According to Tibetan Buddhists, there are valleys of paradise in the mountains, which can only be entered at certain times: when the world is threatened with great danger, pure Buddhists can find refuge here.
Stories about sacred places called bijil, or hidden lands, go back to the Nygma school of Tibetan Buddhism, including a teacher called Padmasambhava, who described where these sanctuaries were located and what were the conditions for entry. He hid texts in caves, inside monasteries, and behind waterfalls all over the Himalayas, and according to tradition, only lamas could find them at predetermined times.
There is no telling how many were inside, but most of them may not have been discovered. So far, most of them are found in the greener, wetter and more fertile southern side, i.e. the ‘paradise’ side of the Himalayas.
Some of those are from the inside – For example Sikkim in northeastern India and Helambu, Rolvaling and Kum valleys in Nepal – Adherents of the Buddhist religion have known it for centuries, and now villages and towns have settled on it. In addition, there are those who know their location, but cannot approach it.
In 1962, for example, a well-known Tibetan lama named Tulsuk Lingpa claimed to have found a map leading to Demosong Pass on the world’s third-highest mountain, Kanchendzong. He found the place with a group of followers, but he did not enter, but returned to the others. However, the enlarged team could no longer enter: they were swept away by an avalanche.
The Bimako Cave, located in the hard-to-reach part of one of the deepest valleys in the world, the Jarlong Kangpo Canyon in the state of Arunachal Pradesh in northeastern India, was discovered in the early 1990s by a group of Buddhist practitioners led by Buddhist scholar Ian Baker.
And there is another Begol that everyone now knows, but few know as a sacred place. When Sherpas had to flee Tibet due to turmoil in the 15th century, Lama Sangya Dorje thought it was time to “open” the entrance to the Khumbu. So he led the people to an area rich in water where they could grow grain and raise yaks in peace.
This place really looks like a high mountain paradise compared to the harsh places where the Sherpas came from. This is the area around the Nepalese side of Mount Everest.
Everest Base Camp is also located in the Khumbu region, where the focus is not necessarily on spirituality, but there are also corners of the Khumbu region where inner spirituality is still strong. For example, the Abbey of Lavoudou, which rises on a steep, wooded slope, two ravines from the base camp, to the west. According to the monks, in the large rock behind the monastery, Dragkarma, there is a gate that leads to the secret fifth valley of Khumbu. It is believed to be the heart of the bejúl and is the place where Padmasambhava himself meditated to bless Khumbu.
Dropping everything here for a month and embarking on an adventure on the other side of the earth is the dream of many. Peter Dosa made it happen, telling what to expect for those doing something similar, as did a team of nine young men from Budapest.
(source: BBC(Images: Getty Images)
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