As we watch the news these days we catch glimpses of the earthquake-caused destruction of of all sorts in Nepal, and I have tried to reach
into my memory for images of what I saw and visited on my one and only visit to
Nepal in 1999. I also can relate to real life experiences with earthquakes in
Peru and Nicaragua in the 70s when
similar sized quakes caused whole cities and villages to crumble to the
ground in less than a minute - resulting in the death and injury of thousands. It took us days to reach and help remote villages. The same is true now in Nepal.
I am quite sure that some of the temples and stupas I was privileged to see are now
reduced to ruble… surely a deeply
painful experience for all Napalese, especially the devotees to prayer
I observed on that visit.
While on that trip I read Peter Matthiesen's classic book, "The Snow Leopard". In 1973 Peter Matthiessen traveled high into
the remote mountains of Nepal to study the Himalayan blue sheep and possibly
glimpse the rare and beautiful snow leopard. Matthiessen was a student of Zen Buddhism and
on that trek he charts his inner path as well as his outer one.
I am not well read in Buddhism and Hinduism even though I
had lived several years in Asia in the 1960s and later traveled to Asian countries a few times,
but I was amazed at Matthiesen's grasp of these Asian religions.
In Katmandu I had the chance to visit Bodhnath, a large stupa, in fact the largest in Nepal and
one of the largest in the world - this being the religious centre for Nepal's considerable
population of Tibetan Buddhists. A stupa, according to Matthiesen, is a
monument, shrine and reliquary that traditionally derives from the Buddha's tomb,
but has come to symbolize existence. These structures guard the entrances and
approaches to towns and villages throughout Buddhist Himalaya. A visitor sees many of these.
Many monks and others, old and not so old, were
circumambulating this stupa (always
in a clock-wise direction) and others were sitting in prayer positions in the compas (temples) chanting the "om
mani padme hum" mantra. This seems
to be a search for the divine within -
According to Matthiesen OM is
the "sound and silence throughout time, the roar of eternity and also the
stillness of pure being". Mani is
the void - primordial, pure essence of existence, and padme is the world of
phenomena, to reveal the jewel of nirvana that lies not apart from daily life
but at its heart. Hum has no literal
meaning, perhaps is the rhythmic exhortation completing the mantra, the
declaration of "is-ness".
I find it interesting is that Buddhism is not considered so
much a theistic religion as a way of life, an attempt to connect to all things. Hinduism, with its plethora of gods, demigods and such is a religion that
one must be born into, and not so much a religion that one can convert to.
The main purpose of that visit, however, was not to visit
religious and tourist sites or to view the great mountain scenes (which I did by taking a flight on a small plane over Everest),
but to spend time with the people, both those who were on the staff of Heifer
Project and the villagers who were involved in livestock and community
development projects - that was the
richness of that trip for me. I have
pages of notes in my journal from that time.
These journal entries together with some slides that Judy has recently
scanned into digital form, remind me of wonderfully hospitable people with whom
I spent hours in meetings, or visits to their small farms and homes …. looking
together at how to evaluate their projects and make them even more beneficial
to more and more families through the Heifer method of "passing on the
gift"..
I found a quote in my
notes from one woman who said "sometimes we receive from others and have
an obligation to give something back, but it is better when we also learn to
give to others without getting something in return".. And, in a discussion of what the term
"spirituality" means, another woman said it is "the light that is in our hearts".
They were beautiful
people and I hope and pray they and their children are now safe and the light
of the Spirit is within their hearts and with them. Sitting in the safety and comfort of our home
now there is little we can do except write a check to trusted aid organizations
we used to work with, like Lutheran World Relief and Heifer International. I am also praying for Nepal these days.
One morning near the
close of my time in Nepal, gazing at the mountains and seeing so much beauty of landscape and after meeting
such beautiful people, I wrote, "I stand in awe and appreciation of God's creation here and this
morning I paused to read Psalm 104 where there are many good images and
descriptions of all aspects of nature and creation. I am inadequate with words… many good writers
and authors have written great poetry and prose about this place, like
Matthiesen. Mine pales in comparison.
I would be a better story teller or writer if I could relive my
life. I appreciate the gifts God has
given to me, though feel inadequate to even express or describe so much of what I
feel and "know".
