Over the past two decades of leading many trekking / pilgrimage trips around Mt. Amnye Machen, it was the first time that I have ever come across such a miracle moment – seeing a clear glacier spring just oozing out and began to flow toward us trekkers as we approached the glacier of Thousand Tents (Rikhar Dongshang Glacier. Tib: རས་གུར་སྟོང་ཤིང་།).
In Tibetan culture, it’s an auspicious sign of success and being cleared away from obstructions, if you run into a full bucket of water or showered by drizzles at the beginning of a journey. Rainbows shown after the rain would certainly be a bonus of luck! People who are on their way to fetch water would wait at the corner or stay out of sight, to avoid the passengers bumping into their empty bucket, hence the bad luck. And yes, if someone is actually carrying water, she’ll be walking straight to you, for everybody welcomes such a good sign and might even ask for permission to toss a few drops in the air for good blessings. So it’s a big deal to have seen the crystal clear water flows gently on Machen Bumra(རྨ་ཆེན་སྦོམ་ར), the great mountain deity and protector of eastern Tibet. I too, like the herders would do, tossed the holy water in the air and cleansed myself.
This spring has set in motion of a series good signs for the rest of our journey.
Walk right into the monk Cham dancers assembling out of the door of the Great Hall in Palyu Monastery.
Bump into the beginning of Sand Mandala Ritual at Kyi-Gu Monastery in Yushul.
En route to Dzogchen Monastery in Karze, a nomad mother carried a bucket full of milk walking toward us. What a journey to have witnessed the signs of beginning, transitioning, ending and evolving in one trip.
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