"Buddha was born in NEPAL"

April 12, 2022 9 pm Cris Journal

WOW! I seem to start a lot of my journaling that way! Our sabbatical has been beyond anything I could have even imagined. I’m sitting in a tiny green and yellow second floor room at the teahouse/hotel mountain view in Kyanjen Gumba 12,800 ft elevation and can hear the chanting. Asher is in the room next to me sleeping, thankfully, as he is bunking with Ari tonight and needed to rest after rallying through the worst case of food or water poisoning, I have ever seen 2 days ago. I’m rooming with Linden, but I have an hour alone so her and Emmanuel can go back up to the ceremony (Ghewa in local dialect of lang tang) for Ari to experience as well-

Talk about a social studies lesson!!! Not only have we learned so much about the Tibetan Buddhism from Dawa, our guide, but now this! Ghewa is held infrequently in the valley here. 49 days after a community member passes those that knew him/her from all surrounding villages pilgrimage to a nearby monastery to celebrate the lost life and pass on good karma, etc. The dancing (more like swaying back and forth as you circle the small room) and singing supposedly will continue all night. There are beautifully dressed women in traditional Tibetan dress, long braided hair with beads of the end of the braid as well as striking big gold hoop earrings that not only go through the ear lobe, but then red thread supports the hoop over the top of the ear. The men are mostly in casual mountain clothes like jeans, tennis shoes and fleeces.

So many locals that we have met over the last couple of days from trekking as well as at the Hotel Sunrise in Lang Tang Village have invited us to come to the Ghewa. Temba and Jyangju (owners of Sunrise) are here staying at the same hotel too. Linden and I went for 30 minutes and were welcomed into the circle of singing and dance. We tried to chant along and step in sync. We were offered apple cider #2 for the day. Many people were seated in the middle of the room too. Some foreign trekkers observing but mostly local peoples of all ages. Men would sing/chant for a minute or so and then the women would echo back and forth, back and forth. There were probably over 100 people in the room and another hundred gathered outside the ceremony room grazing on traditional Dal Bhatt meals or inside the next room which was the mone. The traditional prayer room (mone or temple) with beautifully painted murals of green, white, orange small Buddhas and a larger statue of him at the front of the room with candles and incense galore. We visited this “mone” (Buddhist stupa) earlier today when we were offered our sweet apple cider # 1. Large prayer wheels (with and without water churning through them) and bells decorated the monastery.