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

Chapter 4: Part 4: Did the wild yaks come down from a Beyul? 

Old man Dawa looked at Brother Tameng, and said, “We should explore the valley. Who will go? It may take days or weeks to travel inside and return. Will Master Rinchen permit you to go away from the Choku monastery? I am keen to go inside. My life is spent, and there is nothing more for me to do. I would like to seek the truth of the incidents that have happened. We need to plan.”

The monks from Choku and Dirapuk looked at each other, and at a gesture from the other, Brother Tameng spoke, “My brother monk and myself, we have discussed this issue. We will need to consult with our seniors and elders before we move out of the kora area. You are free to go. You and old man Sangye can plan the details. We will provide you with whatever support you need. That would be of no problem. We can also organize a chain of support, to move food and goods to you if you keep setting up camp sites that we can recognize.”

Sangye nodded in agreement, bowed to Brother Tameng and said, “Masters, it is correct that you advice us about going in to this mysterious valley at the earliest. We will need your help, guidance and support in being able to stay inside the valley for many days if required. The small settlement of Dirapuk would not be of enough help. You may need to get help from Darchen and Shiquanhe also. I will go, with my grandson, Yeshe, if his parents would permit, and old man Dawa and the young lad, Norbu.”

The monk from Dirapuk interrupted, “Take Norbu, but do not take him too far. We have not informed his parents. Let him return after a day’s journey. We will get two others to be ready to return with him to join you. Let Norbu be the one who would always return to Dirapuk and go back into the valley to provide you with goods and supplies. He has two yaks, and his Mastiff will give him courage. When he returns, I will get some men from the monastery to take mules and yaks and dogs to go with him. They can help set up an advance camp at a day’s journey.”

Dawa and Sangye agreed with the wisdom and the plan. It would be necessary to make sure that they would not be trapped inside the valley if it would rain or snow suddenly. Nobody would know the locations. The people from the Dirapuk area were used to traveling in this habitat and terrain. They could take care of themselves while helping others. Yeshe looked at his parents, who were standing nearby. His eyes asked the question. His mother came up to him and patted him and nodded her permission. She was proud of her son, and knew that this was a god-sent opportunity for the boy to learn from the old man.

“What about you, Brother Tameng?” asked Dawa, “You were the most curious and most strong in this search. You wanted to find out about the reason why those twelve pilgrims were sitting out in the open kora area. If you would have just stayed back at Choku because of the rainstorm, we would not have known about the herd of large wild yaks and we would not be here, planning to go inside the valley. Would you not come with us?”

Brother Tameng smiled, and replied, “Old man, you are right. My heart says that I should go with you, and move about in the valley. But I would need my Master’s permission. I will also need to send word to Darchen and other monasteries to organize supplies for you. Who knows how many days you would need to be inside those high terrain and forests? Who knows what’s out there? I will also try to join up with you. I want to talk to some of the pilgrim guide operators and take good alpine tents, sleeping bags and other supplies from them. We will need them as we go higher, or stay longer, if we have to.”

“But, I also need to return to Choku, because I fear for what we are about to do,” he said, and continued, “I fear that this valley could be a Beyul, one of the hidden valleys of peace and refuge, of our way of life, of the way of the Buddha in Tibet. This valley may be one of the lesser known of the 108 valleys that are known and listed as Beyul. Or, this could be one of the unknown ones, and may be one of those that are spoken rarely. I will need to consult with Master Rinchen. We will also send word out to all other monasteries. There may be scrolls or records with us or others.”

Yeshe and Norbu had never heard of a Beyul. The old man Sangye had heard of these hidden valleys that were protected by the spirits and by the hidden records to prevent them from being damaged or destroyed. It was usually forbidden to establish houses or to do farming or take animals for grazing in these valleys. He nodded, to himself, thinking, that if nobody had ever gone inside, and if this valley was indeed quite long, it could be also be an unknown old glacier that may have retreated in some portions.

The monk from Dirapuk explained for the benefit of Yeshe, his parents and Norbu. He said, “There are many unknown and hidden valleys in these sacred lands. Some are known about, and we know that they are unknown. Some are not known, for they are deep within prohibited areas, and we do not know that they are Beyul. The locations of such ones are hidden within the verses written in secret scrolls and may have been forgotten. Some reason may have caused them to be kept a secret, and with passing generations, we may have forgotten that such and such scroll holds such and such secret.”

“However, this place, the valley around the Kang Renpoche, and with the number of monasteries in this area, it would be difficult to forget such a place,” he added, “It could be known to our elders and they may not have related the scroll to this exact valley. Let us stay back and find out. Let Dawa and Sangye, Yeshe and Norbu, travel inside the valley. We will make our enquiries. If this valley would indeed be a Beyul, we would need to convey and submit the necessary prayers and conduct the necessary rituals to seek permission for us to enter and disturb the spirits that would be resident inside.”

Brother Tameng spoke, “Yes. We have to be careful. What we saw were incidents that we do not understand. Let us not forget the wolves. They are the natural predators of the wild yaks and yet they did not seem to harm them. It may be because they are the wiser since the yaks were quite large and fearsome. The wolves may consider us, our homebred yaks and our mules and our dogs as easy prey. This long valley could also be an old glacier that has broken up at various locations over hundreds of years. We should be careful.”

Sangye sent Yeshe and Norbu to start organizing the animals and supplies. Yeshe’s father went inside their store and began to pick out supplies that would last more than a week for the entire group. He had two alpine tents that he had been given to him by an expedition team from Norway. They had visited the Dirapuk eatery and stayed with them during a kora. They did not want to carry the heavy tents with them since they would be driving back to Kathmandu and flying back to Norway. He had taught Yeshe to open the tents and use them, to ensure that the cloth did not start rotting if left inside the packages. These tents would be useful today, he thought, everything happens for a purpose, and the most enlightened one must have sent the expedition from Norway to give him these tents.

There were two sacks of dried out charcoal that had been made for specific use in these high altitudes. This was his reserve supply from Shiquanhe and Ngari, for the days that he could get trapped in a snowstorm or avalanche if it hit these parts. These two sacks of charcoal would be useful to Yeshe and his grandfather. He would send word to his cousin at Shiquanhe and pass on a list of requirements. The goods could be with him inside of a week, if the weather held. He could be the person to stay here, and make sure that his father, and his son, both who were very precious to him, would return safely.

The two monks left the tented eatery, and began to walk back to their monasteries. Old man Dawa walked with Brother Tameng for a distance, and returned. Yeshe and Norbu were busy getting the animals and supplies paired off in a sensible manner. Sangye went to get his Mastiffs. The dogs would be useful to warn them of the wolves and to give them courage. The monk from the Dirapuk monastery spoke to some helpers to send across prayer clothes and a prayer wheel as blessings for the team. Yeshe’s mother walked out of the tented eatery, and looked quietly at the peaks of the Kang Renpoche mountain, and prostrated on the ground, in deep reverance, and prayed with all her heart, for the blessings of the most enlightened one, for her son, for his grandfather, for old man Dawa and for the young Norbu, their animals and their dogs.