On the Trail of the Peerless Lotus Born: A Report on Sacred Aja Ney and Ney Chen Phunyingla i ©UWICE Citation: UWICE, 2016. On the Trail of the Peerless Lotus Born: A Report on Sacred Aja Ney and Ney Chen Phunyingla. Royal Government of Bhutan, UWICE Press, Bumthang. Report Prepared by: Sonam Wangdi and Nawang Norbu Field Work: Sherub; Dawa Yoezer; Tshewang Dorji; Tsethup Tshering; Sonam Wangdi, Sonam Penjor and Nawang Norbu Acknowledgement We are grateful to Mr. Sangay Pelzang and Changa Tshering for their input in creating trek route maps. i 佴བ་ཕ일གས་鮦ས་蝴ལ་ཨ་བརྒྱ་轴ང་། ། གནས་མཆ일ག་དམ་པ་བདེ་ཆེན་ཕ일་லང་䝴། ། ཨ일ན་པད་མའི་ཞབས་ལ་གས일ལ་བ་འདེབས། ། ཚེ་འདི་རིག་འཛིན་འཐ일བ་པར་བིན་གི་ར일བས། ། In the western hidden land of Aja Valley, Towards the sacred palace of Dechen Phodrang, There at the feet of Ugyen Pema we supplicate, To bless us, so that we may in this very life, attain the state of Vidyadhara. ii Contents Introduction: .............................................................................................................................................................. 1 Route to Aja Ney and Phunyingla: .................................................................................................................... 1 Spiritual Significance of Aja Ney: ...................................................................................................................... 2 Circumambulatory Routes at Aja Ney: ............................................................................................................ 3 Spiritual Significance of Nye Chen Phunying: ............................................................................................. 4 Species of Significance at Aja Ney and Phunyingla: .................................................................................. 6 Mountain Closure and Protection of A Sacred Site: ................................................................................... 8 iii Introduction: Among many sacred sites in Bhutan associated with the peerless lotus born Guru Ugyen Pema, Aja Nye1 in Mongar and the Nye Chen Phunying2 in Lhuntse are considered amongst the most sacred. Bhutanese from all walks of life make an effort to visit both these sites at least once in their life. Aja valley and Nye Chen Phunying has been home to hidden yogis over many centuries and continues to do so even today. Within these hushed valleys and mountains, spiritual seekers in pursuit of unravelling the meaning of life often spend their entire lives in retreat. This makes the pilgrim believe that the blessings of Guru Tsokye Dorji is still manifest and continues to be very much alive in this remote, verdant and lush landscape. Aja valley also serves as summer pastureland for cattle from the lower valleys of Yarab and Thiling in Mongar. And it is an important watershed for the Sherichu, a major river of eastern Bhutan. Although the spiritual significance of the two sacred sites have been recorded in religious texts, there is scant information available for the lay reader. Here, we describe the trekking route from Bangtsho in Lhuntse to Senekhar in Mongar which passes through Phunyingla and Aja Ney. We document the sacred circumambulatory routes at both Aja Ney and Phunyingla. We also provide a brief overview of the spiritual significance of Aja Ney and Phunying. We conclude by providing a brief description of the habitats and traditional belief system used to regulate visits to these sacred sites. Route to Aja Ney and Phunyingla: Aja valley can be accessed either from Phunying in Lhuntse or from Yarab in Mongar via a day long walk (See Map). Phunying is a day's walk (>6 hrs) from Bangtsho village in Tsengkhar geog of Lhuentse which is connected by a motorable farmroad. Bangtsho village is about 2 hour's drive from Autsho, Lhuentse. It takes another day (> 5hrs walk) from Phunyingla to Aja valley. 1 'Aja' where A should be read as dzongkhag alphabet letter Aa (ཨ); 'Ja' means the numerical hundred and 'Nye' means sacred site 2 'Chen' means great and 'Phunying' means 'heart of the mountains' 1 From Aja, it takes another day walk (>6hrs walk) to reach Yarab village in Mongar which is connected by a farm road. Yadi town in Mongar is about 32 kms from Senekhar, the road point below Yarab. Map of the trek route from Bangtsho in Lhuntse via Phunying and Aja towards Senakhar, Mongar Spiritual Significance of Aja Ney: The history of Aja Nye dates back to about 830 AD (Wangchuk, 2004). It was at that time that the Tibetan demon King, Khikha-rathoed (one with a dog's mouth and a goat's head) was exiled into a secluded dense forest towards the South. Later, upon discerning that the demon king was trying to settle at Aja valley, Guru Rinpoche followed the demon through Tormi-jangsa, under Tashi Yangtse with the intention of subduing him. Guru Rinpoche spent more than three months in meditation within the Aja valley biding for the right moment to subdue Khikha-rathoed. During this time, Guru Rinpoche concealed several sacred sites and treasures within the valley. 2 Imprints of the letter Aa (ཨ) within the inner walls of a cave located beside the Aja Chu is believed to have been left by the great guru. It is believed that a hundred Aa (ཨ) has been imprinted on the walls, giving the place its name of Aa-ja, meaning a hundred Aa(s). Today, a few of the imprints can still be seen on the walls of the cave (Picture below). Imprints of Aa (ཨ) on the inner face of a cave where the Guru meditated During the 14th century, Terton Ugyen Lingpa initially unlocked the sacred site of Aja Nye followed by Terton Rigzin Goeki Dhemthrug. Guru Rinpoche had prophesized that Aja Nye would be discovered and unlocked by the ninth Karmapa, Wangchuk Dorji (1556-1603). However, in his place, the ninth Karmapa sent his disciple Lama Karma Jamyang to unlock and reveal the sacred site. Circumambulatory Routes at Aja Ney: Lama Karma Jamyang categorised the Ney into four circumambulation routes: Ra-kor (base circumambulation), Bar-kor (middle circumambulation), Tsekor (outer circumambulation) and Nangkor (inner circumambulation); comprising of about 50, 70, 100 and 40 scared sites within each route respectively. A complete and proper visit to all these sites along the circumambulation routes would take at least a week to complete. See Map below. 3 Map of circumambulatory routes of Aja Nye Spiritual Significance of Nye Chen Phunying: The history of Nye Chen Phunying is as old as the story of Aja Nye itself. It is believed that Guru Rinpoche meditated within Phunying mountain ridges for a few months while chasing the demon king Khikha-rathoed who had fled from Aja to Khempa Jong, located towards the North of Kurtoe. The Nye was unlocked by Lama Karma Jamyang, who revealed the entire Aja Nye. It is considered that there are four sacred hidden sites located in the four main cardinal directions with Pema Yangzom (alias for Aja) at its centre. Nye Chen Phunying is considered to be the western branch and is regarded as the heart of all mountains on the planet and contains numerous sacred sites associated with the lotus born. In recent times, the Nye has served as a secluded retreat and meditation hideaway for many highly revered Yogis such as Lama Sonam Zangpo in the 1960s. The Nye consists of more 4 than 50 sacred sites along the circumambulatory route (See Map below) and includes symbols of Guru Padmasambhava’s treasure box and imprints of Khandro Drowa Zangmo’s skull. Map of Nye Chen Phunying's circumambulatory route and location 5 Species of Significance at Aja Ney and Phunyingla: Aja Nye is located at an altitude of about 2500 meters, at the base of Phunying and is covered by lush cool broadleaf forests. Cool broadleaved forests of Aja Valley Seeds of star anise (Illicium griffithii) from the forests of Aja Plants with medicinal and economic value such as the Star anise (Illicium griffithii) are also abundant in the area. Locals believe that a terrestrial orchid, which we identified as Neottia acuminata (local name: Tsa-Awa-Doti) is found only in the Aja area. Consumption of the roots of this plant is supposed to be a health tonic and is also believed to help beings clear their karmic 6 obscurations since the plant is supposed to have been blessed by none other than Guru Rinpoche himself. It can be consumed either raw or soaked in water to produce an infusion that can be drunk. A list of species found in Aja is provided in annexure VII (plants) and annexure VIII (birds). Phunying is located at an altitude of about 3700 meters. The landscape is dominated by alpine scrub, rhododendrons and bamboos overlooking Lhuntse district and the northern Himalayan mountain ranges. Pilgrims on the ridges of Phunyingla Phunying not only hosts various sacred sites but is also home to a wide range of plants [annexure III], birds [annexure VI] and animals. The landscape is covered by Rhododendron species such as R. falconeri, R. maddenii and R. kezanghii with other species such as Taxus bacata, Illicium griffithii and Skimmia laureola. Lobelia leschenantiana, a rare plant species within Bhutan was also recorded within the area. Plants and bird species seen during the trek from Bangtsho to Phunying are recorded in annexures I and II respectively; and plants and birds seen on the trek from Phunying to Aja are shown in annexure V and VI respectively. 7 Mountain Closure and Protection of A Sacred Site: Apart from year round residents comprising of retreatants and temple care takers, visitors and pilgrims cannot enter Aja Ney from March to October. A woman and her grandson