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Mount Kailas: Difference between revisions
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The mountain, together with Lake Manasarowar at its southern foot, is the goal of Hindu and Buddhist pilgrims. Sanskrit texts compare it to the metaphysical Mount Meru, or Sumeru, the cosmic center of the universe. To Tibetan Buddhists it is the celestial throne of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of the “highest bliss.” | The mountain, together with Lake Manasarowar at its southern foot, is the goal of Hindu and Buddhist pilgrims. Sanskrit texts compare it to the metaphysical Mount Meru, or Sumeru, the cosmic center of the universe. To Tibetan Buddhists it is the celestial throne of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of the “highest bliss.” | ||
Lake Manasarowar, at 14,950 feet, is said to be the world’s highest freshwater lake. According to Lama Govinda, it is “shaped like the sun and represents the forces of light.... ‘Manas’ ( | Lake Manasarowar, at 14,950 feet, is said to be the world’s highest freshwater lake. According to Lama Govinda, it is “shaped like the sun and represents the forces of light.... ‘Manas’ (Skt.) means mind or consciousness: the seat of the forces of cognition, of light, and finally of enlightenment.”<ref>Lama Anagarika Govinda, ''The Way of the White Clouds A Buddhist Pilgrim in Tibet'' (Boulder, CO.: Shambhala Publications, 1966), p. 200.</ref> | ||
In his tranquil form, Shiva is the Maha Yogi, or Great Yogi. He is the quintessential ascetic whom all holy men and women seek to emulate. Hindu art often depicts him seated deep in meditation atop Mount Kailas, his long hair matted like a yogi’s and his body smeared with ashes. His snow-white face, benign and placid, symbolizes the ascetic ideal of desirelessness, serenity, purity and perpetual bliss. | In his tranquil form, Shiva is the Maha Yogi, or Great Yogi. He is the quintessential ascetic whom all holy men and women seek to emulate. Hindu art often depicts him seated deep in meditation atop Mount Kailas, his long hair matted like a yogi’s and his body smeared with ashes. His snow-white face, benign and placid, symbolizes the ascetic ideal of desirelessness, serenity, purity and perpetual bliss. | ||