Excursion to the pearl of Tibet - Tsurphu

• Tour of Tibet pearl - Tsurphu

Almost all the monasteries, we get on our way, we belong to the most common Buddhist school Gelugpa. But at the last day of his stay in Tibet, we went to one of the most important monasteries in other schools of the Kagyu. It can be considered one of the jewels of Tibet. He was the most important point of our journey. It is not included in conventional tourist route, and for his visit we received a separate permission from the Chinese authorities, and pay extra for the trip.

Tsurphu monastery is called, and a traditional location of the head of this school, the Karmapa, the king of all yogis. This monastery is very different from the others, which are more subject to the Chinese leadership. Where you can take pictures for free everything except the altars. There are few tourists and those who come here, go consciously.

Tsurphu is located 70 km north-west of Lhasa in the windswept valley at an altitude of 4300 meters.

He built it in 1159, the first Karmapa, Düsum Khyenpa.

In this case, as in the case of the Jokhang, not without geomancy "SACE". Düsum Khyenpa chose a place in the middle of the valley where the slopes of the mountains in front of the monastery were flat and covered with vegetation, and behind the monastery - rocky and malopristupnymi. It symbolized the soft power of "peaceful" Buddhas and violent energy "Dharma protectors" or "angry" manifestations of Buddha. In the middle of the valley flowed a river that is always considered to be an auspicious sign.

After making ritual offerings to the guardians of the area, the first Karmapa laid the monastery, which subsequently lived about a thousand monks.

During the cultural revolution of the 60's, and many other sacred Buddhist place, the monastery was destroyed and rebuilt in the '80s thanks to the efforts of the sixteenth Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje Rigpe.

Karmapa Lama called the Black Hat. It is believed that, when one of the previous incarnations he attained enlightenment, Dakini and put it in honor of this event the crown, the retinue of their black hair.

Some of the most realized people are actually able to see the energy crown. And for the rest of one of the Chinese emperors ordered their masters to make a copy of what he saw over the head of the fifth Karmapa, Deshin Shegpa.

In the Kagyu school has always been a lot of yogis, and the Karmapa - the king of yogis.

As yogis befallen reality Karmapa able at will to change this reality. Sometimes it looks like a miracle. For example, the seventh Karmapa Chödrak Gyatso left the imprint of his palm straight into the wall.

The Karmapa is the first consciously reborn lama of Tibet. His rebirth lived in Tsurphu, until the sixteenth Karmapa. Next to the throne, the seventeenth Karmapa two candidates claiming now, different students selected last, the sixteenth Karmapa. Both of them live in India, and the monastery temporarily left without a head.

However, here everything is steeped in the spirit of the Karmapa and other masters of the transmission line, such as Milarepa, in a cave where we were able to meditate at the beginning of the trip. Power seats indescribable!

Total Kagyu line can be seen in the so-called Tree Sanctuary height of more than 6 meters. It shows all the main Kagyu teachers and the principal yidam meditation aspects.

At the bottom of the line to protect the defenders led by ferocious Mahakala.

The different rooms are stupas and relics from different kudungami kagyupinskih teacher and abbot of the monastery.

There is a stupa with the relics of the sixteenth Karmapa.

So look almost all the rooms of the monastery.

In one of the rooms keep the throne, which once sat all the Karmapa. And in the other, you can receive the blessing of the statue of Sangye UA, the teacher of the eighth Karmapa Dorje Miko. After the death of the teacher Miko Dorje made this statue and filled it with relics left after cremation Sangye UA. After that statue flew into the air and hung seven days. It is still called - "hanging in the air."

monastery Each room is dedicated to a particular Buddha or teacher.

If you want, you can make offerings to the Buddha, which is more like or with whom there is a meditation bond. You can also donate money to the monk, who is sitting nearby and conducts the puja ritual of Buddha.

There are a few rooms that are fully lined with statues of a Buddha such as Shakyamuni Buddha, Green Tara, or, as in the photo, Avalokiteshvara. This four-armed Bodhisattva is the embodiment of compassion of all the Buddhas.

In some of the rooms are enormous statues.

It is offering local spirits and defenders.

After wandering together with Tibetan grandmothers of the monastery, we climbed to the roof to take a closer look at the traditional decoration - two deer and a Dharma wheel. When Buddha Shakyamuni gave the first teaching (or, as the Buddhists say, made the first turn of the wheel of Dharma), it was in the Deer Park in Sarnath, India. In addition to the first five disciples, came to listen to the Buddha and two deer.

And us in the monastery dining room went mountain goat. What I did - did not say, probably, in Russian does not understand

After dinner, we went to explore the area.

The main object of our attention was the stormy river. A well-known yogi Drukpa Kyunle called her "black". But it seemed to us the most white of swirling water. They also say that its water flows with the sound of mantras Chakrasamvara ...

The river itself is also important for followers of the Kagyu. She blessed all the Karmapa, and each Kagyupa should always drink water from it. However, our driver, who was owned by the school, said that the water you need to drink elsewhere, a few kilometers from the monastery. There's a source that flows into the "black" river. And indeed, when on the way back we stopped there, it turned out that the place is very popular. Tibetans stopped cars to wash, drink some water and take a bottle with you.

In the meantime, we continue our tour of the valley. Everywhere along the road lie the stones carved with mantras and sutras texts.

The traditional prayer wheels are also present, but they revolve themselves at the expense of the river and the wind.

A little further we found the old sanctuary.

The walls are painted with the image of Buddha, the Indian Siddha, the Karmapa and other teachers kagyupinskih.

There were also "tsa-tsa" offerings made of clay using a special metal molds. Some of the offerings were quite old, the other - newer.

After seeing the sanctuary, we walked another half a kilometer and reached a point from which tourists start trekking to the monastery Yangpachen through pass Lazaro La.

Inside the tent of prayer flags looks fantastic.

in the Monastery view from the roof.

On the way back we saw how the monks live. The community here is small, but pretty neat residential houses. Having bought the last souvenirs, we went back to Lhasa.

Travel to Tibet can be infinite. Wander on foot or travel by car - all the same. Everywhere you will encounter the full wonders of the place, wonderful nature and great people. Tragically, the next morning we had to leave the land of snow - we waited for the plane to Kathmandu. Two weeks in Tibet passed quickly, and left a great desire to come back here again.