The Gyalwang Drukpa

I just arrived a couple of hours ago, after a very fruitful walking pilgrimage to Maratika and back. There were basically two reasons that prompted me to organise this walking pilgrimage spontaneously. Firstly, I wanted to do this to dedicate for the longevity of all the enlightened masters, especially my own gurus and my parents. Secondly, as all my 200 nuns here in Druk Amitabha Mountain had just finished their 8 months' retreat and an examination that they did very well on, and since they had done such a good job, therefore I decided to take them for the walking pilgrimage. It took us 3 days to walk there, 3 days to stay there and another 3 days to walk back.

Many people did not agree that I should go on a walking pilgrimage to Maratika, because they told me, "You have breathing difficulties, your feet will be suffering, please don't walk, take a helicopter." All these problems of mine are well-known to people.

Walking down was not so difficult, but walking up was very difficult, especially so when the path was very steep. I guess I have been eating too much and exercising too little, so I was having shortage of breath, yet I was feeling so happy when all 200 over people were so happy spending time together, chanting mantra, walking up and down, buying foods and drinks from local people on our way, and distributing them to everybody. We really had so much fun exchanging our things, distributing foods and drinks to everyone. I could not believe that even in such a remote area, almost everything was available when we needed them.

When we were tired, there would be someone selling water, so water was constantly there. Sometimes we got water for free, sometimes we paid very little money. Everyone insisted to be sponsors and everyone rotated to be sponsors. Everyone of us was willing to sponsor food, water and anything just to make others happy and comfortable. When I saw that happening, I felt so warm and touched by the sense of harmonious unity with genuine feeling of love.

The funny thing was that whenever anything was being distributed, I was always the first one to get it. Sometimes I received too much. You can just imagine each of the 200 people gave me something, how much I ended up having. And I didn't want to refuse them because I didn't want to disappoint them. So I had to carry many things and I didn't know what to do. Much later, I found a very good method. I kept the things they gave me for 1 or 2 hours as a show of acceptance of their love for me, then I gave back to them, which made them so happy too. Unfortunately, I discovered this solution a little too late. So next time, I know I could use this trick.

Since I was really having breathing difficulties and I was panting a lot, when I was walking, so all the nuns sincerely requested me to fly back to Kathmandu in a helicopter. But I refused. I told them, "I want to finish the walking pilgrimage very successfully in a way that I will be satisfied and fulfilled that I have done it. If I go now, you all will feel very lost on the way back which is a 3-day walk." Also, this was not a good idea that some people who had money could fly back and those who couldn't afford had to walk. This kind of impression might be there and it would be very discouraging for everyone as a result. Money should not be the reason. We were not doing the walking pilgrimage because we had no money, but because we had to accumulate merit and wisdom. Not only that, we had to practise harmony, to humble ourselves and to get connected with the mother earth.

Walking on earth helps us to build a genuine relationship with the nature, at least with the nature of mother earth. This is the principle of Buddhadharma, this is how you get yourselves closer to nature. It doesn't mean that you always need to walk and you have to abandon other means of transportation. Sometimes, you need to take this kind of excursion just to get some experience.

From the samsaric point of view, not only you will get a mixture of adventures, but also you will get some spiritual benefits, such as a deep experiential knowledge by walking on the earth, climbing the mountain, and enjoying the natural sceneries without having to think much or analyse much using your intellectual knowledge. Being with the nature, such as climbing the mountain, listening to the sounds of waterfall, getting some fresh air and smiling at yourselves with all the loving friends, I think that’s the great part of life.