Manasarovar and Rakshastal, Holy and Demonic, One in Two (and All is One)
Episode 13
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As the sun rose above the horizon at 7:30 am, the quiet and dark lake suddenly became a lively mirror that reflected the world's excitement for light. Birds began to fly from the butte on the shore into the center of the lake to welcome the return of warmth. The holy mantras were chanted by devote Hindu pilgrims for the blessings of a new day. Some others who weren't so physically and emotionally attached to the lake, like us, were simply there only to be amazed by that giant orange ball slowly growing in size right in front of our eyes. Being on the extreme west of the Chinese map, we were the last ones of more than 1.3 billion people to see the sun rising in the sky.
That very morning, Lake Manasarovar didn't belong to anyone else. It just belonged to all of us who were there.
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Upon hearing that there was a hot spring near the place where we were staying by the shore of Lake Manasarovar, everyone went back into their rooms and began to flip the swimwear out of their luggage.
Nobody had taken anything remotely resembles something like a shower or a bath in the past 3 days.
However, I chose to opt out myself. Many had warned me not to take shower as frequently on higher altitudes, including my expert uncle who used to go to Tibet at least twice a year before his retirement. Catching a cold was never a good idea in Tibet: not only does it never cure, I have heard enough stories that people got killed by such illness (To everyone from my group who are reading this: Remember, I warned you all!).
I remembered seeing a picture of Chiu Gompa, the monastery built right on the steep cliff behind our guesthouse with Mount Kailash in the background. Instead of going to the hot springs, I waved goodbye to my group mates halfway, and proceeded towards the hill that was directly opposite of Chiu Gompa.
I began to walk up the hill. I looked around, and it turned out that I was the only one there. The grass on the ground was completely dried, due to the fact that the first monsoon of the year had not arrived yet. As I went higher and higher, Chiu Gompa appeared to be lower and lower. Eventually I no longer needed to look up to see the monastery - it was right in front of my eyes.
Behind the monastery, there was Mount Kailash. For all the legends and myths surrounding this mountain that's considered holy by many, I will tell you more in the next episode. At that moment, I was truly amazed merely by the mountain's majestic appearance over the horizon. The Chiu Gompa, now sitting right beside it, made a sharp contrast to the endless empty plain around it. In between the monastery and the mountain, a couple of stupas stood there like witnesses to the surrounding land that seemed to be ageless. Stupas, like the ones in Potala Palace, were built to house the remains of high level monks in Tibetan Buddhism. The splendeur of the holy mountain and the holy lake was more like an everyday sight to these lonely stupas - if these monks were indeed still alive seeing the scene in front of them all the time, will they ever be tired of it?
I was there for about an hour, and I wished that I could stay there " a bit longer".
But how long is "a bit longer"?
For some it could last a few seconds. For some others it meant a lifetime, and beyond.
I was sitting on the slope, looking at the changes that took place in front of me. The cloud went away, and came back. The rain shadowed the holy mountain, then disappeared in sight. The sun kept playing seek and hide in the gaps between the woven curtains above me, but moved further and further away from me, bringing light to the world west of the towering mountains. Even in the quietest moment the world was changing. When you realized such changes, it was all too late.
Because I was all alone on the hill, I chose not to climb higher as the sky was getting darker and darker - which may cause problems when I get back down. I began to descend the hill towards the shore of Manasarovar. The edges of the lake became more dramatic in sight as the fading sun cast the last fading ray of the day directly onto the cliffs diving straight into the holy water. The color of the lake became darker and darker, resembled more and more like a gem embedded into the high plateau of the Himalayas.
When I returned to the guesthouse, everyone was back from the Hot Springs. Everyone soon gathered at the eatery where we had very simple meals like vegetable noodles made on yak dung stoves. There were no meat dish offered, as there was no way they could have a refrigerator running to keep all the meat fresh. The owner of the place told us they would supply electricity to the house from 9:00pm to 11:00pm so we could charge our phones and cameras.
When 9:00pm arrived, there was still no sign of electricity. The surrounding had already become very dark. At 9:15pm, the owner's son rushed outside with a bucket of diesel. Suddenly a noise came out in the middle of a seemingly uninhabitable area. Then here came the light - so weak, yet illuminated the entire dark hut. I took out my cellphone charger, and plugged into the outlet. I turned around, and made my way back to my room.
The moment I stepped into my room, all lights went off. In the pitch dark, I turned on my head torch. I headed straight back to the eatery where everyone else was - it seemed that people's great mood was totally unaffected by the lack of electricity. I stayed there a bit longer and chatted with other group mates.
The motor of the generator roared again.The light went on once more at around 9:30 PM. About 10 minutes later, the lights went off, and never went on again that night. Eventually I decided that probably it was time for me to rest for the day.
The next morning, I woke up before the sun did. So I headed out to the shore of Lake Manasarovar, waiting for the arrival of dawn. At around 7:30 am, a familiar light appeared behind the mountain at the far end of the horizon. As the sun rose higher, the world that was covered by darkness just moments ago suddenly unveiled its face once again.
The scene left me speechless. There were no words I could use to describe the greatness of mother nature, and the one who created everything.
I went back to the guesthouse, only to find out that many of my group mates caught a cold. After breakfast, I went out alone to the hill where I observed the magnificent changes of Mount Kailash the day before. Standing in the rays of early morning sun, Mount Kailash appeared to be a black giant dominating the skyline of the surrounding. The sky was clear, so I didn't expect much dramatic changes of weather happening like the day before.
Suddenly I spotted my group mates and our guide taking a walk along the shore of Manasarovar. I descended the hill and joined them. I never realized the immense size of the lake until I was really standing right next to it. We walked thirty minutes continuously, but felt like we didn't even make that much progress in surveying the lake's shoreline. We headed back to our vehicle, and headed straight to the Chiu Gompa.
Chiu Gompa was built around the cave where Guru Rinpoche spent 7 years in meditation. I could imagine why Guru Rinpoche would pick such place: remote, yet stunning. We climbed up the hill to reach the entrance to the monastery. An old monk welcomed us and took us into the monastery. I was surprised by what was inside of the Chiu Gompa - it was certainly bigger than I imagined. The monastery had almost everything, except in relatively smaller scales big monasteries we visited in Lhasa and Shigatse had- statues, paintings, texts, and the familiar scent from burning butter lamps all over the place.
Although originally a Nyingma pa monastery, Chiu Gompa has statues and pictures of every major Tibetan school teachers in the past and present (no pictures of the current Dalai Lama, of course). In that way a Tibetan Buddhist, regardless of his or her sect, can worship at the historic Chiu Gompa. I noticed our driver Tenzin was carrying a bottle of yak butter and was busily prostrating to the statues inside the monastery - Tibetan Buddhism was truly a religion that had already integrated to Tibetan people's everyday lives.
We exited to the back of the monastery, and there was another enormous lake right in front of our eyes. However our guide didn't say a thing about this lake. Some of us asked him what that lake was.
"It's the Lake of Demon. Tibetans believe the demon who lost to the Buddha in a battle during the ancient time at Mt. Kailash still hide there, looking for an opportunity to hit back."
I opened up my internet browser (surprisingly, there was LTE network in western Tibet). The lake had another name: Lake Rakshastal, which was more widely known in India and the rest of the world. In Hinduism, the lake was also seen as a demonic lake. Yet the reason why such belief existed was because the water in Lake Rakshastal was extremely salty - too salty that there were no lives in there.Yet the Holy Manasarovar was a different story. Its water was considered pure and was drank by pilgrims of all religions. Every year thousands of Hindus come to Lake Manasarovar to bath in the holy water so their soul is cleansed. Some of Gandhi's ashes were being spread into the lake as well. Ecologically, the lake is a heaven for fish and birds in the region.
I looked down the cliff, there was a shallow stream that went went all the way from the shore of Rakshastal to the shore of Lake Manasarovar - the two lakes, despite being the representations of two extremities, were connected by this shallow water!
A picture of the Yin-Yang diagram appeared in my head. It perfectly depicted the scene that was right in front of my eyes: The light and darkness co- exist together to form the world. Yet there was darkness in the light, ad there was light in the darkness. The two extreme natures were in fact inter-connected.
Then I looked at Mt Kailash, now shrouded in mist, and began to understand why such mountain could be highly regarded by most of the native religions that originated in the South Asian subcontinent:
It was the source of both lakes!
So it became the source of light and darkness, good and evil , holy and demonic.
Already having so many discoveries, I couldn't wait to find out more about Mt. Kailash once I get there later that day.
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Suddenly a lightning bolt hit the ground right in front of Him.
The clouds became gloomily black, eventually forming a huge swirl in the sky. The dark cloud posted a contrast with almost everything around, which made even a strong man like Him trembling.
Another lightning bolt hit, this time He saw something right in front of Him.
He saw part of the Holy Mountain through the sharp contrast.
The lightning bolt hit gain, He took a close look at the Holy Mountain.
He got scared, unable to move his body.
He saw the third eye of Mahakala this time.
Episode 1 Episode 2 Episode 3 Episode 4 Episode 5 Episode 6 Episode 7
Episode 8 Episode 9 Episode 10 Episode 11 Episode 12 Episode 13 Episode 14
Episode 15 Episode 16 Episode 17 Episode 18
That very morning, Lake Manasarovar didn't belong to anyone else. It just belonged to all of us who were there.
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| Raining on Mt. Kailash, from someone who hadn't taken any shower in the past 3 days |
Nobody had taken anything remotely resembles something like a shower or a bath in the past 3 days.
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| I guess we were just all excited to see the water after 3 days of no shower |
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| Mt. Kailash rising above the horizon |
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| Mt.Kailash |
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| Chiu Gompa right behind the place where we were staying |
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| The Indian Pilgrim guesthouse built by the Government of India and Lake Manasarovar |
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| Lake Manasarovar |
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| Chiu Gompa and Mt. Kailash from the hill |
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| Chiu Gompa and Mt. Kailash |
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| Chiu Gompa, stupas, and Mt. Kailash |
But how long is "a bit longer"?
For some it could last a few seconds. For some others it meant a lifetime, and beyond.
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| Lake Manasarovar |
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| Chiu Gompa and Mt. Kailash |
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| Chiu Gompa and Mt. Kailash |
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| Chiu Gompa and Mt. Kailash |
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| Lake Manasarovar and the "shacks" where we were staying |
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| Lake Manasarovar |
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| Lake Manasarovar |
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| Lake Manasarovar |
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| Chiu Gompa and Mt. Kailash |
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| Precipitation on Mt. Kailash |
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| Cloud covering most of Mt. Kailash |
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| Chiu Gompa and...hang on, where is it? |
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| Raining on Mt. Kailash |
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| Chiu Gompa from the hill |
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| The shore of Lake Manasarovar and birds |
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| Lake Manasarovar and a prayer flag tied to a rock on the shore |
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| Birds on Lake Manasarovar |
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| Birds on Lake Manasarovar |
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| Birds flying over the lake in the evening |
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| Chiu Gompa at sunset from "the shack" |
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| Lake Manasarovar at sunset |
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| The Prayer Flag Pole outside of our place |
The motor of the generator roared again.The light went on once more at around 9:30 PM. About 10 minutes later, the lights went off, and never went on again that night. Eventually I decided that probably it was time for me to rest for the day.
The next morning, I woke up before the sun did. So I headed out to the shore of Lake Manasarovar, waiting for the arrival of dawn. At around 7:30 am, a familiar light appeared behind the mountain at the far end of the horizon. As the sun rose higher, the world that was covered by darkness just moments ago suddenly unveiled its face once again.
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| Sunrise over Lake Manasarovar |
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| Sunrise over Lake Manasarovar |
The scene left me speechless. There were no words I could use to describe the greatness of mother nature, and the one who created everything.
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| Sunrise over Lake Manasarovar |
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| Sunrise over Lake Manasarovar |
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| A settlement near Lake Manasarovar |
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| Mt. Kailash in early morning |
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| Chiu Gompa and Mt. Kailash from the hill in the morning |
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| Chiu Gompa and Mt. Kailash |
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| Lake Manasarovar and mid-morning sun |
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| Chiu Gompa |
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| Lake Manasarovar |
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| Lake Manasarovar |
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| Lake Manasarovar |
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| A butte on the shore of Lake Manasarovar |
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| Chiu Gompa from Lake Manasarovar |
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| Chiu Gompa |
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| A stupa near Chiu Gompa |
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| Inside Chiu Gompa |
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| Painting of Guru Rinpoche depicted on a wall inside Chiu Gompa |
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| Paintings of Guru Rinpoche |
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| Paintings of Taras |
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| Lake Rakshastal |
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| Prayer flags behind the Chiu Gompa |
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| The residential quarter immediately beneath Chiu Gompa |
I opened up my internet browser (surprisingly, there was LTE network in western Tibet). The lake had another name: Lake Rakshastal, which was more widely known in India and the rest of the world. In Hinduism, the lake was also seen as a demonic lake. Yet the reason why such belief existed was because the water in Lake Rakshastal was extremely salty - too salty that there were no lives in there.Yet the Holy Manasarovar was a different story. Its water was considered pure and was drank by pilgrims of all religions. Every year thousands of Hindus come to Lake Manasarovar to bath in the holy water so their soul is cleansed. Some of Gandhi's ashes were being spread into the lake as well. Ecologically, the lake is a heaven for fish and birds in the region.
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| Birds and the Chiu Gompa |
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| Hindu Pilgrims practicing puja near the shore of Lake Manasarovar |
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| The water connecting the two lakes on the Lake Rakshastal side |
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| The stream right underneath Chiu Gompa, beside the Hot Springs where my group mates went |
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| Lake Manasarovar |
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| Chiu Gompa and Lake Manasarovar |
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| Shore of Lake Manasarovar |
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| A prayer wheel outside of Chiu Gompa |
It was the source of both lakes!
So it became the source of light and darkness, good and evil , holy and demonic.
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| Mt. Kailash from Chiu Gompa |
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The clouds became gloomily black, eventually forming a huge swirl in the sky. The dark cloud posted a contrast with almost everything around, which made even a strong man like Him trembling.
Another lightning bolt hit, this time He saw something right in front of Him.
He saw part of the Holy Mountain through the sharp contrast.
The lightning bolt hit gain, He took a close look at the Holy Mountain.
He got scared, unable to move his body.
He saw the third eye of Mahakala this time.
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