I was amazed at
this expanse of nothingness. I hadn't seen something this empty
since the first time I saw the destruction of Mt. St. Helens. In the
middle, in the back, are some new snowy
peaks.
|
 |
The
building up the stairs held their Buddha
statue
. We'd see it later. Notice
the building is three stories? You get the
idea.
|
 |
|
Opposite of the
statue building was a prayer room where the monks were actually
beating drums and chanting as we were visiting. I tried recording
it, but it didn't come out very well. Honestly I thought the
Muslim prayers in town sounded better.
This is the Wheel of Life. It represents the
continuous cycle of life and death. The creature holding it is the
god of death. The five sections, starting from the top left and
going clockwise, are Humans, Gods, Hungry Ghosts, Hell, and Animals.
The only way out of the cycle is through
enlightenment.
|
 |
You had to take your shoes off before entering
the prayer room. We went in and circled around the monks
while they were doing their chant. It was really kind of wierd. I
felt like we were disturbing them, but they didn't seem to
mind. There was only 20 or so
monks.
|
 |
Looking across the valley
again.
|
 |
|
Another shot of the
empty
expanse.
|
 |
The
monks were done their chants and going back to their quarters. This
is Amber on the stairs in front of
me.
|
 |
Another shot of the monks heading away.
Everything is just so stark in this shot - the plain walls of the
building, the landscape and the simple
monks.
|
 |
Another attempt at an artisitc
shot.
|
 |
More
proof I'm actually here. They closed the Buddha building while we
were walking around the other side of the monastery, so we had to
wait for them to come back and open it
up.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
| - More - |
|
|
|
|
|
