After
meeting with Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo, we made our way to the small village of
Bir, where we stayed in a hotel that had formerly been a Buddhist Monastery.
The view was spectacular, and the cool mountain air was a relief from the
mugginess we had all been through for a month now. Bir is a nice, small town, and
though there isn’t a whole lot to see, there are a few monasteries and temples
that were very notable as well as a local restaurant that produces huge amounts
of excellent food despite how little staff they seem to have. For our first day
in Bir we would meet a Lama in the morning who talked to us about the core
principles of Buddhist thought and how they related to our lives. After that we
went to a HUGE monastery, where we sat in on an impressive ritual. The Monks
all chanting in perfect unison for what seemed like an endless amount of time
was an impressive sight, and I think that such an experience offered a unique
view into the intensity of some of the rituals of Tibetan Buddhism. We also saw
some marvelous Stupas and had a beautiful walk back to the hotel, where Derek,
Phoebe, myself, and others had a lively debate about all of human existence.
The second day was comparatively lower key; we had class in the morning and
rested in the afternoon, though we did get to meet a former Emory student named
Pai who is a very, very cool guy.
The goal of
all of this traveling of course was to arrive at the Lake of Guru Rinpoche,
Tso Pema (the Tibetan name, english translation "Lotus Lake"). Tso Pema is a beautiful lake surrounded by a small town as well as a
number of large hills and mountains. One of the first things we noticed about
said lake were the fish. The fish were massive both in size and number, and I
wondered how what appeared to be a fairly shallow lake could hold so many large
fish. The first night we did a Kora (clockwise walk) around the lake as Passang-la explained
some of the mantras written on the rocks next to the lake. The next day we
spent time exploring the temples to the Guru Rinpoche. One thing that
immediately stands out to you as you enter the town is the massive statue of
the guru that looms above the town like an inquisitive Giant. Exploring the
inside of the statue and then stepping out on the balcony to see what the Guru
was seeing was pretty cool. However it paled in comparison to the view that was
to come the next day. On our final day at Tso Pema we made an arduous trek up a
mountain to the Cave where the guru meditated. The hike wasn’t too long and
probably would have been pretty easy if it weren’t straight up for the whole
way. Sitting in the cold, wet cave and meditating was actually really nice, and
I could see why the Guru would have liked it. It’s a very pleasant cave with
yet another terrifying statue of the Guru (this seems to be a theme in
Tso Pema). After walking around the mountain for a little bit we found the best
view that we could possibly get. Oh man, that was a view. It was then that I
saw why the Guru didn’t feel the need to come down too soon. You really don’t
get a whole lot of views like that one. Naturally, after experiencing the vast
openness of the valley and the mountains, we thought it best to army-crawl into
a cramped and dark cave that according to some accounts would collapse on you
if you had bad Karma. It was nice to make it out.
Well what
else is there to say? I would consider pilgrimage week to be a major success,
it seems like pretty much everyone enjoyed it, myself definitely included.
Hopefully it keeps getting better, though it’s hard to imagine how we could top
this week. But if there’s anything we’ve learned so far it’s that there’s
always something more fascinating/amazing/terrifying out there. Plenty more to
come.
Signing off,
-Alex
Goldberg
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