Off the beaten path: Rongbuk Monastery

If ever there was a sight that could make a man realize how insignificant he is and how grand the universe, it would be Mount Everest. The name we in the West use to refer to the world’s tallest mountain pales beside the poetry of its Tibetan counterpart – Qomolongma – “Goddess Mother of the World.”

If ever there was a place where one can shed the trivialities of daily life, it would be under the watchful eyes of the Goddess Mother.

For over four hundred years, monks, hermits and nuns seeking release from the cycle of rebirth would come to meditate at the foot of Everest. Meditation huts once marked the place where Rongbuk Monastery was built in 1902. Even today, hermits still inhabit the meditation caves on the pockmarked cliff walls around the monastery. At an elevation of 5,100 meters, Rongbuk is the highest monastery in the world.

Climbers who want to reach the highest of Everest’s peaks on the North Face have to pass by Rongbuk Monastery, located a mere 200 meters below Base Camp. The founding Rongbuk Lama, Zatul Rinpoche, was said to have viewed the early climbers as “heretics.” Whatever he might have thought of them, the Rongbuk Lama blessed them and offered the climbers food and tea, all the time praying for their “conversion.”

In the days of the early Everest explorers, getting even just to Rongbuk was an epic adventure. It took five weeks of walking to reach the monastery from the Indian foothills of Darjeeling. Today, it takes only about two to three hours of driving on teeth-clenchingly rough roads to get there from the Friendship Highway that connects Lhasa and Kathmandu.

At its height, Rongbuk Monastery was home to more than five hundred monks and nuns. People would come from as far as Nepal or Mongolia to witness the celebrations that were held there on feast days. Today, less than fifty voices could be heard chanting the sutras.

Like so many other religious and cultural treasures, Rongbuk Monastery was not spared by the Cultural Revolution. Artifacts and other treasures which could not be spirited off to Nepal were vandalized. Terrible tales of pages of sacred writing being used as toilet paper... of roofs exploded... of chapels destroyed...

The monks run a guesthouse that's popular with Western travelers. (Image: Wikipedia)Reconstruction work began in earnest in 1983. Some of the defaced murals have been replaced with fresh renditions of Tibetan protector deities in all their frightening splendor. Here, there is not the gentle gaze of Guan Yin, the Goddess of Mercy but rather the piercing glare of Padmasambhava, the “Second Buddha” that brought Tantric Buddhism to Tibet.

The monks now run a very spartan dormitory-style guesthouse for travelers. Revenues go towards the reconstruction of Rongbuk, which might explain why Westerners are willing to turn a blind eye to the lack of modern facilities.

A large chorten – a reliquary decorated with symbols of religious significance – marks the last human dwelling place before reaching Base Camp. A pony cart can take you to the tent city that Base Camp has become. Where climbers start their perilous quest to conquer Everest, there are now tea- and guesthouses. Remember to try the local specialty – tea that has been flavored with rancid yak butter.

If you are looking for an Everest experience but can’t afford the steep price of a full ascent, consider a trip to Rongbuk. There are travel agencies that specialize in Himalayan trips that begin either in Lhasa or Kathmandu. For Westerners, an organized tour in a 4-wheel drive vehicle is probably the best option. The Chinese government still requires foreigners to have a permit to enter Tibet and the travel agency can arrange one for you.

And when you’re finally there, be prepared to ponder the infinite. With no modern distractions and with silence broken only by the rhythmic chanting of the monks, there is only the Goddess Mother to contemplate.