HH 42nd Sakya Trizin
In early January I left for a 6 week trip to Asia, the plan was to spend 3 weeks in Nepal, 2 weeks in Thailand and 5 days in Japan. I had not been back to Nepal for about 8 years or so and it was great to be back in the country and reconnect with some old friends. I first went to a two day inauguration of a stupa build for my late teacher Chogye Trichen Rinpoche. The two day puja was presided over by the Sakya Trizin and other senior Sakyapa lamas. The stupa contains the kudung or body relics of Chogye Rinpoche and is situated at a beautiful location overlooking the Kathmandu valley on Naratayan hill under Shivapuri mountain.
I then went for a little pilgrimage around Nepal. Originally I wanted to go for a trek and get high in the himalaya, however being winter it was going to be a little too cold for me. So I decided to go to the Guru Rinpoche cave known as Maratika and spent a couple days there. Then I went down to the Terai to visit the city of Janakpur, which is a holy hindu place where Sita was born and later married Ram. The last stop before heading back to Kathmandu was Namo Buddha, there I spent 4-5 days at Thrangu Rinpoches monastery.
Nepal is slowly rebuilding after the 2015 earthquake. The country clearly continues to struggle with the political complexities and practical reality of trying to become a modern nation. The chaos and growing pains are evident wherever you go, however the Nepali people seem to be as positive and resilient as ever. I sincerely wish Nepal can maintain its powerful, unique and amazing cultural heritage far into the future.
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