Thursday, June 13, 2013

The Cursed Lake of Nepal

Often referred to as the jewel of Dolpo, the Phoksundo Lake is the deepest (650m) and second largest lake of Nepal. The lake and its surrounding were lovely and attractive. I could not stop myself from taking pictures. It was a really beautiful lake with clean water, transparent right to its bottom. The snow that melted from the glacier formed the crystalline water of Phoksundo Lake. The aquamarine greenish blue water of the lake could not support any aquatic life because of its cold temperature. According to locals, this lake was formed by a demoness. Legend has it that a demoness was being chased by saint Padmasambhava. She hid herself somewhere at Phoksundo and gave the villagers a turquoise making them promise not to disclose her position. However, saint Padmasambhava was clever, and turned all the turquoises into dung. The villagers were upset as a result, and revealed where the demoness’ whereabouts.
The demoness got angry and caused a flood. It washed away the entire village and turned into what is today the lake of Phoksundo. You can still see the remains of the village below the lakes surface. According to my parents, with the request of the villagers, Padmasambhava cut a hole with his sword on one of the shores to protect the nearby villages from the flood.
Today, you can see still the unique nature of the lake how a balance is created between the amount of water that gets collected into the lake and the water that escapes the lake. Because of saint Padmasambhava’s acquaintance with the lake Buddhists consider the lake holy, and is often visited by pilgrims. I could see that many houses in the village had prayer flags hung on top of their roofs with strong wooden sticks, and many there were several religious chortens and stones carved with prayers.

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

The sacred Crystal Mountain

The Crystal Mountain is considered a sacred heritage of Dolpo and is often visited by Buddhists from around the globe. It is historically important for a religious purpose.
In Buddhism, sentient being can be distinguinshed as those which have physical bodies and those which don't, and those that dont have bodies are considered to be as spirits. Buddhists believe that all living beings live in three realm of worlds. Those three worlds are a celestial world, the human world, anda Nag's world.
Legend has a say that eight members of each world landed on earth. They were the space goers. Among them, four were monor gods, four smell-eaters, eight ground walkers, and four malevolent harmers. In addition, there were four cannibal demons, four nagas, eight underground dwellers, and lastly four demi-gods. According to the legend these twenty four powerful beings occupied twenty four different locations o. Earth. According to the Mahayana sect, the tantric sect, the Sakyamuni Buddha from the state of the body of realty manifested sambogakaya (compelete enjoyment body) in the most wrathful Chakrasamyara and subjugated the invaders. Chakrasamyara was a four faced and twelve handed diety. Ever since, theose twenty four places have been subjected to be "Chakrasamvara" which translates into, "Supreme Bliss".

In the 12th century, Druptop Senge Yeshi who was a strong Buddhist practioner, was sent to Dolpo by his master. On his arrival on the hill's top, Senge Yeshi flew through the middle of a huge rock on his way up the sacred mountain. There he saw Chakrasamvara, the tantric deity at the Crystal Mountain. Then, through the power of his meditative realization, Senge Yeshi heard the sound of a dragon's roar. Having directly perceived the holiness of the mountain, the great monk christened it "Shel-Re Drugda". Then, riding on a lion, he blessed the sacred land.

It is true that the hole in the rock through which Senge Yeshi flew can be seen even today. The great monk's dharma activities can also be read and available in historical books.
Pilgrims stop at each place at Crystal Mountain to offer their prayers and wishes as they make their way around the site of the sacred mountain.