The Mystery of the Kailash Trail - Chapter 7 - Part 4

Book 2: Chapter 7: Part 4: The monks of Gyangdrak and Choku discuss the Beyul

The monk bowed to Shenshe, and said, “Welcome, my brothers, I am Shedrub Repa, and I welcome you all to the Gyangdrak monastery. This is the Gyangdrak Gompa.” He pronounced the words, Gyangdrak Gompa, in a very thick Tibetan accent, as “rGyang-grags” and, “dgon-pa”. Shenshe did not even bother to bow in return. Who was he to welcome him here and there, in his own territory? He had more than enough right to enter any premises around the Kang Renpoche mountain, sacred or not, he thought.

The monk from Nalanda glanced at Amarpal Singh, who nodded his approval. He walked up to Shedrub, the monk from Gyangdrak, and bowed low, to show more than adequate respect, and said, “My brother, I am also from Tibe, and my fathers before me, and my grandfather, have visited the Gyangdrak Gompa. My name is Sonam Sangye. I am extremely proud that I am able to visit this sacred place today and be able to meet you. I am thoroughly blessed today.”

Shenshe realized that this was the first time that he heard the monk from Nalanda refer to himself by his name. This must indeed be a special occasion for him, perhaps more important than what the Sikh pilgrim wished to achieve. Sonam continued, “Let me introduce my dear brother from India, from Punjab. He is a holy man from the Sikh religion, and has come to trace the footsteps of his first Master, who visited the sacred mountain and traveled in this sacred land of ours. That was several hundreds of years ago.”

“His name is Sardar Amarpal Singh. We were at Darchen yesterday, and during the rainstorm of the night before. This kind policeman at Darchen, has become like a good friend and brother to the both of us. He is a nice man, Brother Shenshe,” said Sonam, the monk from Nalanda, “But, we are here for a very strange reason, and I beg you, my brother, Shedrub, to indulge us our strange request. My Sikh brother, he who himself is a holy man in Amritsar, and very well respected, he walked about in the rainstorm in the middle of the night, and he says, that he saw the sacred mountain, peaceful, with no rain falling on it, and he feels, he says, that he saw something happening on it. Some movement. He says that he thinks that the sacred mountain is calling.”

The monk from Gyangdrak, Shedrub, smiled, and bowed in respect towards Sardar Amarpal Singh. Shenshe was surprised. What was happening? This monk was not even surprised that a strange pilgrim, a Sikh pilgrim, had come to the monastery for the first time perhaps in its history, and he tells him this weird story that he saw some movement on the sacred mountain during a rainstorm, and this monk believes him? What was wrong with this people? He could have been so much happier if he could have been posted at Shanghai or Beijing. Even, Kashgar would have been better. And the police bureaucracy had to post him at this totally forsaken place, at Darchen, and he had to listen to stories like this.

As if in answer to his unasked question, Shedrub replied, “Our Sikh brother is indeed blessed to have been able to see the magic of the sacred mountain. I am not surprised at all. Anything can happen here, in this valley of the Kang Renpoche Mountain. But, come inside the Gompa, and take rest. Brother Shenshe, please inform our Sikh brother that he is not alone in thinking that there was something happening on the sacred mountain during the rainstorm. He is not crazy. There was something indeed different on the sacred mountain during the night.”

Shenshe could not believe what he was hearing. The monk was actually saying that there was someone else who would have seen movement on the sacred mountain during the middle of the rainstorm. How could that be possible? He would have to investigate this situation. What would happen if this would become known all over the world? The government would kill him, for he was the only policeman in this region now, today, and he was here, on the spot, and he would have to admit that he did not know anything about any suspicious activity on the mountain.

Shedrub, the monk from Gyangdrak, continued, “The monks from the Choku Gompa are here, having come an hour ago. They speak of strange happenings on the sacred mountain. They also feel there was some movement during the night. Come, enter our gompa. Rest for some time.”

Shedrub led them inside the main prayer hall. There were several tour groups and pilgrims seated around. There had been pilgrims sitting around with their tents and equipment in the compound outside the gompa. It was cooler inside the prayer hall, and much more comfortable than looking continuously at the snow clad peaks. The light often reflected painfully off the peaks and the snowy landscape. The low-lit candles inside the prayer hall provided the comfort that one needed.

In one sunlit corner, the monks from Choku Gompa and Gyangdrak Gompa were seated together and were in discussion. They looked up at Shedrub and the strange group of visitors, a Han Chinese policeman, a Buddhist monk from India and a Sikh holy man. The senior monk from Gyangdrak Gompa could guess that Brother Shedrub would have more than adequate reason to bring this group to the discussion with brother monks from the Choku Gompa. He stood up and welcomed them to be seated. Brother Shedrub went ahead to organize some refreshments and hot soup for the visitors.

The senior monk greeted the three visitors, “Welcome to Gyangdrak, for this is the sacred house of the Most Enlightened One in many ways than what is known to us. I am blessed to be here to serve you, having come all the way from my native home in the valley of Mustang in Nepal. I am Nam Ang Tsering, and the seniormost monk at Gyangdrak. I welcome you here. There are our brother monks from Choku, and they come here to discuss with us. Come, join us.”

The monk from Nalanda acknowledged the welcome, and replied, “Greetings, senior brother, and guardian of this sacred place, I am Sonam Sangye, I am from this sacred land, but my parents had gone to India and I study at Nalanda. I bring with me, Sardar Amarpal Singh, a holy man from Amritsar in India, and brother Shenshe, the policeman who has been very helpful and kind to us, from Darchen. I am sure that you would have met him before and you know him. We do not wish to disturb you, but we come here, because my brother, Amarpal, thought he saw something strange happen in the night on the sacred mountain, during the rainstorm, and he says that he is being called by the sacred mountain to come closer to the slopes and the peak.”

The senior monk of Gyangdrak, Ang Tsering, nodded in appreciation at the judgement shown by his brother, Shedrub, and said, “Welcome, one and all, this is the meeting place of all religions. God is here, and makes his presence known by the different messages he sends to one and all. We are all humans, and it is this particular detail that is dear to him, and nothing else. Our brothers from Choku are also here to discuss the same strange happening that took place at night. They also feel that something or somebody or some strange thing was happening in the middle of the night, during the rainstorm, on the slopes of the sacred mountain. We are discussing it.”

Sardar Amarpal Singh, at the invitation of Master Ang Tsering, explained what had happened with him during the night at Darchen. Brother Shedrub, the monks from Gyangdrak and the visiting monks from Choku listened in silence to the strange looking Sikh pilgrim. They had seen Sikhs earlier in Tibet and in Nepal, but they had never spoken to any Sikh or discussed religion with them. To hear Sardar Amarpal Singh, speak with such passion, devotion, reverence and knowledge about the greatness of the Kang Renpoche Mountain, the monks could only marvel silently at the amazing diversity of attachment that brought pilgrims to the region.

The two monks from Choku explained to the seated group about what had happened at the Choku and Dirapuk areas during the rainstorm. They explained the visions of Brother Tameng and old man Dawa, and the happenings at the valley behind the Dirapuk Gompa. They also explained about the expedition that had started to enter the mysterious valley behind the Dirapuk area and of how eagerly the many people had joined up in the journey. The monks also explained the fears of Master Rinchen from Choku that he did not wish to commit any sacrilege or take up any wrong action. It would be good to know if there were records or knowledge of any such mysterious happening, or of the existence of the mysterious valley. They wished to know, they explained, if the records of the numerous Beyuls in the region included mention of the mysterious valley behind the Dirapuk Gompa. Sardar Amarpal Singh heard them in silence, and felt a happy sort of calmness within him, as he realized that he had not been wrong, and he had not gone crazy.