BUDDHA – THE ENLIGHTNED ONE

The Buddha was born on the northern edge of the Ganges River basin, an area on the periphery of the civilization of North India, in what is today southern Nepal. Scholars speculate that during the late Vedic period the peoples of the region were organized into tribal republics, ruled by a council of elders or an elected leader; the grand palaces described in the traditional accounts of the life of the Buddha are not evident among the archaeological remains. It is unclear to what extent these groups at the periphery of the social order of the Ganges basin were incorporated into the caste system, but the Buddha's family is said to have belonged to the warrior (ksatriya) caste. The central Ganges basin was organized into some 16 city-states, ruled by kings, often at war with each other.

The rise of these cities of central India, with their courts and their commerce, brought social, political, and economic changes that are often identified as key factors in the rise of Buddhism and other religious movements of the 6th and 5th centuries BCE. Buddhist texts identify a variety of itinerant teachers who attracted groups of disciples. Some of these taught forms of meditation, yoga, and asceticism and set forth philosophical views, focusing often on the nature of the person and the question of whether human actions (karma) have future effects. Although the Buddha would become one of these teachers, Buddhists view him as quite different from the others. His place within the tradition, therefore, cannot be understood by focusing exclusively on the events of his life and times (even to the extent that they are available). Instead he must be viewed within the context of Buddhist theories of time and history.

According to Buddhist doctrine, the universe is the product of karma, the law of the cause and effect of actions, according to which virtuous actions create pleasure in the future and non-virtuous actions create pain. The beings of the universe are reborn without beginning in six realms: as gods, demigods, humans, animals, ghosts, and hell beings. The actions of these beings create not only their individual experiences but the domains in which they dwell. The cycle of rebirth, called samsara (literally “wandering”), is regarded as a domain of suffering, and the ultimate goal of Buddhist practice is to escape from that suffering. The means of escape remains unknown until, over the course of millions of lifetimes, a person perfects himself, ultimately gaining the power to discover the path out of samsara and then compassionately revealing that path to the world.

A person who has set out on the long journey to discover the path to freedom from suffering, and then to teach it to others, is called a bodhisattva. A person who has discovered that path, followed it to its end, and taught it to the world, is called a Buddha. Buddhas are not reborn after they die but enter a state beyond suffering called nivana (literally “passing away”). Because Buddhas appear so rarely over the course of time and because only they reveal the path to liberation from suffering, the appearance of a Buddha in the world is considered a momentous event in the history of the universe.

The life of the Buddha was written and rewritten in India and across the Buddhist world, elements added and subtracted as necessary. Sites that became important pilgrimage places but that had not been mentioned in previous accounts would be retrospectively sanctified by the addition of a story about the Buddha's presence there. Regions that Buddhism entered long after his death—such as Sri Lanka, Kashmir, and Burma (now Myanmar)—added narratives of his magical visitations to accounts of his life.

LEGEDARY LAKE (SIKKIM) – DISCOVER BEAUTY AND PEACE

Even in mid-May, Gangtok is cool, a merciful respite from the sweltering heat and dust that make life in the Indian plains intolerable. Little wonder, the Sikkimese capital is swarming with tourists trying to beat the 40+ degree Celsius sultriness just four hours’ drive downhill. But once here, the tourists from the plains yearn to see and experience something chillier – snow.

Lake Tsomgo (pronounced Chhangu), just 38 km north-east of Gangtok, is where everybody heads for its stunning alpine scenery, but also for the legends associated with it.

Tsomgo is it restricted area, lying as it does just 20 km from the sensitive Nathula Pass on the border between India and China. A Protected Area Permit issued by Sikkim’s Tourism Department is, therefore, required to go there.

As our sturdy jeep sturdy jeep slowly begins climbing out of Gangtok, it soon dawns on us that the trip if not just about getting form points A to B. Rising above the mists, the road passes through towering green hills, rushing mountain streams and some of the most scenic waterfalls that cascade hundreds of feet below in plumes of white. As the ascent continues, we wrap ourselves in sweaters and jackets and huddle of our seats to beat the chill outside.

Another 12 km drive, and we are in Tsomgo, nearly four hours after we began our journey. Nestled at an incredible height of 3,780 m, the lake measures about a km long and in about 15 m deep. Tsomgo in the Bhutia language literally means “source”. They say the lake collects water from the melting snow of the surrounding mountains which then flows downhill to form the Lungtze Chu River.

Around the picturesque Tsomgo Lake is woven a rich legend. Folklore has it that the lake was initially at Laten, several km away form its present location. One night, an old woman form Tsomgo had a dream that forewarned the lake at Laten was shifting. As soon as she woke up, when went to alert two other herder neighbors. But they paid no heed.

Sensing danger, the old woman milked her dri (female yak), poured the milk on the ground to seek good luck and then decamped for a place called Lhachungkar. As she was leaving, she saw a silver haired woman with fair complexion enter Tsomgo, and immediately the place turned into a lake. In it, the two obstinate herders drowned together with their herd of yaks.

The lake is held very sacred by the local inhabitant. On the lake side is a small temple o f Lord Shiva. Although the lake abounds in trout, nobody goes fishing here. In times gone by, lamas (Buddhist monks) are said to have foretold the future by observing the color of the lake’s water. If the water had a dark tinge, it foreshadowed a year of trouble and unrest in the state.

To visitors, though, Tsomgo signifies untrammeled beauty. When we were there, the ice had just melted, and its crystal clear water formed a perfect mirror, reflecting the softly wooded hills that rise behind it and the prayer flags that ring the lake’s periphery.

After parking our vehicle, we decided to walk around the lake towards the hills that had a fresh coat of snow. Some of the tourists were having a great thrill riding on the richly ornamented yaks while others were throwing snowballs at each other on the foothills.

Up the slippery slope we scrambled, tugging at shrubs and rhododendron branches for support. Finally, after what seemed like hours, we reached the top. A solitary caravanserai stood beside a stone paved mule track in testimony that the ancient caravan route to Lhasa, Tibet passed through here. Indeed, Tsomgo lies on the ancient trade route between Gangtok and Nathula Pass, and until 1962, merchants and their mules used to plod up and down this track ferrying commerce to and from Lhasa over the 4,400-m high pass.

As we stood watching, the oval-shaped lake below us looked simply mesmerizing in the cold, quiet surroundings. Behind us, the vast expanse of the Tibetan Autonomous Region of China stretched for miles on-end on the other side of the barbed wires that demarcate the two territories. With the stunning vistas of the surroundings, you can spend hours here, lost to the world.

VITAL STATISTICS

Location: 38 km north-east of Gangtok
Getting there: Three hours’ drive (35 km) from Gantok by four-wheel drive vehicle
Permit: A Protected Area Permit is required to visit Tsomgo. It is issued by the Tourism Department at Gangtok only to groups of at least four people
Season: March-May, September-mid-December
What to wear: Light woolen clothing during the spring season and heavy woolens during winter