Mount Kailash Kora – Part Two

Mount Kailash (Gang Rinpoche) is a special place of pilgrimage for numerous religious collectives of the Himalayan region. Its idyllic trapezoidal form, which faintly traces a Bon swastika 卐 through the Gangdise Range, and proximity to Lake Manasarovar and the source of some of the longest rivers in Asia (Indus, Sutlej, Brahmaputra and Karnali), has meant that many legends have been formed over the centuries. It is said that here, the most celebrated sorceror yogi of Tibetan Buddhism, Milarepa, competed for supernatural power with the leader of the Bons, Naro Bonchung. Milarepa triumphed over Naro Bonchung by beating him to the summit riding the rays of the sun. Thus, the mountain is considered to be the navel of the universe by Buddhists and the gathering point for many other gods. For Hindus, it is the throne of the mountain god Shiva where he sits in perpetual meditation; for Jains it is where Rishabha attained enlightenment; and for Bons, it is the abode of Sipaimen, the sky goddess.

Walking the ~60 km outer kora (circumambulation) of Mount Kailash in a clockwise direction is an important ritual for Buddhists (Bons can be identified walking anti-clockwise). The completion of one kora of Mount Kailash is said to atone for all sins committed throughout one’s lifetime. The completion of ten koras will prevent eternal damnation in the the hell realm of Naraka. The completion of 100 koras will make a person one with Buddha. Worshippers can get 13 credits for every kora completed during the horse year when Sakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism, was said to be born. The journey usually takes three days to complete, from an altitude of 4,575 m at Darchen to the prayer flags at 5,610 m on the Dolma La Pass. Few services apart from monastery accommodation are available on the route so the dedicated pilgrims who perform full body prostrations over a four week kora of Mount Kailash, need to have food and sleeping gear shuttled along.

Mount Kailash Kora – Part One

Mount Kailash (Gang Rinpoche) is a special place of pilgrimage for numerous religious collectives of the Himalayan region. Its idyllic trapezoidal form, which faintly traces a Bon swastika 卐 through the Gangdise Range, and proximity to Lake Manasarovar and the source of some of the longest rivers in Asia (Indus, Sutlej, Brahmaputra and Karnali), has meant that many legends have been formed over the centuries. It is said that here, the most celebrated sorceror yogi of Tibetan Buddhism, Milarepa, competed for supernatural power with the leader of the Bons, Naro Bonchung. Milarepa triumphed over Naro Bonchung by beating him to the summit riding the rays of the sun. Thus, the mountain is considered to be the navel of the universe by Buddhists and the gathering point for many other gods. For Hindus, it is the throne of the mountain god Shiva where he sits in perpetual meditation; for Jains it is where Rishabha attained enlightenment; and for Bons, it is the abode of Sipaimen, the sky goddess.

Walking the ~60 km outer kora (circumambulation) of Mount Kailash in a clockwise direction is an important ritual for Buddhists (Bons can be identified walking anti-clockwise). The completion of one kora of Mount Kailash is said to atone for all sins committed throughout one’s lifetime. The completion of ten koras will prevent eternal damnation in the the hell realm of Naraka. The completion of 100 koras will make a person one with Buddha. Worshippers can get 13 credits for every kora completed during the horse year when Sakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism, was said to be born. The journey usually takes three days to complete, from an altitude of 4,575 m at Darchen to the prayer flags at 5,610 m on the Dolma La Pass. Few services apart from monastery accommodation are available on the route so the dedicated pilgrims who perform full body prostrations over a four week kora of Mount Kailash, need to have food and sleeping gear shuttled along.

Chengdu People’s Park

It is a place where only a 10 year old Whitney Houston inspired karaoke vocalist can out-perform the twang of an emasculated operatic performer one stall over. It is a place to be exhibitionistic and roll your rollable belly to the stomach churning brown-noted pulse of acid trance. It is a place to let loose, pump out some funky moves and serenade a tai-chi cougar. It is a place to get your ears cleaned with a metallic spatula and consider using the leftovers to make a candle that would burn until the next new moon. It is a place to order red coloured food that will Kung Pao your sphincter and also keep it burning until the next new moon. It is a place to find matchmaking advertisements for a potential soldier-boy who’s probably en-route to Kashgar. It is a place to challenge a conniving strategy gamer with lengthy pinky fingernails and gamble your life savings even though you know the dice is loaded. It is a place that only an air raid shelter would be converted into a theme park for children. It is Chengdu’s People’s Park and it is not the type of place where one would find a quiet patch of grass to concentrate on a book and absorb some Vitamin D. It’s heaven…

Istanbul (Not Constantinople)

Istanbul was Constantinople.

Now it’s Istanbul, not Constantinople.

So take me back to Constantinople.

No, you can’t go back to Constantinople.

Now it’s Turkish delight on a moonlit night.

Why did Constantinople get the works? That’s nobody’s business but the Turks.

Every gal in Constantinople lives in Istanbul, not Constantinople. So if you’ve a date in Constantinople, she’ll be waiting in Istanbul.

Even old New York was once New Amsterdam. Why they changed it I can’t say. People just liked it better that way.

Been a long time gone, Constantinople.

Why Marry a Grass-Eater?

With a fading post-war dream of lifetime employment as a corporate samurai, millions of twenty-something grass-eating Japanese men are remaining at home as parasitic singles. After working some of the longest hours in the developed world, all that’s able to be done on the weekends is sleep. The innate desire to find a partner has been subdued by high-speed internet and the accessibility of porn, sex toys and virtual sex from bedroom computers. Even those who opt for conventional marriage find that their old role of a macho and sexist breadwinner is no longer acceptable. The loss in masculine identity means that more men are sitting down to pee and freeing their hands to adjust the straps of their WishRoom manziers. It has even reached the point where frustrated parents have been taking the intitiative to evict their herbivorous children through secret matchmaking conventions. But what is the merit in marrying off a grass-eater who inherently fears commitment? What do they evolve into once the foundation from the marriage ceremony is removed from their supple cheeks? Further Reading