Rainbow body. What could it possibly mean? I had often come across this term, without being able to fathom how one could logistically turn into a rainbow body. I’m no closer than I was, but I suppose I have given it some thought. After all, if we look close enough, we’re bound to notice the creation of rainbows in our everyday experience of the light and sound show called life.
Different schools of Tibetan Buddhism have their own terminology to express the Buddhist notion of emptiness. From what I understand, the Nyingma school expresses it in the form of a rainbow body.
It’s been two years since my visit to Tashiding in Sikkim. Everytime I look back to that day, I feel grateful. And every now and then it’s important to reflect on all that one is grateful for.
Tashiding hill was visited and blessed by Guru Rinpoche in the 8th century A.D. The monastery itself was built on the site around the 17th century A.D. according to a few sources. Perched on a hilltop, Tashiding monastery is a blessed treasure. The road goes upto a certain extent, after which one has to walk on a beautiful stepped path leading to the monastery. On the day I visited, the sky was clear and beautiful. We made our prayers at the various lakhangs. Then, one of the monks conducted prayers for us and then we made kora (circumambulations) around the monastery premises. We also paid our respects to the rock where Yeshe Tsogyal, one of Guru Rinpoche’s primary students, had meditated.
My family friends came to meet us a day after the beginning of the Tibetan New Year and Fagli, the new year celebrated by the people of the Pattan Valley in Lahaul. They were cheery and happy like always. They told me how they used to spend their winter days in Lahaul as children. It started from their school days and ended up discussing the pack of young boys who used to take notice of the shepherds from Zanskar and use their donkeys to ride in the fields. From picking apples from a neighbor’s farm to playing with a bow and arrow in the field, they concluded: “You have never experienced this joy in the cities.” I agreed with her since our city life was almost devoid of the community and nature that Lahual offered. In the next few silent minutes, my aunt finally asked me about my meeting with Jetsunma. She later revealed how she met Jetsunma Palmo. Her first meeting was surprisingly in that same cave that Jetsunma had resided in. She had gone on one of her expeditions with her father to the jungle. One day, as she was the youngest in that expedition, she was sent to her to ask for some salt. The first meeting was the simple act of getting salt from Jetsunma. The second time she met her was at a function organized by some monks from Kinnaur. At a random book collection for her daughter at Capital Book Depot in Chandigarh, she came across a book with a cover image of someone she knew. On further notice, she recognized Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo in her first book. Her meetings with her happened by chance as if fate was just unveiling itself as she opened one door to another.
When I first reached Srinagar, I did not expect my relatives to suggest a visit to a monastery. Most historical narratives do not talk about Buddhist archaelogical sites in Kashmir. As part of the itinerary for the first day, we decided to see the Harwan garden and Harwan monastery. Harwan is a village near Srinagar, about 21 kms away from the city. Harwan garden is quite similar to other gardens, the dam stretching towards Dachigam. On our way back, we began our journey to the monastery.
The journey to the monastery was difficult to navigate; we had to keep an eye on a small green-colored signboard that indicated the direction to the monastery. We parked our vehicle inside a narrow pathway which led to residences and shops in the area. The monastery, as I came to know later, was up on a mountain hidden like a gem. What we saw was not just a monastery or the ruins of the monastery as I would later know but ruins of a chaitya, a structure that we deemed as a residence, and a stupa like structure. In order to reach the first part of the site i.e. the ruins of chaitya, residence, and stupa like structure, we had to climb some 200 steps/stairs. While climbing the stairs and then turning my back to look at the majestic mountains, we could clearly understand why the monks had chosen the place as their abode of living and enlightenment. We could hear the birds chirping, the wind gushing, and the chinar leaves holding their spirit still as the leaves rustled. What a perfect place to meditate! What an immense pleasure it was to revel in that silence!
It’s been more than a year. Last year around March, I made a pilgrimage to Tso Pema, tso meaning lake and pema meaning lotus; I will refer to the holy lake as Tso. Tso Pema is located in Rewalsar, Himachal Pradesh, India. For followers of Vajrayana Buddhism, Tso is a very holy site associated with Guru Rinpoche.
How do I describe the serenity of Tso? There is a sense of blessedness at Tso that escapes description. The jade green lake, the deep green trees and the pilgrims circumambulating around the holy lake, fill the air with a sense of serene jubilation.
It is very disturbing to witness how manipulative media houses and ignorant people have the audacity to try defame His Holiness the Dalia Lama who has dedicated every moment of his life for the well being of sentient beings. It is to challenge this audacity that I feel compelled to write this. For too long we have let hegemonic forces spew venom, it’s high time we put an end to contrived narratives that deliberately spread hate.
Before I proceed I want to put forth some questions: Do you know what enlightenment means? Do you understand Buddhism? Do you understand the practices of Tibetan Buddhism? Do you understand what it means to perceive reality beyond duality? Do you understand what blessings mean? Do you understand the real meaning of compassion? Do you understand Tibetan culture? Do you understand that when one prostrates before statues it symbolizes the offering of body, speech and mind? Do understand the symbolic meaning of offering body, speech and mind? Do you understand the meaning of emptiness? Do you understand what it means to dedicate not just one, but several lifetimes for the well-being of other sentient beings?
Having had the good fortune to receive His Holiness The Dalai Lama’s teachings on ‘A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life’ by Shantideva at Jiwestal (in Ladakh) amidst thousands of other devotees, I set out to read the book myself. I was stunned by the poetic beauty and simplicity of the teachings in the book by Shantideva.
One is not supposed to teach Dharma unless one has reached a certain level; so this article is in no way an instruction, but a mere layman’s appreciation of the book written by a great Buddhist master.
