Anker

In an earlier dispatch, we covered our visit to the Milrepa Monastery. We toured the monastery, which in recent times was many times larger and received from the monk, blessings for on the mountain. This puja was a great foundation for the expedition, yet we still had to have the traditional puja on the mountain for mountain safety. To make this possible, Boudda and Ang Kami built a chorten (a small and simple shrine made of stacked rocks) on the day we carried to ABC. The puja on the mountain is centered around the chorten: we recite a few prayers, string prayer flags and set them fluttering, offer one's god a few munchies, smile much, toss rice, smear tsampa, and have a great laugh with each other.

Puja Ceremony

Typically it is most advantageous to have monks, and or lamas, from a nearby monastery preform the ceremony. As we are three days walk from a nearby monastery, we celebrated the ritual on our own. Ang Kami, our sirdar, was the one who led our small ceremony. We assembled after breakfast at the chorten and began with the prayer flags — strung in three directions with the colors of white for clouds, blue for sky, green for flowing water, yellow for earth, red for fire the flags are a tranquil counterpart to the tall icy ramparts of Shishapangma to the northwest. We tied the flags to a center pole in the chorten with an earth flag and a Nepali flag directly on the pole. For each string of flags, we built a pile of rocks to attach them to.

With the flags strung, we passed around a plate of rice and each took a handful of rice. Once all of us had a small bit of rice, we tossed it in three small offerings. Boudda at this point cracked a bottle of Chivas, filled a small glass and splashed a bit on to each of our hands. Because we did not have a monk present, who would normally be reciting prayers in a soothing chant, Ang Kami said "Om Mani Padme Hung; Ohm Ah Hung Benza Guru Pema Siti Hung" for the group. As they are not trained as monks, this was the most they felt comfortable with. For us, this was more than sufficient — any goodwill offered to us is gladly accepted.

The next part of this joyous ceremony is the sip of scotch for the group. Boudda circulated and provided a small sip for all of our team, our Chinese friends, and the German expedition. We smiled and wished each other safe passage. A small basket of fried dough, candy bars, apple slices and Skittles circulated and we each of us took small treat.

Boudda

Not bad, eh? Sipping scotch at 9:30 in the morning. A few snacks and some colorful flags. Sounds like a day at the carnival, yet it is far more. For our Buddhist friends this is a very serious part of their life. As Tashi reminded me, one gets back from these things what one believes in them. Our friends welcomed us into their culture and we, as guests, are most grateful for their generosity. With the puja now performed on an auspicious day, we are now ready to venture up on the surrounding mountains.

Be good, be kind and be happy.

Question from yesterday: What is hard and long on a snowboarder?
ANSWER: THE THIRD GRADE.

— Conrad Anker, MountainZone.com Correspondent

EXPEDITION DISPATCHES