my pilgrimage to mt. kailash
TRANSCRIPT
-
7/29/2019 My Pilgrimage to Mt. Kailash
1/9
My Pilgrimage to Lake Manasarovar and Mt. Kailash
Page 1
I cant rememberexactly when I got theidea to make a trek-cum-pilgrimage to Mt. Kailash
and Lake Manasarovar, but it was at least ten years
ago or more. I am not a Hindu or Buddhist, but I am
deeply interested in eastern thought and religion. The
idea of making a difficult journey to a place that is
both extremely remote and sacred appealed to my
spirituality and sense of adventure. Each year, I
would resolve to make the trip, but inevitably work,
family commitments or some other circumstances
conspired to make me postpone my plans. Finally,
this year I had a realization that if I didnt do it now, I
might lose the opportunity altogether. Im 57 years old
and, while still healthy enough to handle to physical
rigors of the trip, there was no guarantee as to how
long I would remain so. Moreover, the Chinesegovernment continues to impose ever-increasing
restrictions on travel to Tibet and there seemed to be a
real possibility that Tibet might be closed to foreigners
altogether. But what clenched the decision was the
passing of my father. Though not unexpectedhe
was 89 it affected me much more than I expected.
We had a difficult, complicated relationship and there
was much that was unresolved when he left. I was
filled with so many emotionsregret, remorse, anger.
Somehow, I felt, if I could make this spiritual journey,
it might help me find peace. I was working on a large
building project in Mexico City at the time which I
didnt want to abandon, but I felt it was at a point thatthings would not suffer too much if I was away for six
weeks. In any case, I decided that if it doing the trip
meant giving up my job, so be it. Surely on my death
bed I would not find myself wishing I had not
undertaken this journey of such significance so that I
could work on some corporate offices for a multi-
national bank! Initially, my employer granted me a
-
7/29/2019 My Pilgrimage to Mt. Kailash
2/9
My Pilgrimage to Lake Manasarovar and Mt. Kailash
Page 2
leave of absence, although later he reneged and I had
to give up my job.
On May 6, I boarded a flight from San
Francisco to Kathmandu. From there I took a flights to
Nepal Gunj and then on to Simikot in western Nepal
where our trek began. It is not possible for foreignersto travel alone in this part of western Nepal and Tibet
and so I used the services of a trekking company. Ours
was a very small party consisting of one other client,
Mary Lou, a 76 year old woman from Seattle and me
along with a guide, Dorje Sherpa and our cook
Dhalbahadur. For the Nepal portion of the trek we also
had a number of local porters and helpers to carry our
tents, food and cooking gear. We quickly fell into the
pleasant rhythm of trekkingup a dawn, tea,
breakfast, break camp, walking along the trail for 4-6
hours with an hour or so for lunch, arriving at a new
village and camp site in the afternoon, usually a few
hours to explore, sketch or just relax, dinner and
retiring just after dusk. Our route followed the Karnali
River. The first two or three villages we stayed at were
populated by Khasa people who are Hindus originally
from the southern plains of Nepal. Further west, the
villages were of Jad or Thar people who are Buddhists
originally from Tibet. In these villages we saw several
Gompas or monasteries where novice monks still
study traditional Tibetan Buddhist texts.
All was going smoothly until just before we
reached the Tibetan boarder when our porters
informed us that they would not continue and cross the
4560m Nara La pass unless we agreed to pay Rs. 3000
(about $US 35) per man, which represented over four
times their normal daily wage. This was nothing less
-
7/29/2019 My Pilgrimage to Mt. Kailash
3/9
My Pilgrimage to Lake Manasarovar and Mt. Kailash
Page 3
than extortion, but we had no choice, and so
reluctantly agreed. The trekking company was very
apologetic and later reimbursed us. They said that thissort of thing never used to happen, but ever since the
Maoist civil war, many people in the area had become
greedy and unethical.
The next day we crossed Nara La and
marched to Hilsa at the Chinese border where we paid
off and dismissed the porters. The following day we
entered Tibet where we were met by our Tibetan
guide, Pemba and driver Dorze. Dorji Sherpa our
Nepali guide and Dhalbahadur also stayed with us.
The Chinese soldiers at the border were polite, but
very serious. They carefully inspected all of our gearlooking for any books or picturs of the Dali Lama,
which are strictly forbidden in China!
Soon we were at Lake Manasarovar, which,
like Mt. Kailash is sacred to Hindus, Buddhists, Jains
and Bons (the ancient religion of Tibet). It was
magnificentso blue and pure, surrounded by snow-
capped peaks with Kailash itself to the north and
Gurla Mandata to the south. At an elevation of 4600m
(15,000), it was still very cold and the lake was
mostly covered with ice. We camped for two days on
a deserted beach on the northwest side of the lake.There were birds everywhereducks, grebes and
black-faced terns that looked like sea birds. Near our
campsite was a famous monastery called Chiu Gompa.
Below it is a river that flows between Lake
Manasarovar, which represents wisdom, and Rakshas
Tal, to the west, which represents violence. Thus the
Gompa has come to symbolize the triumph of wisdom
over violence. There are also some fine hot springs
below the Gompa where I was able to take a very
relaxing soak.
We spent several more days driving in ourLand Cruiser visiting other places in western Tibet,
including ruins of the Guge Empire, whose ruler,
Yeshe O rekindled Tibetan Buddhism in the 11 th
century. Finally we came to Darchan, the starting
point for the kora around Holy Mt. Kailash. We were
concerned about altitude sickness, so we spent an
extra day to make an acclimatization hike to a small
-
7/29/2019 My Pilgrimage to Mt. Kailash
4/9
My Pilgrimage to Lake Manasarovar and Mt. Kailash
Page 4
peak of about 5100m above the town where we were
rewarded with a spectacular view of the south face of
Kailash.
The next day we set off, starting at Darboche,
site of the Saga Dawa festival which was to start in a
couple of days, and a very interesting sky burial site.
Tibetans, like Parsis, practice sky burial in which the
body of the deceased is placed on a special platform
where birds consume the flesh of the body after thesoul has left it. The first day of the kora was relatively
easy. We walked about 15km up a gentle grade. The
mood was festive as we shared the path with Tibetan
pilgrims as well as many foreigners including Indians,
Europeans and a surprising number of Russians. We
saw a number of Tibetans making the kora by
prostrating themselves slowly along the path. In this
way they complete the 55 km in about 20 days. By
mid-afternoon we arrived at a guest house in Dira
Phuk on the north side of the mountain. We visited
the monastery there and had the good fortune to get an
audience with a high Lama Ten Zen Num Jel. I could
not understand his words, except for the mantra Om
mani pedme hum1, but I was overcome by a deep
sense of spiritual energy and connection coming from
1O Avalokiteshvara, please bestow the precious jewel of
enlightenment to liberate all livingbeings
-
7/29/2019 My Pilgrimage to Mt. Kailash
5/9
My Pilgrimage to Lake Manasarovar and Mt. Kailash
Page 5
him. The next day my companion, Mary Lou and I
made another acclimatization hike up to a glacier at
the base of the north face of Mt. Kailash, to 5400m.
Most of the trail was covered by snow and we had to
take care not to fall into the roaring stream coming off
the glacier. When we finally reached the base of the
mountain, we found that glacier was all butnonexistent, another sign of global warming. Still, it
was magnificent to see the perfect form of Mt. Kailash
so close to us.
The third day of the kora was the biggest
challenge of the entire journey, we had to travel 22 km
and cross Dolma La, the 5660m (18,600) high pass of
the kora. It had been unusually snowy this year and
the pass was still covered with heavy snow making it
impossible for horses or even Yaks to cross. Many
pilgrims who could only travel by horse had to turn
back. We set out before dawn, advancing one slow
step at a time. Meditating as I walkedOm nama
shivaya Om mane pedme hum the thin, clear cold
air at that altitude focused my mind. The sun rose and
warmed us. The light reflected off the snow was
brilliant. After about three hours we reached Dolma
La. It was covered with prayer flags and discarded
pieces of clothing left by pilgrims. I had brought
some photos of my mother, father, sisters, wife and
children along with a small calligraphy of a meditation
that my wife had given me before I left. I placed these
under a small rock cairn and tied a silk khata around it.Quietly, I wept as strong feelings of joy, love and grief
all came up at once. Here is meditation from my wife
that I left at the Dolma La.
Knowing that I will get old, I breathe in
Knowing that there is no escaping old age, I breathe
out
Knowing that I will get sick, I breathe in
Knowing that there is no escaping illness, I breathe
out
Knowing I will have to give up all that I cherish, I
breathe in
Knowing that I cannot avoid giving up all that I
cherish, I breathe out
Knowing that I will die, I breathe in
Knowing that I cannot escape death, I breathe out
Knowing that my actions are my only possessions, I
breathe in
Knowing that I cannot escape the consequences of my
actions, I breathe out
Vowing to live mindfully every day, I breathe inKnowing the joys and benefits of living mindfully, I
breathe out
Vowing to bring joy to my beloved, I breathe in
Vowing to ease the pain of my beloved, I breathe out
--Thich Nhat Hanh
END
-
7/29/2019 My Pilgrimage to Mt. Kailash
6/9
My Pilgrimage to Lake Manasarovar and Mt. Kailash
Page 6
Trekking Route
Trekking
Land Cruiser J
Overnight Sto
Tibet Staff: L-R Dorze, Driver; me;
Pemba, Guide
Nepal &Tibet Trekking Party: L-R Dorji Serpa,
Guide; me; Mary Lou Krause, Dalbhadur, Cook
-
7/29/2019 My Pilgrimage to Mt. Kailash
7/9
My Pilgrimage to Lake Manasarovar and Mt. Kailash
Page 7
-
7/29/2019 My Pilgrimage to Mt. Kailash
8/9
My Pilgrimage to Lake Manasarovar and Mt. Kailash
Page 8
-
7/29/2019 My Pilgrimage to Mt. Kailash
9/9
My Pilgrimage to Lake Manasarovar and Mt. Kailash
Page 9