Keep up with ghosts

In Tibet as elsewhere, children are sometimes turbulent. Even when they are small children.

That winter, as soon as night came, the youngest members of a monastery renowned for its discipline had got into the habit of playing ghosts, delighted to frighten their elders, who like most Tibetans (not only them , by the way) greatly fear spirits. The facts went up to the ears of the master of discipline, who had no doubt about the identity of the instigator of the nocturnal game.

Rather than intervening directly and punishing bad jokers, he preferred to speak at the end of a common ceremony: “You know like me that, for several days, our community has been haunted at night by evil spirits. But don't worry, I know an effective way to prevent it. From this evening, I recommend that all adult monks bring a few large pebbles when they walk around the enclosure. As soon as they see the slightest apparition, aim carefully so as not to miss it. This will have the effect of making it evaporate, believe me! Needless to say, no one had to use pebbles. The ghosts disappeared the same day, as if by magic