September 1999
In This Issue
THE FOUR
PILLARS OF BUDDHISM -
<PART I>
<PART II>
Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche
WUTAI
SHAN PILGRIMAGE
TIBETAN
LAMA TAKES CANNES BY STORM -
Phorpa / The Cup
DZONGSAR
KHYENTSE RINPOCHE'S ACTIVITIES IN BHUTAN
LAMA SONAM ZANGPO AND HIS TULKU
DJK's Dharma - DATELESS AND DESPERATE
WUTAI SHAN PILGRIMAGE
In
April 1999 Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche led a group of about 20 people from
Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, USA, Canada and Germany on a pilgrimage
into China. The trip started in Hong Kong on 18 April on a beautiful,
warm spring morning. The same evening, when the group arrived in the northern
city of Taiyuan at the base of Wutai Shan, it was greeted by heavy fog
and cold, piercing winds.
Wutai Shan lies in the north-east of Wutai county, Shanxi province. It consists of five high plateaus, just like five terraces piled with earth, hence its name "Mountain of Five Terraces" (or Wutai Shan in Chinese). For Buddhists Wutai Shan has great significance because Buddha mentioned in the sutras that Wutai Shan was a spot between his two eyebrows where Manjushri would reside, teach and benefit sentient being. So Wutai Shan is the home of Manjushri and it is believed that every visitor gets to meet Manjushri himself in some way or form.
As the snow in the peaks was just starting to thaw in April, the local guides indicated that it might not be possible to visit all the peaks. However this enthusiastic group was not going to succumb to any physical difficulty or just take the guide's advice! The originally suggested itinerary was revised and the necessary arrangements were made. This included hiring smaller buses for transportation to higher levels of the mountain, and hiring horses as a means of relay transportation. For everybody in the group the experience of visiting the five peaks was unforgettable. (Some rode a horse for the first time in their lives.) It was the bumpy bus ride, but it was the seemingly never-ending hike, the intense sun, the freezing wind gusts, the rain, the sleet and the lack of oxygen due to the high altitude which made the journey tough and the feeling of "making it" so very gratifying.
On each terrace there was a Manjushri temple. The temples were small and nothing elaborate, but the atmosphere was serene and spiritual. By the time the group visited the West Terrace, the last of the five terraces, monks were doing their prayers in the main Manjushri temple. The melodic chanting helped to celebrate the auspicious completion of the visit to the Five Terraces.
One highlight of the trip took place at the South Terrace where Rinpoche personally planted a treasure vase for world peace on the mountain slope just outside Puji Si (the Manjushri temple named Puji). This vase was to replace the previously planted one, which had been removed by the local people due to construction. The vases that had been planted in the other four terraces were so far all intact.
Another highlight was the consecration by Rinpoche of His Holiness Dilgo Khyentse's stupa in Wutai Shan on 23 April. This stupa, built in black rock with a brass tip over a white marble base, on a white marble platform, stands just below the cave where Vimalamitra did a retreat, probably the most holy spot for Vajrayana Buddhists in Wutai Shan.
The group then bid farewell to Wutai Shan and by 25 July made it to Putuo Shan, a famous, holy Buddhist island near Shanghai. It is regarded as the home of Kuan Yin (or Avalokiteshvara) and is visited yearly by millions of devotees from China and South East Asia. Here Rinpoche supervised the planting of another treasure vase. On 26 April the group returned safely to Hong Kong.
In retrospect, travelling to such remote places in China, like the Five Terraces of Wutai Shan could not have gone so smoothly and almost effortlessly without the blessings of our accompanying "Guardian Manjushri"!
