Final Blog Entry: On the Life of Chodrak Dawa
On the Life of Chodrak Dawa:
I am writing this final entry to you today, as this is what Chodrak would have wanted. What I am about to tell you will explain everything. Known to many as the healer from abroad, Chodrak Dawa was a valued member of the community. Always available to provide a helping hand, he loved making people happy. His wisdom and compassion were appreciated by all. After the discovery of a travelogue in some nearby caves, Chodrak decided to follow his path and set out to find the pilgrimage site described in these texts. It was not easy for him to leave the comfort zone of the village, but something inside of him told him that this is what he had to do. Chodrak was highly inspired by Padmasambhava, commonly refered to in Tibet as the second Buddha. His miracle-filled life pushed Chodrak to pursue the Tantric path.
Chodrak Dawa was a well-accomplished and highly intellectual individual. He initially came to the village with the hopes of improving his knowledge and skills on tantric medicinal practices. It was his goal to obtain a formal education specializing in the field of medicine. The universe had higher hopes for him than this because Chodrak has gone off in to a real-life Shangri-La.
He started out the eastern mountain gap of the village and traveled north from there. At moments uncertain of himself, Chodrak persevered and went to complete his religious journey. As a Tibetan Buddhist, he knew very well that the religion in itself was a response to human suffering. Chodrak wanted to transcend this cycle, and so he did. Chodrak was never a particularly unhappy person, but he always craved more than what he had. That is to say, he had a never-ending hunger for knowledge. This helped him a lot during this journey. I will now tell you about it.
Chodrak was impassioned by the prospect of adventure. He had a particular fascination with the rumors of a Shangri-La being in the midst of the Tsangpo gorge. The legend of the Shangri-La emerged from the belief in a beyul. The general claim regarding these places is that they lie around the eastern edge of the Himalayas and are hidden by a waterfall in the unforgiving area mentioned above. Finding this Shangri-La would be the final prize for Chodrak’s worldly explorations. It is an extremely compelling journey that tests the body and the mind to find an enchanted land. It sounded perfect to him.
A Shangri-La, as we know it, is an earthly paradise and a place of retreat. When in a Shangri-La, most people have a tendency of renouncing themselves from modern civilization. Chodrak did not necessarily renounce himself in an intentional way, it kind of just happened like that. He slowly lost touch with the world around him. He stopped writing letters back to the village and pretty much cut off all communication methods with them.
Chodrak was in a remote, idyllic place, somewhere in the mountains of Tibet where man and nature coexisted harmoniously. He thought to himself, “There is certain mysticism about this place. I like it.” It was as easy as that for him. The struggles he was about to face had no weight on him.
In the days leading up to his disappearance, Chodrak went about his usual daily activities. There is evidence of him travelling through the forest surrounding the reported site of the Shangri-La. And then nothing. The most fascinating thing about this mystery is that the entrance to the Shangri-La is unknown. Also, it does not to reveal itself to everyone. Chodrak would have had to be in a state of total awareness to be able to access it. Even at that, most Tantric practitioners can go their entire lives without being able to enter the Shangri-La. Most people need the assistance of a highly qualified and accomplished lama to even find the entrance, since it is practically a lost world. What could Chodrak have done to deserve such a privilege?
Backtracking to a few days prior, while passing through the village of Gogdem, Chodrak encountered a drunken Lopa who spoke an indecipherable language. The man spoke enough Tibetan for Chodrak to understand what he was saying. The Lopa was a clairvoyant, who told Chodrak that he was about to experience the most magical time of his life. He warned, all Chodrak had to do was “the right thing.” Confused by this, all he could do was accompany the Lopa back to his abode and seek shelter for the night. The Lopa, having gained some sobriety, found it in himself to give Chodrak some animal skins to sleep on, which would keep him warm enough through the night. Oddly, he also gave Chodrak a jug of yak milk and said “for when you’ll need it”. The Lopa then sent Chodrak on his way, wished him the best of luck and said one last thing: “Do not avoid hardship, but accept whatever comes.” And this is exactly what Chodrak did for the remainder of his journey. As he left the village, he turned back for a moment to admire the colorful prayer flags blowing in the wind.
The following morning, during his trek through the forest, Chodrak came across what appeared to be a wounded tiger cub, perhaps abandoned by its mother. His first instinct was to nurse it back to health. He used the little medical supplies he had and fed it from the yak milk he so happened to have. He actually spoke to the creature as if it would understand him. Its obvious anxiety toward a human had it all rattled and it wouldn’t sit still so that Chodrak could get it to suckle. But once he started chanting to it, the tiger cub calmed down. Sure enough, he stayed alongside the creature, that he named Duga, until it gained its strength and was able to survive alone.
Chodrak was in an area of little to no human habitation. There was a reason for this and it was in this moment that Chodrak came to terms with the unforgiving nature of the Tsangpo gorge. It became increasingly difficult for him to stay on course to his destination. The terrain became more difficult to navigate.
Chodrak was previously given an ancient picture taken by a lama of the peek of a mountain. The picture was at least 100 years old. There had clearly been an earthquake here because this section of the gorge appeared extremely altered. The two pictures were virtually incomparable as there were many differences. But he could still gather that he was on the right track. He continued along the path and just a few feet ahead of him, the relatively flat terrain plunged into a deep gorge. He found himself on the edge of a steep slope, with no option but to descend. It wouldn’t be the easiest task as the slope was covered in slippery moss. Chodrak spent that night under a sheltered rock. He tossed and turned on the uneven ground, struggling to find some sort of comfortable position. He shivered, as his animal skins were now damp. Covered in leeches and nearly hypothermic, he thought to himself “This is where I die.” He had never been more wrong than in that moment.
As the sun rose, Chodrak somehow found inner strength. He felt a wave of positive energy go through him and thought “Today will be a good day”. As he crossed the valley and went deeper in to the ravine below, a forest of a rare breed of rhododendrons surrounded Chodrak. As he was an avid practitioner of tantric medicine, he was thrilled to have found the small leaved rhododendron, which didn’t grow in the village or in the area surrounding it. On his path, Chodrak also encountered a dremo, a Himalayan brown bear. He admired it from afar for a moment or two. He thought to himself, if this reported Shangri-La truly exists, it wouldn’t be hard to imagine it being in a place like this. Chodrak took a moment to meditate. It was in this moment that Chodrak came to a very important realization. He found himself in a world that shaped itself based on his projections. If he emitted negative energy, bad things would happen. It would start to rain or he would suddenly face some sort of threat to his journey. If, however, he emitted positive energy, he would get lucky with the weather and the trek seemed easier.
He paused for a moment and consulted his map to verify his geographical coordinates. Sure enough, he found himself before the reported entry to the Shangri-La. The challenge now was to figure out how to enter it because he stood in front of a wall of stone. He was faced with precarious circumstances in this moment. He had two choices: (1) to abandon the path he was on or (2) keep going even though it could result in death. Chodrak knew he would not be content with the latter, so he held on the hope of entering the Shangri-La. A few days passed by and Chodrak was still in the same place. He intensely meditated in an attempt to appease the spirits keeping the door shut, but nothing worked. Hopeless, hungry and having exhausted all possible methods of entry, Chodrak thought of one last possibility. He began to site some mantras. This idea came to him in a dream where a Buddha sat before him and began to chant. Sure enough, the rock he was in front of turned to liquid and he was able to pass through. He stood on a narrow ledge, with an enormous gulf opening before him. He then collapsed and did not wake up until the following morning.
Unusually, Chodrak awoke with a strange sense of excitement. As though something significant were going to happen today. Unable to remember that he had entered the Shangri-La, he stood up and was in awe. It was more beautiful than anything he could have ever imagined. In front of him were the legendary falls. There was something iridescent about them.
As he entered the doorway, Chodrak felt a sense of closure. Perhaps it was the feeling that he had completed his earthly tasks. However, the test of his true strength wasn’t over yet. Many pilgrims before him had reported seeing Shinje Chogyal, the Lord of Death. He was the menacing deity known for having lured generations of explorers into a waterfall in the earth’s deepest chasms. This was journey was often fatal. Feeling encouraged by the revelations of the Lopa, Chodrak knew to see past the illusions that the Lord of Death was creating. And he was successful. Chodrak was now in a state of very lucid awareness. Chodrak was trapped in a moment beyond time and geography. He was in standing between the doorway and the falls. He reached forward to touch the falls, then took a step in and was transported in to enlightenment.
Chodrak’s journey shows us that the scope of human life has no boundaries. Although he did struggle in certain instances, in the end, he was able to achieve purification of the senses. Chodrak’s approach to spirituality was not particularly traditional, but it didn’t have to be. By performing acts of kindness, the universe rewarded him. He was a selfless man who never hesitated a moment when someone needed help. This experience serves as a lesson to all that when one emits positivity into the universe, the universe re-emits that same positivity back. Chodrak was one of the lucky ones. By entering the Shangri-La, he was able to remove the veil of delusion that characterizes the world of suffering. I hope this provides you with some enlightenment as to what happened to our dear friend. I also hope that you share Chodrak’s experiences with everyone in the community, perhaps they will feel inspired.
