Myths and Mountains in Nepal

[sonamdhargey]

I found a very insteresting read about the Myths and Mountains in Nepal.

THE tale begins with a demon.

Centuries ago, it destroyed the foundations of a Buddhist monastery under construction in central Tibet. Then Guru Rinpoche, who had brought Buddhism to the kingdom, pursued the demon west, deep into Mustang. The two fought among Mustang’s snow peaks, desert canyons and grasslands. Guru Rinpoche prevailed, and he scattered the demon’s body parts across Mustang: its blood formed towering red cliffs, and its intestines tumbled to the wind-scoured earth east of the cliffs. Later, people would build a wall of prayer stones, the longest in Nepal, atop the intestines.

On the fifth day of our trek, we stood above the demon’s heart. Here, on a hillside, the people of Mustang had built the monastery of Lo Gekar, one of the oldest in the Tibetan world. A lama showed us around. I found no remnants of a demonic heart, but the walls in a dark room at the rear were covered with paintings of fearsome creatures with fangs and blue skin. Tibetans called them protector deities. Our guide, Karma, pulled me over into the shadows and pointed to another wall. I squinted, and saw a statue of Buddha that had been carved from the rock. Or so I thought.

Read more here:http://travel.nytimes.com/2012/10/28/travel/myths-and-mountains-in-nepal.html?ref=buddhism&_r=0

[Jessie Fong]

Like the header said : The tale .... it was just a tale.

The following is an extract explained by Wikipedia:

Mustang was once an independent kingdom, although closely tied by language and culture to Tibet. From the 15th century to the 17th century, its strategic location granted Mustang control over the trade between the Himalayas and India. At the end of the 18th century the kingdom was annexed by Nepal.

Though still recognized by many Mustang residents, the monarchy ceased to exist on October 7, 2008, by order of the Government of Nepal. The last official and current unofficial king (raja or gyelpo) is Jigme Dorje Palbar Bista (born c.1933), who traces his lineage directly back to Ame Pal, the warrior who founded this Buddhist kingdom in 1380. Ame Pal oversaw the founding and building of much of the Lo and Mustang capital of Lo Manthang, a walled city surprisingly little changed in appearance from that time period.

In 2007, a shepherd in Mustang discovered a collection of 55 cave paintings depicting the life of Buddha.



The capital of Mustang : Lo Munthang

[sonamdhargey]

It is amazing that the Buddha formed on its own on the rock which was thought to be carved. Just Amazing.

[RedLantern]

Perhaps nowhere on earth myth features so prominently in the beliefs of the people as it does in Nepal.Nepal has millions of myth ridden Gods and Goddesses,mighty snow -clad mountains.Some of them the very embodiment of the Gods and Goddesses themselves.Added to this, are the rivers and valleys-each of them dotted with a legendary myth of their own.Not even the planetary system in the universe escapes these myths.Indeed myth in Nepal amounts to a lively legend which in Nepal amounts to lively legend which manifest itself in the folklores of it's diversified ethnic communities.

[buddhalovely]

“They say the statue is natural and was discovered this way,” Karma said. “People in Mustang have many stories. They believe everything. There are spirits everywhere you look.”

Mustang was a caldron of myth, as I discovered on a 16-day trek through the Himalayan region of Nepal in September. Modernity was creeping in to the area, but the stories that people told had evolved little over centuries. As I walked through the valleys and white-walled villages, I heard tales that brought alive the harsh land, a place of deep ravines and stinging wind and ancient cave homes. It had been this way before the kingdom was united under Ame Pal in the 14th century, and the narratives seem as alive today as ever.

[Big Uncle]

It is amazing that the Buddha formed on its own on the rock which was thought to be carved. Just Amazing.

It is not unusual for the Buddha to appear on rocks and so forth. This is called self-arising images and there are numerous images all over Tibet and Nepal. They appear because of the intense Tantric meditations are practiced within the area. Tantric meditations involves creative visualisation of the Buddha's form resulting in spontaneous appearance of holy enlightened beings. Therefore, such miraculous manifestations would normally occur in meditative caves of great yogis and yoginis.



The picture above is that the demoness that was subdued by Guru Rinpoche with temples built in specific locations to pin and subdue her and here's a story that I found on the net:-

Once upon a time, the body of a huge sleeping Bön demoness lay across the entire vast Tibetan plateau. Some maps still show the woman’s body stretched out across the land. Her heart lies in Lhasa.

Meet THE DEMONESS.

Her presence was divined when a certain Princess Wencheng arrived from China as a new bride of a Tibetan King. Princess Wencheng brought Chinese Buddhism with her in her trousseau, and saw Tibet’s ruling religion, Bön, as something to be done away with. Bön was a shamanistic folk religion filled with wild and crazy demons, spirits, and ghosts, matching the wildness of Tibetan terrain.

Bön must be crushed, said Princess Wencheng, so that Buddhism could take root.

Princess Wencheng's adoring spouse, The King, obligingly ordered Tibetans to forego Bön and practice Buddhism. However, not many folks take kindly to being ordered to switch beliefs. The Princess determined, through geomancy, astrology and, some say, just to be difficult, that the heart of this terrible demoness lay in the middle of a lake in Lhasa, which was a portal to the underworld.

The best course of action, said the Princess, was to pin the demoness down where she lay, FOREVER.

Thus, the catfight began. This was woman against woman.

Work began to drain Wothang Lake in Lhasa. However, every night, the day's work was mysteriously undone. This is when the Princess determined that this demoness was so powerful, that even more pinning down was needed, to ensure that the terrible demoness would NEVER GET UP.

Thus, demoness-subduing temples were built to pin her down – on her shoulders, hips, arms and legs.

And once the entire lake was emptied, a stake was put through the demoness’ heart, and a sacred white goat carried in sand to fill in the heart, which gave Lhasa its original name, Rasa (ra = goat).

And the sacred Jokhang Temple - one of the holiest of holy sites in Tibet - was built on top of this filled-in lake, symbolically replacing Bön with Buddhism.

[diablo1974]

The pic above is interesting. mayb we can goggle map and see if its matching the current tibetan plateau.
I heard and see images of Enlightened beings such as Tara forming on rocks and holy sites. Its just so so amazing and unbelievable.