Bodhnath, Spiritual Heart of Tibetan Buddhism in Nepal

Pronounced in Tibetan Aum-Mani-Padme-Hum, this mantra may be translated: "Om! The Jewel in the Heart of the Lotus. Hum!"

Peter Matthiessen, The Snow Leopard

Just over two decades ago the American writer Peter Matthiessen travelled to the remote Monastery of Shey Gompa, deep in the Tibetan-speaking region of Dolpo on Nepal's frontier with Tibet. It was a remarkable journey, a pilgrimage both physical and spiritual, resulting in the publication of a literary classic which successfully blends two disparate genres--travel and philosophy--in a single journey of discovery to one of the last bastions of free Tibetan culture.

Today few people are permitted to journey to the fastness of Dolpo. The region has been made part of Shey-Phoksundo, Nepal's largest national park, and the monastery of Shey Gompa lies beyond the restricted inner line. Besides, the journey entails many days hard trekking over some of the highest passes in Nepal, before the high mountain deserts of the Tibetan plateau are eventually reached. Few people, moreover, have the time, inclination and stamina to follow literally in Matthiessen's footsteps; for most a figurative journey, via the pages of his book, will have to suffice.

That said, there are several more readily accessible regions of Nepal where the vital essence of Tibetan culture can be experienced, albeit not in the pristine setting of Shey Gompa, abode of the itinerant snow leopard and perhaps--who knows?--the yeti. One such is Bodhnath, also known as Baudha, the largest and most important Tibetan Buddhist monument outside Tibet.

Set squarely in the siddhi--a zone of supernatural power where guardian deities dwell and wishes are granted--Bodhnath is located just six kilometres east of Kathmandu, along the long, old trade road to Lhasa. Known to the Tibetans simply as Chorten Chempo, or "Great Stupa", it has been the Mecca of Tibetans in exile ever since the Chinese occupation of their homeland in 1950. Bodhnath has also developed as a centre for the study of Tibetan Buddhism, numerous monasteries having been built in effective replacement of those destroyed by Mao Tse-tung's Red Guards.

Throughout the area many Tibetans are also involved in more worldly activities, ranging from selling handicrafts and souvenirs, through dry goods, to running food stalls and restaurants. Whether seeking spiritual enlightenment, a deeper understanding of Tibetan culture and politics, or a first taste of chang, fermented Tibetan corn beer--Bodhnath is the appropriate place to go. Dusk is, perhaps, the best time to visit. The tourist buses will have departed, and the resonant chanting of monks blends strangely but well with the unfamiliar rhythms of gongs, cymbals and Tibetan stringed instruments. Pilgrims shuffle and prostrate their way around the great stupa, seemingly unobserved by the high cheek-boned, rosy-faced merchants who squat in the doorways of their establishments drinking endless cups of salted yak-butter tea--an acquired taste, if ever there was one!

The origins of Bodhnath are lost in the mists of time, but tradition fixes the foundation in the fifth century AD. According to legend, a daughter of the god Indra stole flowers from heaven, and was punished by being reborn the daughter of a poor poultry farmer in a Kathmandu Valley village. To atone for her earlier crime, she lived a blameless life, becoming prosperous enough to build a gigantic stupa at Bodhnath to honour Amitabha, the Buddha of the past age. Whatever truth lies behind this legend, Tibetans attach great importance to it, for it goes on to warn of an invasion of their homeland by a powerful enemy, which would scatter the Tibetans southwards into Nepal and India. In 1950, when China occupied Tibet, and more particularly in 1959, when the Dalai Lama fled from Lhasa to Dharamsala, this prophecy seemed finally to have been borne out.

Today the great dome of Bodhnath looms high over the surrounding monasteries, easily visible from several kilometres distance. With a diameter and a height of forty metres, it is easily the largest sacred structure in the valley. The massive base, looking rather like an inverted alms bowl, supports a four-sided, fourteen-stepped, gilded spire, which in turn is topped by a gilded, crown-shaped harmika. Prayer flags, hung from tautly-stretched hemp ropes, snap and flutter in the cold breath of the Himalayas. But it is the all-seeing eyes which give Bodhnath its particular appeal. Painted in black, ochre and white, with pale blue irises, they seem watchful - almost menacing - and certainly not of this world. It is as though a giant visage was peering from the centre of the stupa, never-sleeping, ever-vigilant, and staring... straight at you.

Rainer Krack / CPA

The all-seeing eyes of Bodhnath.

To the first Christian missionaries in the Vale of Kathmandu, as to the armies of the Mogul ruler Shams-ud-Din Ilyas who briefly captured the valley at the beginning of the 13th century, the all-seeing eyes of Bodhnath must have seemed the very epitome of idolatry, numinous with the power of false religion and--we may be sure--an object of fear and dread. Certainly the Muslim forces of Shams-ud-Din destroyed many of the finest monuments in the region, including the nearby Hindu temple of Pashupatinath, and we may be sure that Bodhnath, too, suffered the wrath of the iconoclast.

Happily, today, such is no longer the case. Over the centuries Kathmandu Valley has attained a level of communal tolerance, with Hindu and Buddhist, Muslim and Christian living peacefully, side-by-side. Yet Bodhnath retains its power to inspire feelings of awe, regardless of religious persuasion, in all who see it. A narrow passage provides entrance to the sacred area, which is dominated by the colossal bulk of the whitewashed stupa, rising up to the all-seeing eyes. The gilded spire, set against the brilliant blue Himalayan sky, induces a sense of the transience and insignificance of the individual self. Buddhist pilgrims perform the pradakshina, or clockwise circumambulation of the stupa, to the sound of chanting monks and the soft whir and gentle rumble of Buddhist prayer wheels, each inscribed with the eternal mantra so elegantly elucidated by Matthiessen:

The deep, resonant Om is all sound and silence throughout time, the roar of eternity and also the great stillness of pure being... The Mani is the "adamantine diamond" of the Void--the primordial, pure and indestructible essence of existence... Padme is the world of phenomena, samsara, unfolding with spiritual progress to reveal beneath the leaves of delusion the jewel of nirvana. Hum has no literal meaning... Perhaps it is simply a rhythmic exhortation completing the mantra.

This is the very core of Bodhnath, Lord of Eternal, Universal Wisdom, and spiritual heart of Tibetan Buddhism in Nepal.

Chaweewan Chuchuay / CPA

Prayer wheels.

Close by the main stupa other temples cluster. In the past fifteen years, as Tibetan Buddhists have gained new confidence in the wake of Chinese invasion and Red Guard destruction of their homeland, several new gompa, or monasteries, have been built. Most have been deliberately named after gompa in Tibet that have been destroyed by the Chinese. Today there are more than a dozen in the immediate neighbourhood, and Bodhnath has emerged as a major centre of Tibetan Buddhist scholarship, attracting students from all over the world.

One reason for Bodhnath's appeal is the presence of maroon-robed monks from all four major Tibetan Buddhist sects, encouraging an atmosphere of debate and the easy exchange of ideas. This contrasts with the Tibetan "capital-in-exile" of Dharamsala in India, where some students feel the politically charged atmosphere detracts from spiritual study, and where the Gelug-pa or "Yellow Hat" order of the Dalai Lama predominates over other sects. Still, links between Bodhnath and Dharamsala are strong; The Cini Lama, third highest dignitary of the Tibetans after the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama, resides at Bodhnath, and comings and goings between the two centres are many and often.

The older monasteries clustered around Bodhnath keep their doors open most of the time, and visitors are welcome to attend morning and evening services. Here, besides the Gelug-pa, it is possible to observe followers of the Nyingma-pa, or "Red Hat" sect, the oldest Tibetan order, dating back to the eighth century AD, as well as adherents of the intermediate orders, Sakya-pa and Kagyu-pa. Whatever the sect, the structure and lay-out of the various monasteries are broadly similar. Gilded statues representing the Buddha, various bodhisattvas, and the founder of the particular sect occupy places of honour in the main hall. Spread out in front of these will be butter-fuelled lamps which monks and pilgrims constantly replenish, as well as offerings of incense, flowers, food and money. On the smoke-darkened walls lovingly-executed frescos portray the four temple guardians or express the complex cosmology of Tibetan Buddhism.

At Bodhnath, despite the continuing tragedy of their homeland, Tibetan culture and religious beliefs continue to flourish beneath the approving gaze of the all-seeing eye.

Om! The Jewel in the Heart of the Lotus. Hum!

This article was originally published in the Bangkok Post.

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