obligatory education were brought into effect.
The Soviet regime prohibited also the search of
9th Jebtsundamba’s reincarnation.
Then the 13th Dalai Lama recognized its
ninth reincarnation in Tibet.
In the last years, the 9th Jebtsundamba, that now
lives in India, has been received in Mongolia with great honors.
TRADITION
& GODLINESS 
The mongol godliness is marked by
a descending hierarchy from the Sky to the Earth: the supreme divinity is Koke Mongke
Tengri, the Eternal Blue Sky that is above all, the prime cause of the Universe. Under the
Eternal Blue Sky exists a pantheon of 99 divinity or Tengri, often associated among them
like the 4 Tengri of the four cardinal points, the 5 Tengri of the wind, the 7 Tengri of
the thunder or Erlig Khan the Tengri of the deads. The Eternal blue Sky permeates every
thing and every living being on the earth and everything that lives on Mother Earth is
under the protection of a divinity like Natigai, protector of the women, the cattle,
and the harvests, the Spirits of Mountains and the Sacred Forests, the yer-sub, the
Protecting Spirits of the places. In mongol godliness both the Supreme Tengri and the
Protecting Spirits of the places, must always be remembered in the prayers and receive
offerings to gain favors and avoid the wrath.
All this ancient sacred world handed down in
myths and legends has been kept alive until our days in the shamanism, even if
from XVI century, has integrated itself in the buddhist world, giving rise to forms
of syncretic shamanism. The mongolian preference for the lamaism is surely
determined by the esoteric and magical aspect of the lamaism itself that found a point of
contact between the shamanism and the shaman seen as a wizard to rely on for solving
problems of different nature.
Since the beginning of the century there were 750
monasteries with approximately 100.000 monks in a population of 750.000 inhabitants. For
this reason,the lamaist religion has played a leading role that so far can still be traced
in Mongolian tradition and culture. With the arrival of communism, almost all monasteries
were destroied, the only one left inhabited and officiant, before the religious rebirth
with the perestrojka, was the Gandan in Ulan-Bator.
The tradition persists anyway and emerges both in
the daily gestures, and during the great collective festivities. The 11th July, every
year, is celebrated the Naadam, great national festivity. The participants arrive
from every angle of the country and they confront themselves in the three " manly
games ": archery, wrestling and horse-race. The great cities, up to
today, are surronded by yurts, typical nomadic tents, with the door oriented to
south and the place of honor, reserved to the guests, to north, near the house-holder like
in the ancient times.
It is common to see the ancient set for smokers,
silver pipes and snuffbox set with preciuos stones and the buddhist rosaries with
108 grains carried by the old people. Many ancient traditons are appreciated
even today and have maintained their vitality, like wedding ceremonies, the
new lunar year feast or the celebration of the white month, bearer of good omen.
Sacred foods are considered the tsagaan, the white foods: goat, cow, yak and
camel milk, yogurt, fermented milk, milk liqueurs (archi).
TSERIN
ZARIN BOO 
Tserin Zarin Boo was born in
Buryatia, on the shores of Lake Bajkal, but when still a very young boy his family fled to
Mongolia .At the age of 8 he started to practice the Buddhist doctrine, he wanted to
become a lama. He had to practice Buddhism secretly because it was strongly
disapproved to have anything to do with religious institutions.He studied a lot, practiced
the sutras, learnt by heart many prayers, and many rituals.He had many teachers, among
them Khunkhu-Bajar.At the age of 13 Tserin zarin Boo fell desperately ill. He suffered a
lot: he couldn't stay at home, something dragged him out, away from people.He ran about
forests and hills couldn't stay in one place, didn't obey his people's words.
In a word he was crazy.This lasted until he was
14; it was a time of great hardships for him.
He was told he had the "khii-ubshen",
the shaman's illness, the sickness that those who are to become shamans, those who possess
the shamanic root, "udga", have to go through.
He was strongly recommended to abandon his career
as a lama and get initiated as a shaman, otherwise the consequences might have been very
heavy. At that time in Mongolia lived a woman a Buryat shaman Chimit Udagan. She was a
very well known shaman and had 13 initiations, so she was of the highest rank. And so at
the age of 14 Tserin Zarin Boo got his first initiation and took up his mission serving as
a shaman. Chimit Udagan gave him the first 6 initiations. After Chimit's death in 1973
other shamans initiated him, Margoliin Darima gave him the 7th and 8th initiation, and
other shamans performed other initiations, 13 in all.Tserin Zarin Boo was imprisoned twice
for his service as a shaman, once in 1973 and the second time in 1985. His kin has had 33
Zarins (the highest ranking shaman), but under the communist regime four generation fell
out of this sequence and so he had a very complicated mission of restoring the shaman
"root" in order to continue his shaman kin.This was possible through the natural
genetic gift he had at birth and his persistent dedication to prayer and invocation.
If it hadn't been for his initiation as a shaman
the lineage might have been lost for the entire kin.
At present Tserin Zarin Boo is one of the most
powerful shamans in Mongolia and Buryatia where the fame of his wisdom and strength is
largely spread. In 1996 Tserin Zarin Boo was invited to the
" First
International Symposium on Central Asian Shamanism" held in Buryatia as
honorary guest and as the eldest shaman present he was asked to celebrate the first
ritual.
In december 1998 he took part to the 1
International Conference " Shamanic Healing "
CURIOSITY
From the book "Ovgon Jambalyn
Yaria" 
In the first month of winter of
1920, when Baron Urgen Sterberg was approaching Urga, at the head of the White Russians,
the 8th Jebtsundamba was arrested in his palace by the Tola River, by a small group of
chinese and mongols, on the pretext of protecting him from the approaching "russian
bandits".
After some days, the 8th Jebtsundamba told his
servant Jambal to visit the oracle, Lama Lobon, to inform him of what had happened
and to ask him for the supernatural reason of his misfortune; he also told Jambal to ask
if the situation was amenable of correction by magical, ritual means.
Lama Lobon asked for one day time.
The next day he told Jambal:
"The cause of this misfortune are the
presents that the administrator of Urga, Badamdorji, gave to the 8th Jebtsundamba. A
terrible malediction has been casted. You have to get rid of these gifts expelling them
towards East, at dawn, while reciting the mantra of Sharavnyambuu. To protect Buddhism in
Mongolia you should pour out a fierce fire offering. Make an image of the chinese general
Sambuu, leader of the chinese troupes in Urga, and fill it with silver and silk.
Make also many other statues of chinese soldiers and one of the administrator, Badamdorj;
Put the last near the general as if the two were conversing happily. Try to find some hair
of chinese and put it on the statues. Pour the fire offering over all the figures till
they are completely burned out. The Jebtsundamba will be free within 40-50 days"
Jambal reported all this to the 8th Jebtsundamba
who gave orders to have the ritual performed.
They secretly dug a pit in a big yurt and started
to prepare the statues with a dough made of butter and barley flour.
Big quantities of alcohol were gathered, together
with some sacred objects such as a damaru and a bell.
What they could' t find was a little hair
from some chinese.
Almost at the last minute, Jambal, while shopping
for the ritual, saw that two chinese were having their hair cut in the shop next door,
while a third chinese was sweeping the cuttings outside.
Without having anybody notice, Jambal scrape up
some hair and quickly ran to the secured place of the ritual. The ceremony was
performed the next day at midday.
The fire offering was poured until the statues
were completely burned out.
Fourty-eight days later, the 8th Jebtsundamba was
freed.
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