MANI RIMDU TREK
Himalayan Pilgrimage to Mani Rimdu
with Photographer Thomas Kelly
October 10 – 28, 2010
Live in the wild and meditate.
– Drakpa Gyaltsen (1147-1216)
I’m of the mountains, and my mind is there
Thus do I sing my song. – Milarepa
INTRODUCTION
Life is busy, fast-paced. We try to maintain peace, acceptance and work with whatever arises. But few realize the toll of modern life on our spirits or the riches of cleaning our internal mirrors, caring for our mind, sharpening our perceptions, discovering our face before we were born in wilderness and in retreat. Please join Thomas Kelly on a deeply personal and intimate journey to the heartland of the Himalayas to witness the swirling colors of the Mani Rimdu festival and meet one of the greatest living Vajrayana masters of this century: Trulshik Rinpoche, senior retreat master for the Dalai Lama. Learn more about Buddhism and wilderness, as we retreat ever deeper, before retuning to engage more deeply in the world renewed. Meditation and yoga, and the deep joy of walking one’s mind clear, these are some of the sweetest trails in all the Himalaya.
Exploring the largest traditional hermitage in all the Himalaya, we walk incredible trails to reach Thupten Choling where Trulshik Rinpoche is in retreat surrounded by his sangha of monks and nuns. Long life sacred waters curl in this blessed hermitage, a place to rest more deeply in ourselves.
DAILY ITINERARY:
Day 1. Oct. 10th. (Sunday) Arrive in Kathmandu, shuttle to Hotel Manaslu. After a rest, orientation with Thomas.
Day 2. Oct. 11th. (Monday) Early morning visit to Boudhanath Stuppa, to join the hundreds of Buddhist pilgrims circumambulating the stupa. Hang prayer flags followed by a visit to Serchen Monastery- morning meditation alongside praying monks followed by a talk by Rimpoche and a visit to Lama Wang Du, a living treasure of compassion. Afternoon visit to the Kingdom of Patan, home to some of the most beautiful Hindu Pagota temples in the world and world class bronze repose casters and Thanghka painters.
Day 3. Oct. 12th. (Tuesday) Early morning guided tour by Thomas to Pashuaptinath, a Shiva temple complex filled with Himalayan yogis and where the last death rites are performed by Brahman Priests alongside the funeral ghats. Visit Bhaktapur, the medieval Kingdom to 150,000 traditional farmers followed by lunch.
Day 4. Oct. 13th. (Wednesday) 10:00 a.m. flight to Phalpu, Solo Khumbha. Shuttle at Everest Hotel, conveniently located and run by a traditional Sherpa family. Visit traditional Sherpa friends to learn about the traditional Sherpa culture. (This flight from Katmandu to Phalpu and returned to Katmandu is included in total cost)
Day 5. Oct. 14th. (Thursday) Early morning Darjeeling tea wake up call and walk three hours through Rhododendron forests to Ratna Giri 4000 mt in hopes of viewing Chomolongmo, Mt. Everest, Lhotse, Nupste and the extending Himalayan Himals. Breakfast and Morning meditation. Return to Phalpu. Relax, journal writing, poetry reading and followed by traditional Sherpa dinner.
Day 6. Oct. 15th. (Friday) Depart from Phalpu to Tengkharka (2962), 4 1/2-hour walk. Camping in comfortable tents.
Day 7. Oct. 16th. (Saturday) From Tengkharka a full six-hour forest walk to Suke Pokhari (3616m). Camping in comfortable tents.
Day 8. Oct. 17th. (Sunday) Trek from Suke Pokhari to Pikey Peak. This 13,500 feet Pikey peak entwines with the Chyabe across east to west. You will enjoy the spectacular view of mountain range including Mount Everest surrounded by high altitude vegetation and Himalaya flora and fauna. Descend to Pikehop for lunch and then down trail towards Junbesi (2600), home to the heart of traditional Sherpa culture. Junbesi is the seat of traditional Sherpa architecture. Overnight at traditional Sherpa Inn.
Day 9. Oct. 18th. (Monday) A day rest at Junbesi. Visit meditation retreat of Lama Tenzing overlooking the Junbesi valley, traditional Buddhist school, centuries old monasteries, Buddhist stupas and experience the day-to-day life of the local Sherpa people. For interested minds, pick up the book: Rhythms of a Himalayan Village by Hugh R. Downs - best book about this region, including what you will witness at Mani Rimdu.
Day 10. Oct. 19th. (Tuesday) Walk two hours to Thupten Choling (2800).
Overnight at Monastery guesthouse. Afternoon visit to Monastery.
Day 11. Oct. 20th. (Wednesday) Early morning meditation at Thupten Choling monastery. At Thupten Choling Monastery you can observe traditional Tibetan medicinal therapy. Afternoon free to visit with Buddhist nuns.
Day 12. Oct. 21st. (Thursday) Early departure, walk 4 hrs. to Chiwang Monastery. The Chiwang Monastery is perched in a cliff, at an altitude of 9,000 feet.
Establish camp. Hang prayer flags. Monastery.
Day 13. Oct. 22nd. (Friday) Mani Rimdu begins. The Wong is the opening public ceremony. It's performed on the full moon day, of the tenth month in the Tibetan lunar calendar. His Holiness Trulshig Rinpoche or Sang Sang Rinpoche (incarnation of Lama Tenzin Chodar, father of present Trulshig Rinpoche) gives the empowerment on this auspicious occasion; for long life, happiness and prosperity. The sacred Mani Rilwu (sacred pills) and Tshereel (pills for long life) are given to everyone attending.
Day 14. Oct. 23rd. (Saturday) Audience with His Holiness Trulshig Rinpoche or Sang Sang Rinpoche. Cham Festival dances. Traditional Sherpa dancing. Mani Rimdu.
Day 15. Oct. 24th. (Sunday) Fire Puja at Chiwang Monastery. Destruction of sand mandala.
Day 16. Oct. 25th. (Monday) Early morning walk with monks to sacred spring to disperse sand mandala.
Breakfast, followed by forest walk to Phalpu. Stay at Hotel Everest.
Day 17. Oct. 26th. (Tuesday) Rest in Phaplu. Enjoy a day with friendly locals, gathering the experience to carry forward.
(If possible we will arrange Charter flight to Kathmandu 26th)
Day 18. Oct. 27th. (Wednesday) Flight to Kathmandu. Transport to Hotel Manaslu.
Afternoon free for shopping. Group dinner.
Day 19. Oct. 28th. (Thursday) Depart Kathmandu.
COST OF TRIP
US$3500 Deposit $500.00 Includes Hotels, all meals, overland travel, entrance fee to museums, single tent occupancy and flight from Katmandu to Phalpu to Katmandu. $500 deposit, sign-up deadline, August 1st. Limited to 12 pax.
Children under 12, US $150 per day (outside of Kathmandu).
FULL PAYMENT AND CANCELLATIONS
Full payment is required by August 25th. If you cancel prior to August 25th, you will be refunded 75%, not including the deposit. If you cancel between August 25th and September 15th, you will be refunded 50%, not including deposit. If you cancel after this there is no refund.
INCLUDED IN PRICE
Guide and Hotel in Kathmandu, breakfast and lunch in Kathmandu, Kathmandu transport, setting up Kathmandu program, lodges in Phaplu, Junbesi and Thupten Choling double occupancy, all meals on trek, porters, airport transfers, internal flights.
NOT INCLUDED IN PRICE
Dinners in Kathmandu, over weight baggage to Phaplu, limited to 15 kgs (33 pounds) per person check in baggage and 3 kgs (6.6 pounds) carry on, tips, alcohol. Sleeping bag. Emergency evacuation.
Maximum 15 participants.
To register or for information, please contact:
Thomas Kelly and Carroll Dunham
E-mail: tkelly@photo.wlink.com.np
E-mail: carroll@wildearthnepal.com
www.thomaslkellyphotos.com
www.wildearthjourneys.com
Tele# +977-1-4438883, 4431954
Cell# 977-9851026738
PACKING SUGGESTIONS
Weather conditions in Nepal this time of year are mild but can be chilly, especially at night. Please pack accordingly. Be sensitive to local customs regarding clothing. Long pants (or long skirts for women) and shirts with long or short sleeves (not tank tops) are suggested.
- Light weight-hiking boots for trekking.
- Closed toed tennis shoes or similar. At temples and other sites shoes are frequently removed. Shoes that are easily identifiable and easy to take on and off can be very helpful.
- Turtle neck or other warm long sleeved shirt
- Down parka or vest and polar fleece
- Rain jacket and wind pants
- Pull over wool or cashmere sweater
- Warm hat and sun visor or brimmed cap
- Long underwear
- Light weight mittens or gloves
- Four pairs of Smart wool socks or other comparable brand
- Two pair light weight cotton pants
- One light weight cotton skirt for women (optional)
- One pair of warm pant
- Two long sleeved cotton shirts
- Sleeping bag rated at 0 degrees (F) or to give extra warmth
- Camera, extra batteries, external hard drive for image downloads, or a handful of flash cards
- Water bottle, or Camelback
- Head lamp with 2 extra batteries
- Stainless steel heat retaining coffee or tea mug. These can also be purchased inexpensively in Kathmandu.
- Light weight, quick drying washing towel
- Water proof or water resistant duffle bag or backpack
- Combo lock for your bag
- Binoculars
- Sun glasses
- Cotton string for hanging laundry
- A personal small standard medical kit (or your herbal equivalent). Recommend additions include Advil or Tylenol, Pepto Bismal tablets, Lomotil (if you are prone to loose bowels), a small amount of mole skin for blisters, a few band aids, sun block, face cream, lip balm. A knee support (if you are prone to knee problems), an ace bandage, one small tube of antiseptic cream, one small bottle of iodine water purification tablets.
- Optional Food supplements: Power, Cliff or Luna bars.
- Optional light weight collapsible walking pole.
- Day Pack
- Yoga mat if you wish to stretch
- Optional Thermo-rest pad for extra padding. Outfitter will supply sleeping mats.
- Optional Light weight small sleeping pillow.
- Two extra passport photos and photocopy of your passport. If you’re getting your visa at Nepal Airport, you’ll need one additional passport photo (three total).
- We strongly recommend that you get a visa before arriving at the airport.
- $150 in cash for possible purchases while in the field and optional tips to local Sherpa staff.
LOGISTICAL INFORMATION:
- ATM machines are available in Kathmandu.
- A Nepal visa can be procured at the airport on arrival but requires a potentially lengthy wait in line. If possible, get your visa from a Nepal Embassy in the USA.
- Please note for the Kathmandu / Phaplu flight you are limited to 15kgs (33 pounds) of baggage and 5kgs (6.6 pounds) of carry on.
- It is the responsibility of each participant to ensure that they are adequately covered by insurance while traveling in Nepal. AWB strongly encourages that all participants purchase travel insurance for this trip. Companies such as Council Travel, Trail finders, Flight Centre, and Campus Travel sell insurance along with their tickets.
TRAVEL ARRANGEMTNS:
Early bookings strongly encouraged. If you would like assistance with flight arrangements try Govinda Shahi of Himalayan Travels. He can be reached in his No. California office on Monday – Friday from 9am – 5pm at 18002231813 (or 5102225307) or feel free to email him at Govind@himalayantravels.com
ABOUT WILD EARTH JOURNEYS
Carroll Dunham is an anthropologist who has lived in the Himalayas for twenty-five years exploring Asia’s rich spiritual healing traditions, maps of the body and consciousness, sacred geography, plant pharmacopeias and life cycle rituals. As Company Anthropologist for The Body Shop, she explored and documented rites and rituals of body care around the world (and wrote the book Mamatoto: A Celebration of Birth (Viking: 1991) celebrating birthing rite practices of every continent. She continues to work with traditional healers throughout Asia from India to Mongolia. Author of four books, she has worked on National Geographic, CBC, BBC, and PBS documentaries on polyandry, pilgrimage, sexuality, mind sciences and sacred geography.
Thomas L. Kelly is a native of Santa Fe, has lived in Nepal since 1978. Formerly a Peace Corps volunteer and Care Program officer, he has been a renowned professional photographer since 1985 and is now a documentary filmmaker. He has led cross-cultural trips throughout South Asia and Mongolia. His photographic books include Abbeville's Sacred Landscape and Pilgrimage in Tibet, Tibet: Reflections from the Wheel of Life, The Hidden Himalayas, Fallen Angels-Sex Worker of South Asia, SADHUS: The Great Renouncers, The Hidden Himalayas, KATHAMNDU-City on the Edge of the World, MONGOLIA - The Land Of Blue Skies. (www.thomaslkellyphotos.com)
Click here to read more about Thomas L. Kelly publications.
Click here to read more about Thomas L. Kelly photo exhibitions.
Award-winning photographer Thomas L. Kelly, wife anthropologist and herbalist Carroll Dunham, and their boys Liam 13 and Galen 9 have called the Himalayas home for over twenty-five years. They have produced award-winning films on the Himalayas for BBC, PBS, ITV, Channel 4, National Geographic and CBC. They love nothing more than drinking deep with kindred spirits the spacious inner winds of meditation and Buddhist ritual. For those interested in joining them in Mongolia at Lapis sky camp combined with riding fast horses in vast spaces of wilderness with the wind on their cheeks please check out the website for Mongolian trip: http://wildearthjourneys.com/
MORE DETAILS ON MANI RIMDU FESTIVAL
The moon is full, the fall harvest gathered, and people are at ease. Some have walked two to three days to come to the social three days event of the year. Mani Rimdu tells a story in dance. Ostensibly the dancers reenact the establishment of Buddhism in Tibet. Yet hidden within this drama of cultural history, say many Sherpas, is the story of an individual's awakening. At its heart is a mystery play in which every event corresponds to a different aspect of an individual's spiritual awakening as he moves beyond greed, anger, and negligence to illumination.
The mystery play begins with loud clashes of cymbals called rolmo. The ostensible story, the establishment of Buddhism in Tibet, describes an historical period. The mystery aspect of the play bespeaks a timeless process an individual's awakening from illusion.
The first step in awakening is the transformation of perception. At the beginning of the play, of the play, an alter is built, where the objects of sensory perception are sacrificed. As if one purchases wisdom by spending the sense, one offers sound in the form of cymbals, taste in the form of dough cakes, smell in the form of burning juniper, touch in the form of silks, sight in the form of a mirror, and the mind in the form of a book. Freed from these patterns of material associations, one can perceive allegorical patterns.
From inside the deity house of the monastery a group of Lamas emerge. They come to transform the indigenous beliefs of the people.
According to Tibetan histories, Buddhism came to that country in the first half of the seventh century A.D. The king at that time, Song-tsen Gam-po, had married both a Nepalese princess and a Chinese princess. He was attracted not only to these women, but also to the Buddhist practice they brought from their native countries. The Tibetans see him as a great civilizing figure who built their country's first Buddhist temples. Tibetan chronicles describe the period before his reign as dark and barbarous, and the arrival of Buddhist culture as light dispelling the darkness.
The decorative fire that tips the hats of the dancers' costumes represent this light, not material combustion. Buddhism conquered Tibet by uplifting, not by destroying.
Although the drama admits of an historical exposition, it reflects an inner process. When greed, anger, or ignorance controls action, one's vision becomes clouded. When these three emotions, represented by the three skulls on the dancers' hats, pass away, vision becomes clear. Thus the fire suggests a process of illumination.
When he officiates at the fire ceremony, Tulshig Rimpoche assumes the role of one who sacrifices without desire for repayment. Dressed as such a Bodhisattva figure, he wears a crown decorated with painted images of Buddhas representing five categories of wisdom, the Jinas.
A Bodhisattva acts without anticipation of reward and, motivated by compassion, stays among the unawakened to teach and lead. The Bodhisattva ideal is the hallmark of Mahayana Buddhism, practiced throughout central and northern Asia. The Bodhisattva delays his own release from illusion and maintains certain useful fictions to dwell among those still bound by the specter of ego. To delay one's own entrance into supreme state, or nirvana, for the sake of others is the ultimate gift and the ultimate state of desirelessness.
Bodhi means the highest knowledge. The word sattva in Sanskrit has different meanings, it means essence and it means determination... and also life... The word bodhisattva may thus mean one whose essence, determination or life is the highest knowledge (bodhi). |
