The Mystery of the Kailash Trail - Chapter 5 - Part 2

Chapter 5: Part 2: Master Rinchen speaks of an old Beyul, beyond the ages.

Master Rinchen greeted Brother Tameng as he returned to the Choku monastery. The local helpers and overnight pilgrims had begun to move around, and some pilgrims had started moving ahead towards Dirapuk. The local helpers at the monastery and old pilgrim guides and yak-boys at Choku gompa watched Brother Tameng curiously. They could realize that something was going on. These guides and yak-boys along with some horse-boys had made the Choku gompa as their campsite. They waited for pilgrims who started off from Darchen with much enthusiasm and later crashed due to breathlessness by the time they reached Choku.

These pilgrims would be offered help and support with yaks and horses at Choku and taken around through the Drolma La pass and ahead to Darchen. They could meet up with breathless pilgrims every day. They knew the Choku gompa in a familiar manner, since they had camped here for most of their lives and their fathers had done so before them, and their fathers before them. They participated in all the prayer sessions and attended the talks and festivals conducted by the monks. This was their world. They knew of nothing else. There were no newspapers, radio, TV or Internet or cellphones.

The pilgrim guides and helpers knew of only one truth during each pilgrim season. They kept coming every day, and they paid well. They did not mind hardships and, they were usually affectionate, curious and considerate to the local people. They had not known that Brother Tameng had gone out in the night during the rainstorm, but some of them had seen him return with old man Dawa. They had seen them rush out again towards the Dirapuk area. And now, Brother Tameng returned without Dawa. What was wrong?

Inside the monastery, Brother Tameng went straight to the statue of the Dharmakaya Amitabha Buddha and stood quietly in prayer. He shivered, wondering in amazement at the splendid turn of events and developments that had happened. The younger monk and Master Rinchen waited patiently. They had realized that the old man Dawa had not returned. Something must have happened. Brother Tameng completed his prayer and spoke to them and told them of the events that had taken place at Dirapuk. He spoke to them about Norbu, and of his two yaks and his mastiff pup, and of the great old horsman from Qinhai, Sangye, his grandson, Yeshe, and their eatery and the trail above.

He spoke about the manner in which old man Sangye had spotted the trail of the herd of wild yaks, and of how he too had been convinced that they were indeed very large animals. They had been convinced that the herd had come down from the valley above Dirapuk. Brother Tameng told Master Rinchen of how Sangye, Dawa, Yeshe and Norbu had decided to go ahead and enter the mysterious valley. Nobody knew anything about this valley. Nobody had entered the valley. He did not know why. But, he said, the team had taken yaks, horses and mastiffs, and had gone in.

Master Rinchen smiled at the number of events that had taken place. He spoke, affectionately, to Brother Tameng, and said, “You returned, inspite of your eagerness? You caused this chain of events to happen by your curiousity. And you did not go with them? You did not hear anything about the twelve pilgrims who were sitting out in the open kora through the rainstorm and through the night? Why did you not go with old man Dawa into this mysterious valley? You could have sent someone back with a message to inform us.”

Brother Tameng bowed in happiness at the confidence and affection that the Master Rinchen had for him. He had told old man Dawa that he needed the Master’s permission to move inside the valley. He replied, “Master, I am utmost grateful for your appreciation. I wanted to go with them, inside the valley, and explore and search. But, I decided to allow them to go ahead, and wanted to talk to you and seek your permission. It is the valley and the manner of information that is available about it, that made me cautious. Nothing is known about the valley. The monks from Dirapuk do not know anything about it. Expert pilgrim guides and trackers and hunters do not know about this valley. They have not entered it. That aspect of the unknown made me wait.”

“Master, I am worried, frightened and fear about what we are about to do,” said Brother Tameng, looking up again and again at the serene face of the Dharmakaya Amitabha Buddha, “Nothing is known about the wild yaks, nothing is known about the manner of these pilgrims, where they came from or if they returned back to Darchen or went ahead to Dirapuk, and nothing is known about the valley where old man Sangye saw the trail, and has never been inside.”

“I fear that this valley could be one of the most sacred of all Beyuls of the Kang Renpoche area. I have not heard of this valley but we do know that there are many secrets in this place. Nobody at Dirapuk had even entered this valley to collect firewood or graze sheep or goats or go in for hunting or trapping. Why would such a large area nearby be unknown or not explored? Do we know anything of this valley? Even the monks at Dirapuk said that they would have to enquire.”

Master Rinchen smiled, and replied, “Brother, do not worry or fear what we do not know. If it were for us to respect, worship or fear, we would have known about it. We are in this land of the Thousand Living Buddhas, we stay and pray everyday to the most revered Amitabha Buddha, we read from the words of the great Sakyamuni, we walk around in the lands that have been made holy by Avalokiteswara himself, the greatest of all. Why should we fear the unknown?”

“You go ahead and make plans to go back to my old friend Dawa. Do not leave him to his fate. He needs his strength and courage from you. I have never seen him happier in all these years that I have known him at our monastery. Get yourself organized. We have enough supplies here, and enough gear that has been stored by expeditions and pilgrim groups. Get alpine tents, sleeping bags and supplies for everyone and go back. You may have to stay in that valley for a long time.”

Brother Tameng bowed in gratitude and respect and went about getting organized. Master Rinchen turned to the younger monk, and instructed him to go ahead to the Chiu and Gyengtak gompas and find out if there was any knowledge or mention or scrolls retained in their prayer halls or premises about unknown valleys or Beyuls in the kora and in the region nearby. He also asked the younger monk to be cautious and restrained in what he would talk about in the other monasteries. He did not want to be the cause of any new superstition or panic.

Master Rinchen thought back about what he had known. There was mention of a sacred valley, near the sacred mountain, to its north. This he was sure of, and he knew that it had been spoken about very rarely. Over the years, it was hardly ever mentioned, except for referring to it as some sort of a paradise area, teeming with angels and sacred spirits. Since it was mentioned to be very close to the sacred mountain, over hundreds of years, it had come to be referred to as being above the Kang Renpoche mountain slopes. He knew that this was not correct. There would be scrolls or records somewhere in this region. It was not a mystery. It was only a forgotten secret, he said, to the younger monk. 

Brother Tameng returned to the prayer hall with gear and supplies and began to organize the stuff and separate them. He had brought back two old pilgrim guides, horse-boys and yak-boys. Master Rinchen counted the group that the young monk was assembling together to return to the valley above Dirapuk. Two pilgrim guides, who had obviously been selected because of their skills in tracking and hunting, as they were well-known for these abilities, three horse-boys and three yak-boys. The Master knew these boys. They could survive the journey and would not get frightened. They would not run away from the young monk and would not desert him.

“Master, I seek your permission and blessings. These good people have agreed to come with me to the valley. I have merely told them that old man Dawa is in search of a herd of wild yaks and wolves that came out during the rainstorm and that I am keen to participate in the adventure,” said Brother Tameng, “I fear however, the fact that those strange pilgrims who sat at the circle of stones, and disappeared later, were not frightened at the sight of the herd of large wild yaks and at the strange behaviour of the wolves following them. The wild yaks came up to them and stood near them, and looked at them. Did they expect this to happen? Did the mysterious pilgrims come here to meet the wild yaks? What should I do when I come to the herd of wild yaks in the mysterious valley above Dirapuk?”