Travelin Tibet
..... a small cave
With his newly found insight Milirepa traveled
until he found a small cave near Nylam. There he lived for many years, eating
only nettles, a common weed in Tibet. It is said that this diet turned his skin green.
Milirepa became famous as a poet and saint.
His picture, with his right hand to his ear listening, is often found in
Tibetan homes and temples.
(woodcut from author's collection)
The Tibetans, with help from Nepal, have built a
small monastery and temple on the site. We found it locked so we had lunch
along the small stream nearby. (Milirepa's stream!!) Several young farmwomen
from the nearby village stared at us, giggling among themselves.
A kindly monk then let us into the chapel.
He showed us the pictures of Deities that lined the wall, asked for a small
donation, and then led us to the cave. The three of us sat quietly there,
the monk polished the butter lamps from the altar and seemed to be in no
hurry. Tibetan monks are always polishing butter lamps.
The calm of that place was very real. As we sat there it was easy to imagine the great sage sitting quietly in that same cave, or receiving the visitors who began to come to him for guidance.
Suddenly the farm girls burst in,
laughing, chattering, running madly around the giant prayer wheel and making
comical faces at us. The whole scene was so strange- I wondered if Milirepa
was tempted like this.
On our way back to the lodge we noticed that there were no nettles growing within several miles of Milirepa's cave.
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Nylam
you are visiting Milirepa
Shigatse
Panchen-Lama
Gyantze
Lhasa