25.03.2013
- We go up with the Buddhist monk Thubten Wangchen to the Serra d'Ensija, in Berguedà
- Wangchen is a Buddhist lama, founder of the House of Tibet in Barcelona
CIMS 25.03.2013
Thubten Wangchen is a Buddhist lama, fundador de la Casa del Tibet a Barcelona i membre del Parlament tibetà a l'exili. He was born in Kyirong, al Tibet, and had to flee to Kathmandu, the capital of nepal, travessant l'Himàlaia, when the Chinese invaded Tibet and killed his mother. Posteriorment visqué a l'Índia, where he was a beggar for many years to survive. At the age of sixteen he became a Buddhist monk and lived in Namgyal Monastery, where he lived for eleven years with the current Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso. It's almost 30 years that he has been in Barcelona.
with Thubten Wangchen, always dressed as a monk, we will go up to the Galina Pelada, of 2.321 metres, the highest point of the Serra d'Ensija, in the Berguedà region. "We Tibetan Buddhist monks wear the colors red and yellow, they are spiritual colors that also protect from the cold". From the top of the Gallina Pelada we want to see the sun rise.
My greatest wishes are world peace, the freedom of Tibet
As we walk, with Pedraforca in the background, the most famous of the Tibetan Buddhist mantras also sounds in the background: oh mani padme hum. And is that Thubten Wangchen no miss no opportunity to pray and ask for the freedom of Tibet. "My most important wishes are world peace, the freedom of Tibet and a long life for the Dalai Lama. Al Tibet, at present, hi ha 6 million Tibetans and eight million Chinese. We are a minority in our own country. We do not ask for independence, we want autonomy. But there are mines in Tibet, Hi Urani… we will never give up!. We will work so that we Tibetans can have an identity, so that there is respect for our freedom and our language…”.
Let's go to the shelter Delgado Ubeda, where we will spend the night, follow the frozen stream of the Font Freda and between black pine forests. The ice forces us to wear crampons. It's the first time that Wangchen it is put to them. The experience fascinates him: he can already imagine climbing to the roof of the world.”I want to be the reincarnation of Edmund Hillary and Tensnig Sherpa the first to climb the summit of Everest”, he says with a loud laugh.
in Thubten Wangchen and llama. Lama vol to be spiritual master i Wangchen he is a buddhist monk who also teaches and that makes him a lama:"Wangchen in Tibetan means great power. Wang and poder i chen, gran. Having great power would be nice… but I don't have enough". And he laughs loudly again.
As we ascend, ens allunyem del rierol de la Font Freda i s'aclareix gradualment el bosc. Now we have better views of the south face of Pedraforca, of Saldes and the Cadí mountain range.
The Buddhists of Tibet have the custom, when they move, of throwing a stone or stacking a handful on the mountain slopes. The stones bear witness to the presence of people and augur success in the objectives of the journey. Wangchen follow this custom. Build a small milestone of stones:"This program will be very successful and it will be more successful if we put a prayer flag". Said and done and he starts praying again.
He was thinking of the princes …I don't know if I can or not. Now I realize that I am Tibetan and I have Tibetan lungs
Hem deixat al darrera la pleta de l'Ós i la baga de les Llobateres. Names of places that tell us about animals, bones and wolves, who inhabited these mountains. We already have the Delgado Úbeda refuge close at hand. Guard Xavier Generó is waiting for us there. El refugi va ser construït l'any 1964 i és propietat de la Federació d'Entitats Excursionistes de Catalunya
The physical condition of Thubten Wangchen, 58 years, in the climb it has been admirable…you can see the genetics of a people that for thousands of years has lived in 4000 meters of altitude. “He was thinking of the princes …I don't know if I can or not. Now I realize that I am Tibetan and I have Tibetan lungs. Porto 30 years in Catalonia and I haven't been sick for a single day!”.
We asked Wangchen to prepare a typical Tibetan meal to accompany the dinner. It's the tsampa. We brought him all the ingredients. Flour from various cereals, butter, sugar and black tea. He Roger he is interested in the numerous immolations that have taken place in recent years in Tibet. Buddhist monks who burned themselves alive asking for more freedom: “La repressió per part del xinesos fa que molts joves perdin la paciència i l'esperança. They see that the UN says nothing, that no one says anything… The Tibetans suffer but no one says anything …we tell them: no more, live and work for world peace”.
And we will still take advantage of the minutes before going to sleep . Some questions remain in the air. we ask him for the legend of the levitating Tibetan monks: "Yeah, there are monks who levitate, but they don't do it in public. I didn't see it…but it's true, levitating monks exist, it's not a story”. He likes to listen to Bob Marley's music. "I like his words of freedom and his peaceful struggle…”.
At six in the morning we start walking to see the sun rise from the top of Gallina Pelada. The moon accompanies our steps. It's bitterly cold. It's ten degrees below zero and there's a strong wind. When we reach the top we still have to wait a while to see the sun rise. Royal a Thubten Wangchen a stone from Tibet, a small piece of the country he loves so much, that has given usÓscar Cadiach, the first Catalan to set foot on the summit of Everest. His gift to the entire summit team: a Tibetan tasting of white silk that poses to the col.
when the sun rises, he Wancheng sing the anthem of Tibet. In fact a sun that rises between mountains is on the flag of his country. It is a moment full of emotion for our lama. An emotion that is contagious. We get goosebumps…naked!!
