A PILGRIMAGE to Larung Gar BY AN OUTSIDER

NỖI BÂNG KHUÂNG CỦA “MỘT KẺ TRỞ VỀ”

Tôi thực sự yêu Larung Gar, bởi nó biệt lập với thế giới bên ngoài. Nơi con người vứt bỏ đi mọi lo toan và sống với những gì nguyên sơ nhất. Nơi tôi hay dẫu ngàn khách du lịch khác có đến và đi cũng không làm thay đổi sự huyền bí và nét đẹp tâm linh trong họ. Nơi lưng chừng thung lũng, cũng là lưng chừng thời gian. Nơi bão tố và bon chen dừng lại sau sắc đỏ. Nơi ai đó tới một lần rồi nhớ mãi trong suốt phần đời còn lại….

Để rồi, khi rời khỏi nơi đây, và ngay cả khi đang ngồi viết về chuyến hành trình của mình, tôi vẫn nghe vẳng bên tai tiếng tụng kinh và âm thanh của những sợi tràng hạt, mùi trà táo đỏ vẫn lẩn khuất khiến lòng mình bình yên.

THÔNG TIN THÊM:

Visa: Visa có thời hạn 15 ngày, bạn có thể dành trọn vẹn 15 ngày để thăm thú Tứ Xuyên. Bây giờ, xin visa khó hơn chút do bạn cần phải xin qua đại lí uỷ thác của Đại sứ quán Trung Quốc.

Hành trình: Từ Việt Nam, bạn có thể bay thẳng sang Thành Đô để tiết kiệm thời gian. Từ đây, bạn sẽ phải di chuyển tiếp bằng ô tô (xe buýt hoặc thuê xe riêng). Chặng đường tới gần Larung Gar có rất nhiều trạm kiểm soát và chỉ có người địa phương mới có thể đi qua các trạm gác này nên chúng tôi thuê xe riêng với lái xe là người bản địa.

Thời điểm: Larung Gar là một nơi tách biệt, nhiệt độ thấp quanh năm và không chia mùa rõ rệt, vì thế nên mùa nào tới đó cũng đẹp, hãy đi bất cứ khi nào có cơ hội.

Lưu trú: Hãy lựa chọn ở tại khách sạn địa phương là những ngôi nhà truyền thống của người Tạng. Bạn sẽ được sống gần như người bản địa: Ngủ trên các giường dài xếp xung quanh nhà, giữa nhà là những chiếc bàn lớn rất đặc biệt. Và chủ nhà thì rất nhiệt tình, chu đáo nữa.

Ẩm thực: Đồ ăn Tứ Xuyên khá ngon, thường sử dụng nhiều hồ tiêu Tứ Xuyên (còn gọi là Xuyên tiêu) có vị tê tê, cay cay. Nếu đi vào đúng mùa táo, mận và lê chín thì bạn có thể thoải mái hái ăn dọc đường.

Tiền tệ: Larung Gar thuộc lãnh thổ

Trung Quốc, do đó vẫn sử dụng đồng nhân dân tệ. Vùng này không nhiều điểm chấp nhận thanh toán thẻ visa, họ sử dụng wechatpay hoặc các phương thức thanh toán bằng ví điện tử thay thế cho tiền mặt. Vì vậy, bạn nên ước tính số tiền cần cho hành trình và đổi sang nhân dân tệ trước khi khởi hành.

Lưu ý: Khi vào học viện, hãy mặc những bộ đồ có màu sắc trang nhã vừa là tôn trọng nơi này, vừa tránh đi sự chú ý khi là người nước ngoài. Chúng tôi đi theo

I CALL MY JOURNEY A "PILGRIMAGE", NOT ONLY BECAUSE IT IS REALLY LONG AND ARDUOUS, BUT BECAUSE IT IS ALSO MY WAY OF SHOWING RESPECT TO LARUNG GAR, THE SANCTUARY OF BUDDHISM.

I am not religious. I am simply a culture lover and an avid traveler who believes in good things. So, Larung Gar is the destination for me. This is the largest Buddhist Institute in the world, a place not only for monks, but for any Buddhists, and it is the place that makes my soul “calm down” after any hardship. As the famous Greek dramatist - Menander said: “Culture makes all men gentle”.

So I left Hanoi to go to Larung Gar, the sanctuary of Buddhism.

Not even taking into account the restriction on foreign visitors, the journey to Larung Gar is really a challenge. I flew to Chengdu, then had to travel by bus through Kangding, Garze to get to Larung Gar. The distance is up to 865 km, which is equal to the distance from Hanoi to Quang Ngai. The long road has all kinds of terrain, from the snow-covered white mountains all year round to the field of yellow flowers under the sun. We had to be silent all the way not to expose ourselves as foreign tourists because if the police realized who we were, we would probably be forced to return to Chengdu. We stayed in Larung Gar for only one day, so we took advantage of a break at Sêrtar one night before leaving. The next morning, we got up early, got ready and waited for the local driver to come and pick us up. When it was safe, the hotel owner and the driver signaled for us to board quickly. Because there were many civil inspection stations along the way, the Tibetan driver had to take us quickly to a road right at the foot of the mountain, then we had to trek the 3 km road ahead as he waited for us at the other end of the bridge. In the early morning chill, we silently walked halfway across the mountain, passing large rocks - many engraved with Om mani Padmi hum - along the route and around the stream. During the mountain trip, we met many locals. Apparently, they were

familiar with the appearance of strangers, so they simply smiled happily at us. Although the walk was hard, we kept thinking that each step would bring us closer to the “crimson valley”, so we continued to walk. When I met the driver at the other end of the bridge, I was really relieved. When I was beyond the guard posts, I lay in the car and recalled the thrill I had just experienced and kept imagining myself as one of Tang Seng’s followers, going through 81 calamities. And my “reward” was extremely valuable. It was the moment of opening your eyes and realizing you were in a valley filled with crimson color and stars at 8 am. How strange! I took a deep breath to feel the cool air with the smell of an ancient temple, or a high stupa on the stone steps. It was the smell of peace and purity.

THE LIFE IN THE “CRIMSON VALLEY”

Exactly 40 years ago, in 1980, Jigme Phuntsok, a very influential lama at that time, founded this monastery to bring new life to Tibetan Buddhism as well as spread good things to the rest of the world. At first, the residence was just a small earthen meditation retreat for him. Over the years, the institute has grown so much that it attracts more than 40,000 monks and nuns. Along with the center, tens of thousands of crimson wooden houses were built, forming a crimson valley among the immense green mountains.

This special landscape is the starting point to attract tourists to Larung Gar. But it is the mysterious culture that keeps them here, so that anyone who returns from the “crimson valley” will say: Larung Gar is a place everyone should visit once in a lifetime.

The life and people here are really special. They live in a constant cycle: in the morning, they go to the institute to recite sutras and study Buddhism.

They just come home at sunset to take a bath and have a dinner. Everyone is vegetarian. They pack food in small indigo bags, drink soy milk, and pick whatever edible vegetable they can on their way home. Here, all toilets are public. They share baths and wash clothes together. Tens of thousands of people do not feel uncomfortable with such a communal life; they completely connect and share everything with each other.

Larung Gar is located at an altitude of nearly 4,000 m above sea level so the weather here is extremely harsh. The wind whistles in waves and the weather is freezing all year round. Apart from wearing thick coats and keeping houses warm, the residents of Larung Gar use Buddhist scriptures to warm their hearts, and that is the most effective way for them to combat the winter. The day I visited, the temperature was about -7oc. Everyone wore a thick fur robe, one holding a rosary, one holding a prayer wheel, muttering and walking in the cold.

The red apple tea here tasted very strange and I’ve tried to find the taste again in many places but I have never had something so special. Perhaps the difference is not in the taste, but in the moment. I drank tea

MANY CRIMSON OLD HOUSES BEGAN TO BE DEMOLISHED IN LATE 2016, AS THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT WANTED TO REDUCE THE NUMBER OF MONKS AND NUNS THERE AND PREVENT FIRES AS THOUSANDS OF TIGHTLY PACKED LARUNG GAR HOUSES ARE BUILT OF WOOD. INSTEAD, THEY BUILT A NEW, MORE SOLID BUILDING, RIGHT NEXT DOOR FACING THE VALLEY. THE NEW SETTLEMENTS WERE PAINTED ORANGE AND ARE SAFER AND CLEANER, BUT NOT MANY MONKS WANTED TO PART WITH LARUNG GAR AND MOVE INTO THE NEW PLACE. BY THE TIME I LEFT, A LOT OF CRIMSON OLD HOUSES HAD BEEN TORN DOWN. SO IF YOU INTEND TO COME HERE, YOU SHOULD COME BEFORE THE "CRIMSON VALLEY" IS JUST A TINY "CRIMSON CIRCLE."

while standing in the middle of the valley, secretly observing life in Larung Gar and watching the crimson dots moving in the freezing weather.

Before that, I had heard a lot about the three prostrations of Tibetans. On these occasions, one typically prostrates three times in a method that is known as “five-point veneration”. In the cold weather, the air was thin and moving was a difficult task for outsiders like me, yet the locals were able to perform this ceremony for a long distance, even when no one was there to witness it or if it was raining. Perhaps, that is the miracle of faith. Tibetans worship more than 100,000 times in their lives and the three prostrations is a spiritual experience for them. And one were to die on that spiritual trip, it considered a peaceful and meaningful departure.

In the afternoon, it was a little sunny. I wandered alone to hear the temple bell and saw a man

and his goat coming back home. I kept thinking about the story of a father who sold his whole herd to fulfill his “pilgrimage” of the three prostrations to the sacred site of Lhasa. He was exhausted and died on a lonely mountain road. Waiting forever and not seeing his father return, the son was determined to fulfill his father’s wish. He kept practicing the three prostrations over many mountains and across the deep valleys of the majestic Himalayas to reach the Jokhang temple. There he offered Buddha his fulfillment on behalf of his deceased father. Faith is really great thing, and it is a blessing for those who still have faith in their lives.

A TRAVELER WHO DAZED WITH LONGING

I really love Larung Gar, because it’s isolated from the outside world. It’s where people throw away all worries and live with their most basic needs. It has not lost its mystery and spiritual beauty despite welcoming me and thousands of other tourists. The middle of the valley is also the middle of time.

It’s where the storms and the busy lifestyle are stopped by the crimson color. It’s a place someone visits only once but remembers for a lifetime.

When I left Larung Gar, and even when I was writing about my journey, I still heard the sound of chanting and the rosary and smelled the aroma of red apple tea. And I truly found peace in my heart.

MORE INFORMATION:

Visa: Visa is valid for 15 days, you can spend a full 15 days to visit Sichuan. Getting a visa is currently a bit harder because you need to apply through an agency of the Chinese Embassy.

Itinerary: From Vietnam, you can fly directly to Chengdu to save time. From here, you will have to travel further by bus or rental car. The road to Larung Gar is full of checkpoints that only locals can pass through so we rented a private car with a local driver.

Time: Larung Gar is a secluded place with low temperatures year-round and there is no clear season, so you could go there whenever you have a chance.

Accommodation: Choose to stay at a local hotel which is a traditional Tibetan house. You will be able to live almost like a native: sleeping on long beds arranged around the house. The host is usually very enthusiastic and thoughtful.

Cuisine: Sichuan food is quite delicious and often uses Sichuan pepper which creates a tingly numbness in the mouth. If you visit here in the apple, plum and pear season, you can freely pick them from the trees along the way.

Currency: Larung Gar is a Chinese territory, so it uses the yuan. There are not many places that accept Visa card, and they use wechatpay or other electronic payment methods instead of cash. Therefore, you should estimate the amount of money needed for your itinerary and convert it to yuan before departure.

Other notes: When you visit the institute, you should wear modest clothes to pay respect and avoid being noticed as a foreigner. We went in small groups so as not to draw attention.