Wednesday 21 May 2008

The praying landscape


The people of the Everest (also known as the Khumbu) region are predominantly Buddhist. As a result, we were frequently coming across prayer wheels, Mani stones (slabs of stone with Buddhist scripture) and Chortens, which are huge rocks also covered in Buddhist texts. They mostly say the same thing - 'Om Mani Padme Hum', which means 'salutations to the Jewel of consciousness (the Mind) which has reached the Heart's lotus' - powerful stuff!

The prayer wheels (which Adrian particularly enjoyed) must be turned clockwise to banish evil (seemed to work - we're back in one piece after all!), and you must walk around any Mani walls or Chortens clockwise too for the same reason.

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