Maria Lidzhigoryaeva, About the Diamond Sutra, a Rosary, and a Temple in Tsagan-Aman

Abstract

Maria talks about the Diamond Sutra that was believed to be protecting her family and clan. When they lost the sutra, her family substituted it with a rosary. Maria also relays a story about a temple in Tsagan Aman village that was destroyed by the Bolsheviks. This is her story: My grandmother had the Diamond Sutra that was with us in Siberia. When we were in Siberia, my father invited a Mongolian lama to our house. The lama read from the sutra, prayed and gave us his blessings. My maternal uncle kept the sutra. After my uncle’s death, his wife gave the sutra away to an old man from Tsagan Aman. That is how we lost our clan’s protector (i.e. the sutra). People told us what we had done. We started to look for the sutra, and whenever we thought that we were about to recover it, it would disappear without a trace. Later we learnt that the sutra was kept by a man called Polyn. When his house was destroyed in a fire, Polyn moved somewhere, and we again lost trace of it. One wise person said to us: ‘If you cannot find your protector (i.e. sutra), take a rosary made from ivory instead (as a protecting object). Do not purchase it, but ask people to give it to you. When you find such a rosary, I will consecrate it for you’. We found a rosary, and showed it to that wise person. We had the rosary consecrated, and brought it to our house. In a place called Sumyan Bulg there stood a big temple. This year I went there to celebrate my friend’s 80th birthday with whom I lived in that place before. He told me about how the local temple had been destroyed. According to him, people came from Astrakhan, pulled the temple down, took out a golden statue of Buddha, threw it on their boat and set sail. In the middle of the river the boat capsized, and the Buddha drowned. It must now be somewhere at the bottom of the river. He told me this story. Who knows what really happened. Before World War II, people used to go to that place to light candles. Today some Russians have bought that land and built a house on it.