October 21, 2013
Now that I’m back in Dharamsala, with eyes fresh from seeing 10th-12th century Indo-Tibetan mandalas in monasteries of Spiti, Lahaul, and Ladakh, I made local trips through these lower Himalayas to see contemporary Tibetan monasteries.
Photo: bharatdiscovery.org
First stop was Rewalsar, or Tso Pema (Lotus Lake) as Tibetans call it. It is the site of a legendary miracle by Padmasambhava. Also known as Guru Rinpoche, this Indian sage brought Buddhism to Tibet in the 8th century, and is said to have subdued the people and the local blood-thirsty spirits through demonstrations of his magical powers as an adept practitioner. Padmasambhava is especially revered by the Tibetan Buddhist Nyingma school who regard him as the Second Buddha, the First Buddha being Shakyamuni.
The legend of the lake is that Guru Rinpoche was teaching Princess Mandarava tantra in local secret caves, and she became his consort. Her father the King of Zahor was greatly displeased and attempted to burn them both in the valley below. But Guru Rinpoche turned the pyre into water, and the fire became a lake. Thus, Lotus Lake miraculously came into being and is revered by Tibetan Buddhists.
Incidentally, it is also revered by Hindus, who regard the area as Hanuman’s land. Punjabis, as well, because Padmasambhava is one of their ten holy teachers.
After driving up to the hills above Tso Pema, one must go on foot up to the caves. Most of the way is fairly well paved and with stairs.
It is a pleasant scramble through some rocky but grassy areas, hung with plenty of Tibetan prayer flags.
At the top, there is a nunnery with small temples, a cafe for visitors, and dotting the hillside are numerous modest stone huts and cave entrances currently in use by nuns and other retreatants.
The landscape is punctuated by crags and boulders.
When we finally came upon the secret cave of Guru Rinpoche, the entrance was this steep decline down, which today has cement steps, a doorway, and lighting. I tried to imagine it as the dark natural crack it must have been originally, getting darker as you descended into the cave.
The stairway leads to a small antechamber which then leads to this section of the cave underground.
I tried to imagine this cave in Guru Rinpoche’s day, without the flooring, ritual objects and electricity. It must have been a mysterious womb-like place to practice meditation, to contemplate existence in pitch blackness, to truly face nothingness in the subterranean absence of stimuli.
In another cave is this large statue of Guru Rinpoche, built into a nook where above his head is a natural opening revealing daylight.
Just beyond this section is a smaller connected cave dedicated to his consort, Princess Mandarava.
It is said that pilgrimage to sacred sites where realized masters practiced meditation, such as these caves, imparts blessings to its visitors.
Rewalsar is also considered an auspicious place to be on retreat. The two Chod practitioners (chodpas) I met in Dharmasala (whom I wrote a bit about here) are currently on a few months’ retreat here.
They invited me to visit with them in their cabin near the caves. So I had planned to be in town when they were on a brief break from their hermitage. I learned that there are two short times of the month, according to the Tibetan lunar calendar, that retreatants may come out of isolation to tend to things outside.
These chodpas are lay tantric practitioners not only working towards enlightenment through Chod rituals (serious esoteric stuff, as one Zen practitioner friend of mine commented, “These guys are hardcore!”) but they are also shamanic healers. As traveling mendicants, they may be invited by community members to conduct prayers for the deceased, the living, and those believed to be wandering spirits.
Pictured above is the one-room cabin of a chodpa. On the long table against the back wall are ritual offerings made from colored flour and water.
During my visit, it so happened that the chodpas recently conducted healing prayers for a child I was acquainted with who suffered from a neurological brain disorder. They showed me some of the ritual objects created and used for this purpose.
I heard separately later that this child, who was located hours away from Rewalsar, demonstrated some unusual and extended calm behavior the day after the Chod treatment. Coincidence? Maybe. Go figure. Nothing in modern science can currently explain such phenomena as Chod healing.
Over a thousand years later, with the thriving nunnery, occupied caves, retreat huts and monasteries of Rewalsar, it certainly seems to me that Guru Rinpoche’s legacy is alive and well here.
My next post is about Rewalsar’s Zigar Monastery in which I first encounter contemporary sacred arts a lot like their Indo-Tibetan predecessors of 11th century Spiti and Ladakh. What’s more, I then met the master artist responsible and learned some insightful things about his art process! Stay tuned…
All photos © 2013, Eva Lee.
