Disposition 8
After two weeks of searching through the caves filled with hidden chambers for texts and Buddhist paintings, we decided to make our way back to the village. We gathered the books that we were taking back to the village for further translating and packed them neatly and carefully in a bag. We placed the bags of books and religious paintings onto a yak cart. At base camp, our doctor, Chogyam was attending to the sick and wounded people and getting them ready for their long and dangerous trip back.
As the rest of the team were doing their final checks and resting for the night, I was reading some of the texts that was found in the cave. One of the texts was talking about the history of our village. It is said that our village is protected by a local protector deity called Yidam. A Yidam is a lineage teacher or a guru. It is said that the Yidam is able to overcome any spiritual obstacles. As I reflected on the passages, I remembered that there was a cairn, a pile of stones that was made by man and located in an auspicious location, at the edge of the village that was believed to be the place of worship of a deity. However, the name of the deity was lost.
The texts said that if the cairn was destroyed or no longer being worshiped, bad luck such as natural disasters would befall the entire village. Written in the texts were ways to erect a cairn and worshipping the Yidam. After reading the text, I got some shut eye before we leave for our trip back to the village the next day.
Soon the sun rose and we were gathering our belongings, we started our perilous journey back to the village. We passed through the plateau and entered the dense jungle. While trekking through the jungle, some of us picked up some rare herbs to give to the new medicine factory that was being built at our village during the time the expedition team were gone. We reached the cliff side where many of us had troubles getting across the first. But with relative ease, we were all able to get past it with no additional injuries.
I always felt that in most trips, the return was faster that the departure and not long after we set out for our return journey, I could see the bridge that was destroyed in the hail storm in the horizon. As we got closer to the bridge, we could hear cheers coming from the other side of the bridge. Some of the local traders that were nearby, offered to help carry some of our load. Some went so far as to give us a lift on their carts.
After six days of hiking through dense forests and dangerous cliffs, we finally reached the village. Everyone was excited to be back and was embraced by the warm welcome from everyone in the village. We deposited the texts that was found into the library, sent the sick and injured to the infirmary and returned to our houses and rested up for a bit.
As dinner came, the whole village gathered to have a small ceremony for us and to thank the gods that we returned back safely. The villagers from the neighboring village came and joined in our celebration. As for without them, we would not have been able to make this expedition run as smoothly as it did. The others prepared a feast for everyone in the expedition team. We were all enjoying the food as we did not have much to eat in the month that we were on the expedition.
The expedition team were given a few days to rest and recuperate before going on with their daily lives. During this time, I was in the library going over some of the texts. In one text, it was talking about a new and effective method of smoke purification rituals. It was written that this smoke purification ritual has to be done on the ground in which the cairn is being laid on. If not, the cairn would be of no use. I also started drawing some maps to get to and from the cave from the village and some details of the surrounding plants that could be used for medicinal purposes. I drew some maps of the cave systems and places where more texts can be found just in case more people wanted to collect the other texts.
In the other text, it talked about wind horse ritual. A wind horse is usually found in the center of four animals which represents the four cardinal directions. The wind horse is also used as a symbol of good fortune and well-being. The wind horse is shown to carry three jewels which represents peace, wealth and harmony. It is said in the text that the wind horse ceremonies are conducted with the ihasang ritual. In this ceremony, juniper branches are burned to make incense. It is believed that by doing this, it increases the strength in the prayer of the four nag rtsis elements. Layperson would worship a mountain deity to increase their prosperity.
So I gathered a group of villagers to head to the edge of the village to where the old cairn was and to build a new one. In this group, there was a few ritualists to help with the smoke purification ritual. I also got some of my friends who were monks and nuns to help with the prayers as the cairn is being built.
We reached the location of the old cairn and was shocked at the amount of carnage that was in the area caused by the hail storm. I believed that the hail storm that we experienced was punishment from the Yidam deity for not worshiping it. The ritualists started burning Jupiter branches to as incense. The other ritualists started burning cypress branches in preparation for the fire ritual also known as the Goma. The artists in our group including me started drawing a mandala for the ritual. Once a thick smoke of incense was started, the other monks, nuns and I started our chanting. We asked for blessings and to cleanse the ground on which the cairn is being placed. The other villagers who were laypeople started piling rocks on top of each other. Soon, the cairn was built. I carved a wind horse on one of the rocks for extra merit for our village. The group took a break after all their hard work and as the sun set, we made our way back to our village. As I was walking back, I could feel something was different in our village, it felt as though all the negative energy was being blown away from our village.
The next day, I received a letter from the head monk of our village and on the letter, it said urgent. I went somewhere quiet and private to open the letter. The letter was written by one of my long lost relatives living in Thailand. It said that one of my relatives who was very close to my parents was seriously ill and wanted me to visit, also there is an upcoming festival called Loi Krathong which means to float a basket. It is an important event in the Thai lunar calendar. I thought to myself that it would be a good chance to get to know my relatives and hear about my parents as I did not know much about them. As a scholar, I felt that I should learn more about Buddhist traditions in other countries to find the similarities and differences among them. Going for the Loi Krathong seems like an interesting experience and the perfect opportunity to learn about Thai Buddhists cultures. I would not want miss it.
