Lhatse (town)

Tsa Tsas of Harry's ashes, Bodh Gaya,Varanasi & Tawang Gompa.mp4

• Report rights infringement
• published: 06 Feb 2012
• views: 827

Dear Kathmandu Sangha Members, In January I left with some of our Kathmandu Tribe on a pilgrimage to Bodh Gaya and the Kalachakra initiation being given by HH the Dali Lama, which was full of every ingredient of a teaching, profound wisdom by the teacher, an updating of where one is on the path and being part of an even you can't control like being crushed by 400,000 pilgrims upon exiting one of the teachings. As a good friend of my described being in the presence of HH as being with a, rock star, movie star and a living Buddha all in the same body and a life changing experience. I also took the opportunity to bring along with me three Tsa Tsas I made of Harry's ashes to place in Buddhist and Hindu power spots that I would visit on my journey. I place one each at the crotch of a Bodhi tree next to the Mahabodhi Stupa, in the Ganges at Varanasi and in the lap of the Buddha at Tawang Gompa. In doing so my journey became a journey within a journey and I found myself profoundly touched by the responsibility I had taken on. I mean carrying around someones ashes in your luggage is nothing to take lightly, I mean imagine the feeling one would have if you left it behind in the hotel room or having the customs officer confiscate it as a suspicious looking smuggling device, well our Harry would find humor in that I'm sure. So, where to place Harry's tsa tsas on my journey, well two places were obvious, Bodh Gaya and Varanasi but the third place, Tawang Gompa, was not on my itinerary until I spontaneously decided to journey there to collect textiles and to visit the state who's so many pilgrims arrived in Bodh Gaya in traditional Tawang dress, least the woman were, that it inspired me to visit Arunachal Pradesh, where the Mungpa Tawangs live. So, upon some research I became aware of the significance of the Tawag Gompa or Gaden Namgyal Lhatse and it became clear to me that this would be the final resting place for the third tsa tsa. The Famous Gaden Namgyal Lhatse, popularly known as Tawang Monastery was founded by Merak Lama Lodre Gyatso in the year 1680-81 and was requested to be built by the Great Fifth Dalai Lama Nagwang Lobsang Gyatso (1617--1682) who also commissioned the construction of the present day Potala Palace in Tibet. The sixth Dalai Lama, Tsangyang Gyatso ( March 1683--November 1706) was born at Urgelling Monastery, 5 km from Tawang Gompa. Tawang Gompa stands on the spur of a hill, about 10,000 feet above sea level and has ravines in the south and west, narrow ridge on the north and gradual slope on the east. It offers a commanding and picturesque view of the Tawang-chu valley. From a distance it appears like a fort as if guarding the votaries in the wide valley below. Tawang monastery is the largest of its kind in the country and is one of the largest monasteries in Asia. Though it has the capacity for housing about seven hundred monks, the actual number of resident lamas (monks) at present is a little more than 450. This monastery is the fountain-head of the spiritual life of the people of this region. Guru Tulku Rinpoche is the present Abbot of Tawang monastery. When the 14th Dalai Lama fled from Tibet, following the failure of a rebellion against the the Chinese central government, he crossed into India on 30 Marc 1959 and spent some days resting at Tawang Monastery. following the failure of a rebellion against the Chinese central government, he crossed into India on 30 March 1959 and spent some days resting at Tawang Monastery and since then he has visited Tawang many times. In love and light Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti James