It is difficult to express fully the experience
of walking to Gosaikunda and my experience may not be that
of everyone as I have cultivated a life long relationship with the
mountains but with the Himalaya and its connection to
yoga even more so recently.
Gosaikund is not like any place, it is a sacred place and has been
fed with people's faith, imagination and myth as much as with water
form the glacier of the Langtang region.
Gosaikund is born from
the Trishul (trident) of Lord Shiva, after he had swallowed the
poison liberated from the churning of the Ocean of Milk (see
Samudra Manthan) Lord Shiva felt so thirsty that he needed fresh water
immediately, he poked his Trishul into a mountain and drank from the
water springing forth. The same spring created the lake known as
Gosaikund. It is believed that both sacred river of Kathmandu Valley
the Baghmati and the Vishnumati, originating form the Sivapuri hill,
north of the city, get their water from Gosaikund. It is also said
that the area has 108 lakes...
The lament of the lakes in their prison of ice echoes the lament
of my soul in its prison of flesh
In December the lakes are frozen. At dawn or dusk, with
change of temperature the ice dilates or retract and cracks. As a result, the lake is chanting and the sound is like the chants of the whales or a musical saw. The first time I heard I was struck: the complaint echoed in the mountains around, something out of this
world. I had to listen many more time to figure out what it was. The next day we walked to see as many
lakes as possible. We reached a point were we were surrounded by 4
lakes, Gosaikund, Bharaivkund, Kyumachkund and Chandrakund. In the early morning, all the
lakes were chanting like talking to each other, each with a
different voice. As I sat in silence listening, feeling the vibration
deep inside my chest, I had the feeling that the lakes were
speaking to me. Not me as an separated individual but me as a part of
the universe. The moment was powerful and emotional, at this moment
he above words came to me: the lament of the lakes in their prison of ice echoes the lament of my soul in its prison of flesh.
Silence is one, undivided, eternal
Beyond the lament of the lake their were few noisy distraction: the place was amazingly silent. Almost no wind which is rare at this
altitude and season. They were moments of silence so deep that your
breath and heartbeat became the most noisy part of this universe. I
started to listen with concentration to the silence and here too I
heard these words: "I am the silence, I am you, you listen to me
with your ears but I am also inside of you. The silence
you hear now and the silence you seek in meditation are one.
Listen to me and you will know what to look for. Listen inside
you, you will find me there too."
Between Infinitely big and Infinitely small
Nothing seems to be at human
scale in the Himalaya. The sky and mountains are humbling in their size. Almost nu human or animal life, like an invitation to turn toward the small. It is a feast
for all the senses here, we walk on plants called Sunpati (the Tibetan burn them in honor to the Gods) and their spicy smell is entrancing, the symphony of color is amazing bright yellow, orange, red, gold... the lichen, moses,
flowers, grass offer all kind of textures for the touch from the
smooth ice, the rugged rock, the soft cotton like flowers. All these details seems to tell you to
turn away from the gross and to focus on the subtle, another form of
inner journey.
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| A dip in a holy (and icy) lake is always a transformative experience! |
Spiritual inclination
All through the journey I had this quote from Albert Einstein in mind: "Do
not look for miracle, your entire life is a miracle". From the
lake echoing the lament of my soul looking for freedom, to the silence mirroring the silence of
meditation, the infinitely small grabbing your attention to look
inside, all these messages made the trip so magical. My meditation up
there was like the lakes, profound and still, it was different, there
was a deeper clarity about it.
If the mind is talking but it cannot resist the transformation process that is taking place, much beyond the mind, it is making an ultimate
attempt to resist but it already knows the silence that is
coming.
I have had several requests about what Buddhist studies are available in Nepal, here is the result of my research:
