Photo: STUART BUTLER
Stuart Butler
BBC Travel
2 October 2022
Then he returned his attention to the classroom where he was instructing young novices monks.
I thank you, I closed the door behind me and walked away from the monastery. Far from the small town of Thame with their solid stone houses and barley fields and potatoes. Far from Himalaya's huge peaks. And far from Beyul.
According to an integral belief in the Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism -established in the VIII -century and the oldest of the four different schools -, A beyul is a place where physical and spiritual worlds overlap.
They are hidden paradisiacal valleys whose location will only be revealed at very specific moments, when the world is under enormous stress and in danger of destruction by war, famine or plague.
In those moments, it is believed, a beyul becomes a harmonious refuge in an unstable world.
“A beyul is a sacred place and a sanctuary to which the lamas (teachers of Tibetan Buddhism) can carry people through difficult times”, explained Frances Klatzel, author of several books on Buddhist and Himalayan culture, incluido Gaiety of Spirit – the Sherpas of Everest.
But not everyone can enter a beyul, He added. Only a true Buddhist with a pure heart who has overcome enormous trials and difficulties can do it..
According to Nyingma Buddhists, Trying to enter a beyul when all conditions are not met can lead to death.
(…) READ THE FULL ARTICLE IN THE ORIGINAL: https://www.bbc.com/mundo/vert-tra-62797059
