Kailash Kora: Mount Kailash shining in the morning sun

Tibet:Mount Kailash,Gangs Rin-po-che, meaning "precious jewel of snows" གངས་རིན་པོ་ཆེ། 6638m, originally uploaded by reurinkjan.

Mount Kailash (also known as Kailasa Parvata, Kangri Rinpoche, Tise mountain, Gangs Rinpoche, etc.) is a peak in the Gangdise Mountains, a part of the Himalayas in Tibet. The peak is located near Lake Manasarowar and Lake Rakshastal in Tibet.

Some of the longest rivers in Asia such as Indus River, Sutlej River (a tributary of Indus River), Brahmaputra River, and Karnali River (a tributary of Ganges River) all originate in Mount Kailash-Lake Manasarovar region.

Mount Kailash is considered a sacred place for pilgrimage by religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and the Bon faith. Every year, thousands pilgrims travel to Kailash, a pilgrimage tradition going back thousands of years. Pilgrims of many religions believe that circumambulating Mount Kailash on foot is a holy ritual that will bring good fortune. The path around Mount Kailash is 52 km (32 miles) long.

Mount Kailash is located in a particularly remote and inhospitable area of the Tibetan Himalayas. A few modern amenities such as benches, resting places and refreshment kiosks, restaurants etc. exist there for the pilgrims.

According to Hinduism Lord Shiva resides at the summit of the legendary Kailasa, where he meditates along with his wife Goddess Parvati, the daughter of Himalaya.

Tantric Buddhists believe that Mount Kailash is the home of the Buddha Demchok (Demchog or Chakrasamvara) who represents supreme bliss. There are many sacred sites in the region associated with Guru Rinpoche (Padmasambhava) whose Tantric practices in holy sites around Tibet are credited with establishing Buddhism as the main religion of Tibet in the 7th-8th century AD.

The Bon, a religion and the oldest still-extant spiritual tradition which predates Buddhism in Tibet, maintains that the entire mystical region and the nine-story Swastika Mountain are the seat of all spiritual powers.

Following the Chinese army entering Tibet in 1950 and the Sino-Indian War of 1962, pilgrimage to Mount Kailash was stopped from 1954 to 1978. After that, a limited number of Indian pilgrims have been allowed to visit Mount Kailash, under the supervision of the Chinese and Indian governments.

The Jeweled Hall of Ten Thousand Buddhas

The Jeweled Hall of Ten Thousand Buddhas at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, situated in Talmage, Mendocino County, California, USA. The city was founded by Master Hsuan Hua. Constructed in 1982, the Jeweled Hall is adorned with streamers, banners, lamps and a 20-foot (6 m) statue of a thousand-handed Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva. The walls of the hall are adorned with 10,000 images of the Buddha molded by Master Hsuan Hua himself.

Avalokitesvara is a bodhisattva who embodies the compassion of all Buddhas, and one of the most revered bodhisattvas in mainstream Mahayana Buddhism. In China, Avalokitesvara is often depicted in a female form known as Guan Yin. In India, Avalokitesvara is also referred to as Padmapani, Lokesvara or Tara. In Tibetan, Avalokitesvara is known as Chenrezig, and is said to be incarnated in the Dalai Lama, the Karmapa and other high Lamas. In Mongolia, he is called Megjid Janraisig or Xongsim Bodisadva.

Amitabha Buddha meditating in Yoga posture

Amitabha (also known as Amida Buddha or Great Buddha), is the Buddha described in the scriptures of the Mahayana Buddhism. Amitabha is the principal Buddha in the Pure Land Buddhism (also referred to as Amidism), a branch of Mahayana Buddhism which is one of the most popular schools of Buddhism in East Asia, along with Zen Buddhism. According to the Mahayana scriptures, Amitabha possesses infinite merits resulting from good deeds over countless past lives as a bodhisattva named Dharmakāra. Amitabha is translatable as ‘Infinite Light,’ hence Amitābha is often called ‘The Buddha of Infinite Light.’

The bronze statue of Amida Buddha meditating in Padmasana Yoga posture is located in Kōtoku-in, a Buddhist temple of the Jōdo shū sect in the city of Kamakura in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. The height of the statue is 13.35 meters and weighs approximately 93 tons. The statue is hollow, and visitors can view the interior of the statue for a small payment.

It is believed that the statue was originally cast in 1252, in the Kamakura period, as conceptualized by the priest Joko, and sculpted by One-Goroemon and Tanji-Hisatomo. The statue was built inside a wooden temple, but that building washed away in the tsunami of September 20th, 1498 during the Muromachi period. But the statue survived the tsunami. Since then the statue has been in the open air. Repairs were carried out in 1960-1961, when the neck was strengthened and precautionary steps were implemented to protect it from earthquakes.

Yoga, the traditional physical and mental disciplines originating in India, is associated with meditative practices in eastern religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. In Hinduism, it also refers to one of the six orthodox schools of Hindu philosophy. Buddhism yoga is associated with meditative methods. In Jainism it refers to the sum total of all activities; mental, verbal and physical.

Ancient expression of Yogic ideas can be found in the early sermons of the Lord Buddha. A key teaching of Buddha was that meditative absorption should be combined with the practice of mindfulness. Buddha taught meditative states alone are not an end and even the highest meditative state is not liberating. Instead of attaining a complete cessation of thought, some sort of mental activity must take place such as a liberating cognition based on the practice of mental awareness.

The Buddha also departed from earlier Yogic thought in discarding the early Brahminic notion of liberation at death. Liberation for the Brahminic Yogi was thought to be the realization at death of a non-dual meditative state anticipated in life. In fact, old Brahminic metaphors for the liberation at death of the yogic adept were given a new meaning by Buddha. Yoga is of much importance to many branches of Buddhism.

Yogachara Buddhism, also spelled Yogacara Buddhism, is a school of philosophy and psychology that developed in India during the 4th to 5th centuries. Yogacara received the name as it provided a Yogi a framework for engaging in the practices that lead to the path of the bodhisattva. The Yogacara sect teaches Yoga in order to reach enlightenment.

Ch'an Buddhism, also known as Seon or Zen: The name Zen derives from the Sanskrit word ‘dhyaana’ via the Chinese ‘ch'an’, and it is a form of Mahayana Buddhism noted for its proximity to Yoga. In the west, Zen is often set alongside Yoga. The two schools of meditation display familiar resemblances, and it merits special attention since the Zen Buddhist school of meditation has some of its roots in Yogic practices. Certain essential elements of Yoga are important both for Buddhism in general and for Zen in particular.

Indo-Tibetan Buddhism: Yoga is central to Tibetan Buddhism. In the Nyingma tradition, the path of meditation is divided into nine Yanas, or vehicles. The last six are described as ‘Yoga Yanas’; Kriya Yoga, Upa Yoga, Yoga Yana, Mahā Yoga, Anu Yoga and Ati Yoga. The Sarma traditions also include Kriya, Upa (Charya) and Yoga, with the Anuttara Yoga class substituting for Mahayoga and Atiyoga.

Other Tantra Yoga practices include a system of 108 body postures practiced with breath and heart rhythm. The Nyingma tradition also practices Yantra Yoga (in Tibetan: Trul khor), a discipline which includes breath control (or Pranayama), meditative contemplation. The body postures of ancient Tibetan Yogis are depicted on the walls of the Dalai Lama's summer temple of Lukhang. An account of Tibetan Yoga by Chang (1993) refers to caṇḍalī (Tibetan: tummo), the generation of heat in one's own body, as being ‘the very foundation of the whole of Tibetan Yoga’. Chang also claims that Tibetan Yoga involves reconciliation of apparent polarities, such as Prana and mind, relating this to theoretical implications of Tantrism.

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Himalayan lake in Tibet

Tibet - Himalaya, originally uploaded by Stephankarg.

Everest Climbing Routes: Southeast Ridge

Mount Everest (also called Sagarmāthā / Chomolungma or Qomolangma / Zhumulangma / Zhūmùlǎngmǎ Fēng), the highest mountain on Earth (8,848 meters or 29,029 ft), has two main climbing routes, the southeast ridge from Nepal and the northeast ridge from Tibet. The southeast ridge is technically easier and is the more frequently used route. It was the route used by Sir Edmund Hillary (New Zealand mountaineer and explorer) and Tenzing Norgay (aka Sherpa Tenzing, a Nepali Indian Sherpa mountaineer who later settled in India) in 1953 and the first recognized of fifteen routes to the top by 1996.

The ascent via the southeast ridge begins with a trek to Base Camp at 5,380 m (17,700 feet) on the south side of Everest in Nepal. Expeditions usually fly into Lukla (2,860 m) from Kathmandu and pass through Namche Bazaar. Climbers then hike to Base Camp, which usually takes six to eight days. Climbing equipment and supplies are carried by yaks, dzopkyos (yak hybrids) and human porters to Base Camp on the Khumbu Glacier. When Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay climbed Everest in 1953, they started from Kathmandu Valley, as there were no roads further east at that time.

Climbers spend a couple of weeks in Base Camp, acclimatizing to the altitude in order to prevent altitude sickness. During that time, Sherpas (Sherpas are an ethnic group, who migrated from eastern Tibet to Nepal within the last 300 to 400 years) from the most mountainous region of Nepal, high in the Himalayas) and some expedition climbers will set up ropes and ladders in the treacherous Khumbu Icefall. Seracs, crevasses and shifting blocks of ice make the icefall one of the most dangerous sections of the route. Many climbers and Sherpas have been killed in this section. To reduce the hazard, climbers will usually begin their ascent well before dawn when the freezing temperatures glue ice blocks in place. Above the icefall is Camp I at 6,065 meters (19,900 ft).

From Camp I, climbers make their way up the Western Cwm (Cwm, pronounced as coom, is Welsh for a bowl shaped valley/cirque) to the base of the Lhotse face, where Camp II or Advanced Base Camp (ABC) is established at 6,500 m (21,300 ft). The Western Cwm is a relatively flat, gently rising glacial valley, marked by huge lateral crevasses in the centre which prevent direct access to the upper reaches of the Cwm. Climbers are forced to cross on the far right near the base of Nuptse to a small passageway known as the "Nuptse corner". The Western Cwm is also called the "Valley of Silence" as the topography of the area generally cuts off wind from the climbing route. The high altitude and a clear, windless day can make the Western Cwm unbearably hot for climbers.

From ABC, climbers ascend the Lhotse face on fixed ropes up to Camp III, located on a small ledge at 7,470 m (24,500 ft). From there, it is another 500 meters to Camp IV on the South Col at 7,920 m (26,000 ft). From Camp III to Camp IV, climbers are faced with two additional challenges: The Geneva Spur and The Yellow Band. The Geneva Spur is an anvil shaped rib of black rock named by a 1952 Swiss expedition. Fixed ropes assist climbers in scrambling over this snow covered rock band. The Yellow Band is a section of inter-layered marble, phyllite, and semischist which also requires about 100 meters of rope for traversing it.

On the South Col, climbers enter the death zone. Climbers typically only have a maximum of two or three days they can endure at this altitude for making summit bids. Clear weather and low winds are critical factors in deciding whether to make a summit attempt. If weather does not cooperate within these short few days, climbers are forced to descend, many all the way back down to Base Camp.

From Camp IV, climbers will begin their summit push around midnight with hopes of reaching the summit (still another 1,000 meters above) within 10 to 12 hours. Climbers will first reach "The Balcony" at 8,400 m (27,600 ft), a small platform where they can rest and gaze at peaks to the south and east in the early dawn of light. Continuing up the ridge, climbers are then faced with a series of imposing rock steps which usually forces them to the east into waist deep snow, a serious avalanche hazard. At 8,750 m (28,700 ft), a small table-sized dome of ice and snow marks the South Summit.

From the South Summit, climbers follow the knife-edge southeast ridge along what is known as the "Cornice traverse" where snow clings to intermittent rock. This is the most exposed section of the climb as a misstep to the left would send one 2,400 m (8,000 ft) down the southwest face while to the immediate right is the 3,050 m (10,000 ft) Kangshung face. At the end of this traverse, there is an imposing 12 m (40 ft) rock wall called the "Hillary Step" at 8,760 m (28,740 ft).

Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay were the first climbers to ascend this step and they did it with primitive ice climbing equipment and with ropes. Nowadays, climbers will ascend this step using fixed ropes previously set up by Sherpas. Once above the step, it is a comparatively easy climb to the top on moderately angled snow slopes - though the exposure on the ridge is extreme especially while traversing very large cornices of snow. With increasing numbers of people climbing the mountain in recent years, the Step has frequently become a bottleneck, with climbers forced to wait significant amounts of time for their turn on the ropes, leading to problems in getting climbers efficiently up and down the mountain. After the Hillary Step, climbers also must traverse a very loose and rocky section that has a very large entanglement of fixed ropes that can be troublesome in bad weather. Climbers will typically spend less than a half-hour on the "top of the world" as they realize the need to descend to Camp IV before darkness sets in, afternoon weather becomes a serious problem, or supplemental oxygen tanks run out.

Mount Everest, which is part of the Himalaya range in Asia, is located on the border between Sagarmatha Zone, Nepal, and Tibet, China.

Adapted from: Wikipedia