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Trinkets of Virtue

So here is a musing on a interview with Ken Kesey for Paris Review. I read it long time ago so no much is left in my memory of it and when I found my little piece in the archives, it sounded ok so I decided to publish it again. I don’t think that many people would have read it before anyway. I wasn’t a part of the Beat generation, neither of its later sprout, the Hippy flower child. On The Road was not yet translated in socialist Bulgaria when I was at school in the late 70s. Fly over the Cuckoo Nest was translated but ‘of course, everybody knew it was written against the Capitalist society’. LSD, mescaline, the Doors, the Byrds and anything of this sort did not even exist in our world – ‘the dust bowl of reality’. My father was arrested for dancing rock&roll on a table and girls with short skirts had stamps put on their hips so they cannot ware them again.Even religion wasn’t there to give some kind of hope to the searching minds.  But both the Beat generation and we, behind t...
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A pilgrimage to Dza Pagye Mani Rima - The 'Mani wall'of Dza Patrul Rinpoche



From our correspondent Kunga Gyaltsen



The great 19th century enlightened master Dza Patrul Rinpoche lived the life of a wandering yogi vagabond. He was born and lived in the high, remote grasslands of Dzachuka, Kham, which is in Northern Sichuan Province, and quite close to Nangchen. 

Throughout his life Patrul Rinpoche rejected any material gains, and whatever offerings he received he would immediately give back, give to the poor, or use to employ local poor people to carve mantras, sutras and shastras onto the large flat stones that are common in that area. The stones were then piled up and developed over time into a very long "Mani wall', which has survived until this day. The wall is called 'Dza Pagye Mani Rinma". 


Karma Thinley Rinpoche has long held the wish to make a pilgrimage to this holy site, but his ageing years make it difficult. It lies at an altitude of over 4,000 meters and involves a long journey, 6 hours by jeep, crossing a high pass of 4,700. Rinpoche's cousin Sremo Tsodi Bongsar together with Kunga made the journey and were able to make a circumambulation around the beautiful long wall of millions of flat stones, each carved with Dhama text. One turn around the Mani wall took over an hour, though local professionals can do it in 40 minutes. 




The location is in the beautiful high remote grasslands that are still home to many nomads. It must be still the same as when Patrul Rinpoche was wandering these mountains, meditating and teaching to his ever increasing numbers of disciples.













This is some of the original carved stone pieces from Patrul Rinpche's time, preserved in the Nyingmapa temple at the beginning of the wall. 

This is some of the original carved stone pieces from Patrul Rinpche's time, preserved in the Nyingmapa temple at the beginning of the wall. 


The wall is still growing, and we were able to sponsor the carving of mantras and prayers on Rinpoche's behalf. Kunga also requested the carving of many Medicine Buddha mantras for the long life of all our teachers and parents. 

Kunga Gyaltse and Tsodi Bongsar

Comments

  1. Anonymous30 July 2024 at 08:54

    Thank you very much for these beautiful photos and the text.
    For a long time I have wanted to go to this region and to this Mani wall because I feel a great connection with Patrul Rinpoche.
    Can you please tell me where you started from and your route to this wall?

    My email: druvasima@yahoo.fr

    Regards,
    Christophe (France).

    ReplyDelete

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