Walking Round Sacred Mountains And Lakes In Tibe

文：鄭茜

For ethnic Tibetans, to pay homage to at least one sacred mountain or lake by walking round it is a religious pursuit they must attain in their lifetime, for which they are willing to exhaust all their savings. Even though a person already did so when still a baby - carried by the persons mother on her back throughout the journey ?the person, in nine cases out of ten, will do it on his or her own when he or she grows up. Not a few ethnic Tibetans have made pilgrimages to more than one sacred mountain or lake, believing that holy spirits there will repay their piousness with blessings.

Sacred mountains and lakes, ethnic Tibetans believe, are where holy spirits reside. Holy spirits are invisible but at times may expose themselves to the naked eye. They haunt those snow-clad mountains, lush-green grasslands and crystal-clear lakes, and they have peoples lives and destiny in control. They keep a close watch of what people do and say, blessing those who are virtuous and punishing those who have done evil things. Moreover, they are able to expiate sins of dead souls.

Worshipping of sacred mountains and lakes originates from the primitive Bon religion of Tibet, which came into being long before Buddhism found its way across the Himalayas into the region. According to the Bon belief, the universe is divided into three parts, or three “layers”with one lying atop the other - the heavenly world, the real or mortal world and the nether world, which are all controlled by holy spirits. The belief has continued to this day, even it is many centuries since Lamaism, the Tibetan school of Buddhism, replaced Bon as the dominating religion in Tibet. The heavenly world is far, far away from the real world, in fact lying high above the real world, prompting ethnic Tibetans to imagine that those snow-clad mountains are most close to the heavenly world, the land of blessing.

The Gangdhis (gangs-te-se) and Zarih (tsa-ri) mountain ranges are the most representative and most popular among all the sacred mountains in Tibet. The Gangdhis (gangs-te-se) Mountains lie in southwest Tibet, rolling all the way from Kashmir in the west before meeting with the Nian Tanggula Mountains in the east. Its peak, known as Mt. Lengpu Ganghri, rises 7,095 meters above sea level. For religious and geographic reasons, however, another peak in the same mountain range, Mt. Ganghren Poqen (gangs-rin-po-che), is also revered as the summit of the Gangdhis (gangs-te-se) Mountains even though it is much lower than Mt. Lengpu Ganghri.

It may be interesting to note that believers of Buddhism and Bon may have different stories to tell about the same sacred mountain or lake. A striking example is Mt. Ganghren Poqen (gangs-rin-po-che) which, rising 6,638 meters above sea level, is snow-bound all the year round. It is sacred for believers of both Bon and Buddhism. Even more remarkable is that Mt. Ganghren Poqen (gangs-rin-po-che) is also sacred for believers of Jainism and Hinduism.

According to the Tibetan school of Buddhism, in a year of the horse in the 12-year cycle by the traditional Tibetan calendar, Sakyamuni, founder of Buddhism, gathered all the holy spirits in a divine palace on Mt. Ganghren Poqen (gangs-rin-po-che), and ordered them to walk round the mountain once every 12 years. Walking round Mt. Ganghren Poqen (gangs-rin-po-che) in any year of the horse has thus become a ritual for mortals to perform, the pilgrims believing that Buddhist deities are in their company as they trudge on those rugged mountain trails. The Tibetan school of Buddhism, more popularly known as “Lamaism” insists that a person will have all his or her sins expiated by walking round the mountain once, and will be free from all sufferings in the nether world by doing it ten times. If a person walks round the mountain a hundred times, the person will attain Buddha-hood at the end of the last trek. Mt. Ganghren Poqen (gangs-rin-po-che) is regarded as sacred also because it is a most important shrine of the Dge-lugs-pa sect, the mainstream of the Tibetan school of Buddhism, where eminent monk Milah Ripah (mi-la-ras-pa), the sects supreme teacher of the second generation, stayed to practice Buddhism in seclusion.

Followers of the Bon religion worship Mt. Ganghren Poqen (gangs-rin-po-che), believing that it is from here that Dhapah Qenrao (bstan-pa-shes-rab), the incarnation of the religions founding god, descended to the mortal world and founded the religion. The true fact is that it is the birthplace of the religions supreme teachers of all generations, as well as their wives and children. As followers of the religion see it, the mountain is a huge crystal pagoda, in which the nine founders of the mortal world reside together with the 360 gods and goddesses who take care of the various earthly affairs. It is therefore the center of the mortal world, the soul of Tibet, to be more exact.

Jainism regards the mountain as the center of the universe, where its founder became enlightened through self-cultivation and attained freedom from mortal existence. Hinduism regards it as the holy abode of Siva, one of its three most important gods, as well as the God of the Himalayas. To be more exact, followers of the religion believe that Mt. Ganghren Poqen (gangs-rin-po-che) as the incarnation of Siva, who has sufficient divine power to eliminate all evils and create every conceivable good. Many Indians believe that Mt. Ganghren Poqen (gangs-rin-po-che) is where the sacred Ganges River originates, and that to die while walking round the mountain is the greatest blessing they can ever expect.

Mt. Zarih (tsa-ri) is one of the peaks of the Himalaya Mountains. Ethnic Tibetans believe that the God of Victory and Happiness reside in a palace atop Mt. Zarih (tsa-ri), together with all other gods who oversee human activities. There used to be numerous monsters and demons in the mountain and all of them were subdued by the God of Victory and Happiness except one whose name is Zui. In the year of the monkey, the recurrent year of his birth in the 12-year cycle, Zui, who is largely peaceful under the control of the God of Victory and Happiness, would try to make trouble if it thinks that humans fail to pay sufficient respect for him. To “pacify”this evil spirit by currying favor with it, people come in any year of the monkey and walk round the mountain.

Lakes dot with the vast expanse of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. In northwestern Tibet, virtually a no-mans land, you may travel for days on end without seeing any race of humans but you are bound to go past a lake every few hours. All the lakes in Tibet are so enchanting, so beautiful, with the blue sky, pure white cloud clusters, snow-clad, rolling mountains and lush green forests mirrored on their dancing ripples. Moreover, there is a story or legend about every lake, as lakes always inspire awe and imagination.

The region has three sacred lakes, the lakes of Mahpangyong lake (ma-pham-gyu-mtsho), Ngamo lake (gnam-mtsho) and Yangcuoyong lake (yar-vbrog-gyu-mtsho).

Here we are at the Mahpangyong lake (ma-pham-gyu-mtsho), the “King of all sacred mountains” which is as sacred as Mt. Ganghren Poqen (gangs-rin-po-che). It lies about 20 kilometers to the southeast of Mt. Ganghren Poqen (gangs-rin-po-che), rises 4,588 meters above sea level, and is more than 400 square kilometers large. The lake is fed by water of melted snow from the Gangdhis (gangs-te-se) Mountains. The water is so pure, so transparent that in the center of the lake, which is 90 meters deep, anything up to 14 meters beneath the surface is exposed to the naked eye. Followers of Lamaism believe that the lake is a pool of the “divine dew”given mortals by Buddha, and that by taking a bath in the lake, one will be freed from all sins and worries and therefore have their lives prolonged. Legend goes that the Dragon King of Wealth lives in a magnificent palace on the bottom of the lake. In front of the palace, a divine tree shines bright in all directions, which is the source of happiness in the mortal world. Pilgrims will be overjoyed if they happen to pick up anything while walking round the lake, be it may a fish washed onshore or a bird feather, taking it as a gift from the Dragon King.

Believers of Hinduism, however, think that the Mahpangyong lake (ma-pham-gyu-mtsho) is where Siva and his wives bathe and where the Ganges River originates. Many of them would make pilgrimages to the sacred lake at any cost, walking round it barefooted the way ascetic monks do. Ethnic Tibetan pilgrims would make pilgrimages to both Mt. Ganghren Poqen (gangs-rin-po-che) and the Mahpangyong lake (ma-pham-gyu-mtsho). Pilgrims walking round the lake can be seen in any season of the year. From time to time, you can see pilgrims - obviously the most pious - prostrating on the ground, knocking their heads on the ground, standing up, taking one step forward, prostrating and knocking their heads on the ground again before standing up and taking one more step forward. They will do this again and again for at least one week until they complete the pilgrimage.

The Ngamo lake (gnam-mtsho) lies at the foot of the Nian Tanggula Mountains in northern Tibet. At 4,720 meters above sea level and with a surface 1,948 square kilometers in area, it is the largest of all sacred lakes in Tibet and also on the highest elevation. The lake is hive of activity in any year of the sheep because ethnic Tibetans believe that the lake came into being in a year of the sheep.

The Yangcuoyong lake (yar-vbrog-gyu-mtsho) lies about 150 kilometers to the southwest of Lhasa, capital of Tibet Autonomous Region, where the elevation is measured at 4,400 meters above sea level. In addition to its sacredness, the lake is reputed for a surpassing scenic beauty. Standing atop a nearby mountain that rises 5,300 meters above sea level, one commands a birds-eye-view of a vast expanse of dancing ripples in the shape of a huge fan with inverted reflection of the surrounding snow-clad mountains. The lake is a paradise of birds - in fact a fairyland with lush green pastures all around it.

Walking round a sacred mountain or lake is a most important way for ethnic Tibetans to communicate with holy spirits, on whom they place hopes for happiness and freedom from want and anxiety. Pilgrims have to defy untold hardships during their treks, given the long distance they have to cover, in addition to the thin air and treacherous weather that characterize the “roof of the world” But never have they been daunted, their will stemming from a rock-firm conviction that the greater the physical hardships they suffer, the greater will be the blessings they receive from the holy spirits residing in those sacred mountains and lakes.