From the carving of thousands of prayers of compassion into the rock, to the simple offering of a butter lamp or bowl filled with water, each spiritual act has the deeper hidden intent of transforming the mind. 

Inspiration.

In Buddhist teachings, natural beauty is seen as a source of great joy and inspiration. High mountains, deep forests and solitude naturally enhance meditation. A Retreat into calm and beautiful places helps people to realize the meaning of the teachings. But Buddhism does not mean to closing out the world; it means learning to embrace it with love and compassion.  

Special Teaching.

The Buddha also taught how important it is to protect the environment and water supplies from pollution. In addition, that making parks and public gardens is very beneficial. Cleanliness is praised and instructions given on bathing, cleaning teeth, and even how to filter water to avoid killing any small animals. The stricter monastic rules prevent monks from destroying trees and plants, or digging the earth in case insects and worms are killed.

In the special teachings of Vajrayana, as taught by Guru Rinpoche, everything, even the elements of the land itself, are sacred and inherently pure. There are five elements: earth, fire, water, wind and space. It is space that accommodates the others and consciousness, the mind, which is aware of them.

Five Elements.

Each element has an corresponding colour, which is also associated the five main disturbing emotions; anger, desire, jealousy, ignorance and pride. These emotions can be transformed into the five aspects of wisdom. Therefore, the elements are like an outer representation, or mandala, of the inner wisdom of the five Buddha families. These mandalas are used for meditation and drawn as beautiful and intricate diagrams that are painted on ceilings, walls and scroll paintings.  

Mani Stones.

The five elements of the land can be used to carry prayers: water turns wheels filled with prayers written on paper, five coloured flags are printed with prayers and hung in high windy places; even stones are carved with thousands of chants known as mantras. Buddists walk clockwise around the carved ‘Mani’ stones and make prayers. Leaving rubbish, hanging washing or sitting on Mani stones is considered offensive and unlucky.

Protected by Compassion.

This sacred and compassionate perspective, where places are protected by deities and phenomena are inherently and primordially pure, leads to a natural respect for the environment. These wild high places are still inhabited by the endangered musk deer but there are fewer sightings of the illusive snow leopard. It is more common to see Himalayan tahr and goral, a species of wild goat. In the skies above, bearded vultures (Lammergeyer), choughs and ravens soar freely on the mountain winds. The national bird of Nepal, the iridescent dhaphe (Impeyan pheasant) can frequently be seen in the quiet surrounding woods. Above the snow line, you can still see the Tibetan snow cock and maybe even a yeti. The Buddhist principle of compassion, which does not allow killing, helps protects wildlife. You are asked to respect this as growing numbers of visitors do place an increased pressure on natural resources and wildlife. 

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