This Yungdrung Bön temple is located in the village of Jomson in Mustang, Nepal.
For more on Yungdrung Bön in Mustang, see the documentary film Mustang to Menri.
Category Archives: Tibetan Culture & History
The First Temple in Exile: Dorpatan Monastery
The official name of this monastery is Tashi Gégye Thaten Ling. However, it is commonly referred to as the Dorpatan Monastery. This was the first Yungdrung Bön temple in exile. It is located in Nepal, south of Dolpo, in the village of Dorpatan. In addition to the monastery, there is also a medical clinic which serves the local population. The settlement is now roughly divided into an area inhabited by the Bönpo and an area inhabited by the Buddhists, mostly Kagyu. However, the religious practices and festivals are predominantly Yungdrung Bön.
In the early 1960’s after the Chinese invasion, a refugee camp for the Bönpo was established in Dorpatan by The Red Cross. At that time, the spiritual head of the Bönpo and 32nd Abbot of Menri Monastery, Kündun Sherap Lodro, was staying in Kathmandu after having fled Tibet. He traveled to Dorpatan and initiated the construction of a temple. Kündun Sherap Lodro later went to India and management of the temple was taken over by Tsultrim Nyima. He was the father of the current abbot of Triten Norbutse monastery in Kathmandu, Khenpo Tempa Yungdrung Rinpoche. Tsultrim Nyima was strongly devoted to his work with the temple but was unfortunately killed at a relatively young age. At that time, management of Dorpatan Monastery was taken over by Sonam Gyaltsen. After his death, Geshe Tenzin Dargye was appointed as the abbot and continues in this position until today.
(Khenpo Tenzin Dargye, also called Khenpo Tamdin, is the current abbot of Dorpatan Monastery.)
Khenpo Ratsa Geshe Tenzin Dargye was born in 1966 in Jomsom Mustang, Nepal. His father, Yungdrung Gyal, is the 36th in the Phong la Ratsa lineage of East Amdo. His mother, Konchok Dolmo, is of the Amchi lineage, a Tibetan doctor. Khenpo Tenzin Dargye was tutored at home by his father until the age of nine and then sent to study in India. At the age of sixteen, he decided to become a monk. In 1996, he received his Doctorate of Religion and Philosophy, or Geshe Degree, from the Dialectic School of Menri Monastery. After this, he worked as the organizer of the Bön Children’s Welfare Center and the medical dispensary for seven years. In 1996, he was asked by the 33rd Menri Trizen to transfer and to become the abbot of Dorpatan Monastery. Over the years, Khenpo Tenzin Dargye has worked to improve the monastery. Together with Dr. Tsultrim Sangye, they established a medical clinic in order to provide much needed medical services to the local and surrounding area. Khenpo regularly travels and teaches throughout Asia, the United States, Mexico and Europe.
In the region surrounding Dorpatan Monastery, the main agriculture consists mostly of potatoes although there has been an effort to establish apple trees. During the summer, there is also a great deal of animal husbandry. During the Winter, many people migrate south and trade potatoes for salt, rice and wheat.
The Second Way: Rituals of Protection and Healing
Ritual Sang, or fumigation offering. Photo by Chamma Ling Colorado
The second of the Nine Ways of Bön is called The Way of the Shen of the Phenomenal World and includes rituals for communicating with external forces such as rituals of protection, ransom of the soul and life-force, and expelling negative or harmful forces. It is called ‘Phenomenal’ because it deals with phenomena that are visible and real for us. As in all of the Nine Ways, the basis for everything is compassion.
The texts of the Yungdrung Bön tradition include many details about the categories of unseen spirits and the specific kinds of harm and illness that they can cause for humans. In order to reverse these kinds of interferences and obstacles, the corresponding ritual needs to be performed to appease or turn back the unseen, external force. In general, there are four categories of rituals in the Second Way: rituals for exorcism or turning back negativity, rituals for the spirits known as dré and si, rituals for ransoming the soul, and rituals of the masters.
Rituals of Exorcism: These rituals have the immediate effect of reversing the direction of whatever harmful energy or force that is directed towards us. In some instances, it is more accurately a cleansing rather than an exorcism because it directly involves the removal of the pollution or defilement created by negative actions or circumstances. Because humans engage in activities which are impure, they create a basis for negativity. This leads to a disturbance of both the positive external spirits as well as lower kinds of spirits who become angry and seek revenge in response to harmful, human activity. In general, there are twelve different kinds of exorcism. One of the most commonly practiced rituals within this Second Way is the Sang, also called Lha Sang. This ritual uses fumigation with smoke to cleanse the impurities caused by humanity. This ritual is commonly performed in the early morning on hilltops on auspicious days. From the Offering of Sang to Local Spirits and Guardians:
“Having satisfied you with these offerings, do not send contagious illnesses, shortages of food, fighting or arguments, frost or hail to our crops, lightning or loss of property, human illness or illness to our animals. Act as a friend and give us the strength and power of your support.”
Rituals for the Dré and Si: The dré and si are two different classes of negative spirits who delight in causing harm to others. It is said that these negative spirits came into being at the first moment of phenomenal existence and that they reside at the center of the Earth. Among other things, they have the power to cause sudden accidents, create wars between nations and spread epidemics. These rituals are primarily concerned with offering gifts of appeasement and ways of subduing them.
Rituals of Ransom: The enlightened Lord Tönpa Shenrap Miwoché defined ‘ransom’ as the exchange of two things. In these rituals, elaborate offerings are given to the offending spirits as a ransom for the soul, life-span or vital life-force of an individual. There are many kinds of ransom rituals, but in general they fall into one of three categories: 1) ransom for men, 2) ransom for women, and 3) ransom for children. The ritual preparation, offerings and performance are quite specific and elaborate and can take many days.
During the ransom ritual, the effigy of a deer holding a long-life arrow is most often used to represent the soul of the patient.
Rituals of the Masters: In general, these rituals are of four types: 1) making offerings to the powerful but worldly gods, 2) offering to the powerful spirits who live in the atmosphere, 3) offering to the guardians, and 4) pacifying the spirits of the land, trees, water and rocks. These rituals specify appropriate offerings for each type of spirit and the proper method for giving the offering. In this way, a harmonious relationship with the spirits is maintained and suffering and obstacles towards humans are averted or resolved.
Raven Cypress Wood ©2013
Prayers for Wealth and Harmonious Circumstances
Beautifully illustrated, this text is for the generation and increase of wealth, good luck and supportive circumstances. This, and various other texts, can be found in the home of laypeople. On a chosen auspicious day each year, one or more monks are requested to come and read these texts out loud in the family home so that the family may receive the blessings of the prosperity practice as well as the virtuous activity of hosting the monks during the recitation.
Pilgrimage to the Center of the World: Gang Tise
(Southern Face of Mount Tisé, also known as Mount Kailash)
It is the seat of Shiva according to Hindus. Many Jains believe it to be the holy site where the founder of the Jain religion, Lord Rishabhdev, attained liberation. It is the place where Milarepa lived and practiced according to Buddhists who call the mountain Gang Rinpoche, Precious Snow Mountain. And according to the Bönpos, it is Mount Tisé, sacred dwelling place of deities, the place where Buddha Tönpa Shenrap Miwoché taught and meditated, and where many sages after him, such as the great lama Drenpa Namkha, Choza Bönmo and Lishu Taring, practiced the teachings of the Yungdrung Bön. For all of them, to make a pilgrimage to this place and to circumambulate the mountain has great spiritual significance. “Whoever visits Gang Tisé will achieve liberation after three lifetimes.” And, “If you cleanse with the purification waters of the four directions (of the mountain), you will be reborn in a pure realm.”
In Sanskrit and on most English language maps, it is called Mount Kailash. It is located in far Western Tibet in the Ngari region which is a remote and arid landscape only spotted with vegetation. With no source of wood, campfires are fueled with goat and horse dung. Reaching the area through a pass of over 16,000 feet in altitude, the air is thin and the light intensely reflects upon every object in the landscape. Until recent history, there were no roads in to this region. The mountain has a 22,028 foot peak that is topped with snow year round. Each of the four sides of the mountain are distinctively different. It has never been climbed. For the devout, that would be an unthinkable desecration. In 1980, Reinhold Messner was given permission to climb it by the Chinese. However, he declined. In 2001, a Spanish team led by Jesus Martinez Novas was given permission to climb the mountain. However, due to international disapproval, the Chinese reversed their decision and banned all attempts to ever climb the mountain.
Mount Tisé was at the center of the ancient kingdom of Zhang Zhung. Tisé is a Zhang Zhung word referencing the mountain as the source of many waters. It was the soul mountain of both the Zhang Zhung king and the kingdom and was considered the center of the world. The Zhang Zhung deity, Walchen Gekho and his 360 emanations, reside at its summit. It is described in many historical Yungdrung Bön texts in great detail. “In the center of the phenomenal world is Mount Tisé, the Nine-storied Yungdrung Mountain. From it, four rivers flow towards the four directions.” These four great rivers which originate in the area surrounding the mountain are the Karnali, also known as the Ganges which flows Southward, the Sutlej also known as the Punjabi which flows Westward, the Brahmaputra which generally flows Eastward, and the Indus which generally flows to the Northwest from the area. The texts say that Mount Tisé will survive the fires that will destroy the world at the end of the current eon. The texts describe it further: “It looks like a crystal chorten. It’s four sides are like four equal squares in the four directions.” And, “It has the four kinds of qualities: peaceful, expansive, powerful and wrathful. It is an immeasurable shrine with great blessings”
(Northern face of Mount Tisé)
Pilgrimage season is generally May-September. The circumambulation, or korwa, begins at Tarchen, a small settlement on the South-side of the mountain. Until the Chinese invasion, it was a major center for the region’s trade. Now, although the summer continues to be the busy trade season, it is much diminished from the past. By the time a pilgrim reaches this starting point, it is possible that they have spent years getting here, often prostrating the entire journey. Once here, if a pilgrim is unable to undergo the hardship of the korwa, here at Tarchen someone can be found to be sponsored to go in their place. In that case, the merit generated by the virtuous activity is shared between the sponsor and the one actually doing the korwa. For the Bönpo and the Jain, the korwa is counter-clockwise. For Buddhists and Hindus, it is clockwise. The path is marked by many sacred places of veneration where great sages meditated or where the power and blessings of deities reside. There are also four places designated for prostrations along the way. These are areas large enough for the pilgrims to stop and spend time prostrating and paying homage to the sacred mountain. However, there are those practitioners who choose to perform full prostrations the entire length of the thirty-two mile circuit around the mountain. Doing this, a single circuit takes about two weeks. These pilgrims must carry their provisions with them and wear thick, leather aprons and mittens to protect their body from the stoney ground. For those who walk around the mountain, most choose to finish within three days. Others choose to begin hours before dawn so that they can complete the journey in a single 13-15 hour day. The pilgrim’s path rises in the thin air to an altitude of 18,500 feet at the Dolma la Pass, the highest point of the route.
(Pilgrims prostrating around the mountain.)
In general, pilgrims perform three circumabulations of the mountain. If the pilgrim is completing the circuit in a single day, they will take a day of rest in between the three korwa of the mountain. Some make a commitment to complete 1o8 circuits. This takes two pilgrimage seasons. From the starting point at Tarchen, there is also an inner korwa. Several miles North of Tarchen past a couple of monasteries, there is a smaller mountain, called Nandi, whose korwa brings the pilgrim close to the very face of Mount Tisé. This inner korwa is forbidden until one has completed at least thirteen circumambulations of the outer korwa.
Just seeing the mountain is a blessing. And undergoing the arduous task of its korwa is said to purify one’s negativity. It is vitally important in the history of Yungdrung Bön. According to the text, “Mount Tisé, the crystal chorten, soul mountain of Yungdrung Bön, is like nine stacked yungdrungs. Externally, it is like a chorten made of crystal snow. Internally, it is like the palace of the three tutelary deities. Secretly, it is the vast and profound gathering place for the mother and sister khandro.” “Having washed away karmic traces by purifying oneself with the healing waters, you will be reborn in a joyous realm of the gods. Having reversed obstacles and adverse circumstances by performing the korwa through prostrating, you will be able to live out the full extent of your lifespan.” Thus it is said.
(Eastern Face of Mt. Tisè. Photo by Rikzin Lama)
To read more about Mount Tisé see Sacred Landscape and Pilgrimage in Tibet by Geshe Gelek Jinpa and Charles Ramble. The Light of Kailash by Chogyal Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche. Or The Sacred Mountain of Tibet by Russell Johnson and Kerry Moran. And in Tibetan, Gangs Tise’i sKor by HE Menri Yongdzin Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche.
Nine Ways 