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# 2024-07-10 - Altai Himalayas by Nicholas Roerich | |
Two friends recommended this book to me, and one of them offered to | |
give me a copy. One friend was interested in the accounts of Issa, | |
a story about Jesus going to the Himalayas in the missing years | |
between his childhood and adulthood. I suppose the other friend | |
was more interested in the author, and in the culture of Tibet and | |
Tibetan Buddhism. | |
I think it is important to keep in mind that the author was an artist | |
and an idealist. This gives him poetic license to speak | |
"cosmologically" about the evolution of humanity, and at the same | |
time to express outraged complaints about his loss of privilege as he | |
traveled through the territories of local despots and was submitted | |
to their petty injustices. | |
My favorite parts of the book were descriptions of natural beauty in | |
the Himalayas, and also descriptions of human beauty, bright and | |
shining exceptions in contrast to the surrounding darkness. | |
# Introduction | |
Without attempting to elucidate, explain, or justify it, therefore, I | |
shall simply say that there is a tenable point of view from which one | |
may regard Roerich as an envoy of those powers which preside over the | |
life and evolution of humanity in the same sense that gardeners | |
preside over a garden: that he journeys into desolate and forbidden | |
lands for the fulfillment of a mission the purpose of which will | |
increasingly reveal itself. Whether one believes this or not, it | |
would be hard to imagine a better ambassador of good will from the | |
West to the East, for the reason that although he represents the | |
summit of European accomplishment and culture, Roerich is deeply | |
Oriental in his temperament, sympathies, and point of view. ... he | |
believed, as many others are coming to believe, that beauty is the | |
universal and free solvent where by racial and national animosities | |
may be dissolved. | |
# Part I: India | |
But if the sphinx of Egypt is mutilated, the sphinx of Asia remains | |
safeguarded by great deserts. | |
There was no possibility of meeting with Tagore. Strangely such | |
things happen in life. In London, the poet found us. Then in | |
America we succeeded in meeting him in New York; and he also met | |
George in Boston. But in India itself we did not meet! We could not | |
go to Bolpur and Tagore could not be in Calcutta. He already was | |
preparing for his tour in China. | |
In Golta Pass two tribes of monkeys are at war. The guide arranges a | |
battle for a most reasonable fee. Nowadays all battles may be | |
arranged thus easily! | |
And here also is Jaipur with its fairylike astrological observatory | |
and with the charm of an unspoiled Hindu Moslem city. | |
Fatehpur--Sikri, Agri--are chips of a departed culture. | |
A woman quickly telling her rhythms performs her morning Pranayama on | |
the shore [of the Ganges]. In the evening she may again be there | |
sending upon the stream of the sacred river a garland of lights as | |
prayers for the welfare of her children. And these fireflies of the | |
woman's soul, prayer-inspired, travel long upon the dark watery | |
surface. Beholding these offerings of the spirit one can even forget | |
the stout priests of the golden temples. We are minded of other | |
things. We recall those Yogis who send into space their thoughts, | |
thus constructing the coming evolution. | |
The Maharajah of Mysore is awakened with special songs--songs of | |
beginning and of end. | |
Each day a woman's hand molds the sand and the entrance of the house | |
into a special design. This is the symbol that within the house all | |
is well, and there is neither sickness, death, nor discord. IF there | |
is no happiness in the house then the hand of the woman becomes | |
stilled. A seeming shield of beauty is placed before the house by | |
the hand of the woman at the benevolent hour. And little girls in | |
schools are being taught a variety of designs for the signs of | |
happiness. An inexplicable beauty lives in this custom in India. | |
[Vivekananda] asked the so-called Christians, "If you love the | |
teaching of Jesus, why do you not follow it?" | |
At the same time, the Vedanta and Advaita clearly establish the | |
principle of unity. Some of the most cosmogonic parts of the Vedas | |
are written by women, and now in India has arrived the epoch of the | |
women. Greetings to the women of India! | |
Ramakrishna says: "In Atman there is no distinction of male or | |
female, of Brahmin or Kshatriya and the like." | |
Buddhists are not limited by caste and are free to perform all kinds | |
of work. They work fast, are merry, are quick to understand and easy | |
to adapt themselves. | |
> Watch the movement of the stars, as one who participates in them, | |
> and constantly consider the transmutation of one element into | |
> another, because such a process purifies one from the grime of | |
> earthly life. | |
So reflects Marcus Aurelius. So also says an educated Hindu from out | |
of the Himalayas. | |
Special attention must be given to the Puranas--therein are many most | |
valuable indications: "When the sun and the moon and Tishya and the | |
planet Jupiter are in one mansion, then the Krita (Satya) age will | |
begin." So does the Vishnu Purana point out the age of Maitreya. | |
every obstacle must be the birth of possibilities. ... Success lies | |
in the enlarging of the consciousness. | |
# Part II: Sikhim | |
The upper portion of the Buddhist banners bear the cross-shaped | |
spear, disk, crescent, and lotus petals. Are not the emblems of all | |
teachings engraved upon one flagstaff? In these reminders of the | |
symbols of the elements of Nature everyone will find an image near... | |
In the cultures of Zoroaster there is represented the chalice with a | |
flame. The same flaming chalice is engraved upon the ancient Hebrew | |
silver shekels of the time of Solomon and of an even remoter | |
antiquity. In the Hindu excavations of the periods from Chandragupta | |
Maurya, we observe the same powerfully stylized image. Sergius of | |
Radonega, laboring over the enlightenment of Russia, administered | |
from the flaming chalice. Upon Tibetan images, the Bodhisattvas are | |
holding the chalice blossoming with tongues of flame. One may also | |
remember the Druid chalice of life. Aflame, too, was the Holy Grail. | |
Not in imagination; verily by deeds are being interwoven the great | |
teachings of all ages, the language of pure fire! | |
IT has long since been said, "Faith without deeds is dead." Buddha | |
pronounced three paths: the long way of knowledge, the shorter way of | |
faith, and the shortest way--through action. David and Solomon also | |
glorify the strivings of labor. The Vedanta extols the manifestation | |
of works. Verily, in the foundation of all covenants, action is | |
placed foremost. This is the creative fire of the Spirit. | |
And if through the shell of the objects of every day you will be | |
enabled to behold the summits of the cosmos--what a new wondrous and | |
undiminished outlook shall the world have for the unsheathed eye. | |
The medical lore of the ancients acclaimed laughter as useful for the | |
purification of the glands. How useful then must a smile be for the | |
brain! Thus shall the trembling conjuries of fear be transformed | |
into the valiant call of joy. | |
Do not record the things which can be read in books but those which | |
are related to you in person; for those thoughts are the living ones. | |
Not by the book but by the thought shall you judge life. Understand | |
the sparks of the primordial bliss. | |
# Part III: Pir-Panzal | |
You may wonder how we fare without theaters. But we have drama here | |
each day--only without a stage, in actual life. | |
# Part V: Lamayuru-Hemis | |
Throughout Ladak are scattered stones with images of a cross, | |
apparently Druid or Nestorian. The most ancient and now for- | |
gotten country preserves the Druid signs and all possible later | |
symbols. | |
Not far from the site of Buddha stand most ancient tombs | |
called ancient Dard graves. Their age is of course considerably | |
more than a thousand years. | |
# Part VI: Leh-Karakorum-Khotan | |
Very useful is Tibetan tea; it is really a hot soup and warms one | |
very well. It is light and nourishing. The soda which is used in | |
the tea keeps the lips from painful chapping. | |
Do not overfeed the dogs and horses, otherwise bleeding will begin | |
and you will have to do away with the animal. The whole path is | |
covered with traces of blood. One must make sure, in advance, that | |
the horses have already been on the heights. Many untried horses | |
perish at once. On such difficult passes all social differences are | |
erased; all remain just people, equally working, equally near to | |
danger. Young friends, you must know all conditions of the caravan | |
life in the desert. Only upon such ways will you learn to fight with | |
the elements, where each uncertain step is already an actual death. | |
There you will forget the number of days and hours. There the stars | |
will shine for you as heavenly runes. The foundation of all | |
teachings is fearlessness. Not in bitter-sweet suburban camps, but | |
on the severe heights, learn keenness of thought and resourcefulness | |
of action. Not only during lectures, in well-heated auditoriums, but | |
upon the cold glaciers, realize the power of the work of matter and | |
you will understand that each end is but the beginning of something | |
still more significant and beautiful. | |
Here in the spaces of Asia originated the tales of the Giant | |
Bogatyres. Either it is the height or the purity of the air which | |
makes all proportions bigger, and the rider, who appears from behind | |
a hill, looks like a giant. ... The scale of measurements is great | |
here. | |
We read a Latin inscription upon a stone, concerning the camping of | |
the Fillipi Expedition here. | |
Fillipi Expedition (1913 through 1914) | |
Only the very summit of Sanju is dangerous. There the yak must | |
skillfully jump across the crevice between two upper crags of a bare | |
rock. There you must resign yourself to the sure-footedness of the | |
yak. | |
As a farewell--the mountain bestowed on us something unusual: on the | |
border of the oasis, just on the very last rock on which we could | |
still touch, appeared the same designs that we saw in Dardistan on | |
the way back to Ladak. In the books about Ladak, these are called | |
Dard designs, although apparently they bring us back to the Neoliths. | |
And here, in Chinese Turkestan, on the shiny brown masses of rock, | |
are again as light as silhouettes, the same archers, the same | |
mountain sheep with huge twisted horns, and the same ritual dancers, | |
rounds and processions of people. These are verily messengers of the | |
transmigrations of the people. And there is some special meaning in | |
this, that these designs were left on the border of the mountain | |
kingdom. | |
gopher://gopherpedia.com/0/Dardistan | |
Part VIII: Takla Makan--Karashahr | |
Buddha was opposed to prisons. He demanded labor and intensive work. | |
In Darjeeling not long ago there was an interesting case. In a | |
crowd an old lama was arrested. He did not try to vindicate himself | |
and was put into prison. Then came the time to liberate him but the | |
prisoner would not come out. He said that never and nowhere did he | |
have such a quiet place, where there was no noise, where they fed one | |
and did not disturb his meditation. With difficulty they persuaded | |
the old man to leave the prison. | |
* * * | |
Here continue crucifixions and treachery, the sale of people and | |
generous remuneration for murderers. The hastening of evolution is | |
necessary. | |
* * * | |
We spoke about the fertility of the district where, besides varied | |
vegetables, many curative herbs: ricinus, licorice, digitalis, and | |
others, are growing wild. ... They speak about the absence of | |
forests in these localities; but two days' march away (and the | |
crossings are short) there is a wonderful store of coal. ... At | |
that, how easy it is to plant whole spaces with trees. While | |
excavating, great stumps have often been found in these places as | |
well as the trunks of former forests. It is only necessary to apply | |
the least diligence and resourcefulness and the district will become | |
unrecognizable. There is plenty of water during the summer; one has | |
only to collect it in reservoirs. | |
* * * | |
An instructive scene in the bazaar. A mullah with a whip is chasing | |
the people to the mosque. The lashes of the whip strike the backs, | |
the shoulders, the faces. The enthusiasm for prayer is evoked with | |
difficulty and many are hurrying to hide themselves in the | |
side-streets. They say that Medresse--the schools at the mosques--are | |
visited rarely. Even in the wilderness, the people expect more | |
refined and more profound forms of knowledge. | |
* * * | |
Salt marshes, bushes, willows, small villages. A short crossing to | |
Faizabad. By half-past one, we are already at the site. | |
Nevertheless, in the book of routes, the way from Kashgar to Faizabad | |
is divided into three days. Even at a slow walking pace one can | |
reach it sooner. How thoroughly all books with information about the | |
"facts" must be inspected. Too many untrue "facts" are lying on the | |
shelves of libraries and there is too much reverence attached to the | |
printed word, without any revaluation. | |
* * * | |
It seems to be the most desolate crossing. Almost the entire time we | |
went along the sites of old destroyed forests. All the barkhans are | |
filled with gigantic old stumps and roots. Apparently there was a | |
big forest here but now people have carried away the wood. The sands | |
have scattered it and one proceeds as though along a gnarled | |
cemetery. The scanty brush cannot withstand the sand burans. | |
Everything is gray. Gray also are the pools and the spring floods | |
which have begun. Ditches, stumps, sand slopes... Everything is dead. | |
* * * | |
In the morning came a Swedish woman missionary. She has been in | |
this country for fifteen years and not one convert! However, the | |
missionary busies herself with doctoring and midwifery and here it is | |
absolutely necessary because all these "cities" are without a single | |
doctor. | |
* * * | |
In this country are many narrators of legends and fairy tales which | |
touch the questions of the Koran and religion. Often the listeners | |
into into a dialogue with the narrator. Often keen questions upset | |
the routine of superstition. In Turfan exists a curious custom of | |
sending young men with an experienced guide in the guise of a | |
story-teller through the whole country, even to Mecca. Thus is | |
evolving a unique experimental university. Through this, one may | |
explain the adaptability of Turfanians. | |
* * * | |
They approached a chasm-like crevice in the mountain. And as they | |
entered, the stone door closed after them. What passed where the | |
holy people dwell, no one knows. Some time afterward the shepherd | |
who had been sent for something came out; he came to the city to buy | |
bread at the bazaar. He offered them money, but the people were | |
astonished at the coming of the giant and they refused to take his | |
money, saying that for 2,000 years such money had not been current. | |
The shepherd quickly returned to the mountains and the king of the | |
place hurried after him in order to investigate this wonder. But | |
apparently the holy people have no need for kings, for the mountain | |
closed. Nor could it be opened either by tempest or by prayer. | |
# Part IX: Karashahr--Dzungaria | |
A dispute between a Sart Bey and the Kalamuch. The Sart says | |
provokingly: "You have no god." The Kalamuck answers calmly: "If a | |
Sart comes among us we feed [them] and give [them] drink, and we feed | |
[their] horse and give [them] provisions on [their] journey. But if | |
a Kalamuck comes to the Sart, [they] is not given food and [their] | |
horse remains hungry. Judge for yourself, who possesses the | |
essential." | |
We encounter a few beautiful Karashahr horses. This is the identical | |
breed which one sees on ancient miniatures and on the statuettes of | |
old China. Some scientists considered this breed extinct. But here | |
it is before us, vigorous, dark-bay, firm in gait. It would be good | |
for other countries to examine this breed. | |
* * * | |
The Chinese are taking vaccine against smallpox, not from calves but | |
from people, and so they are contaminating people with syphilis and | |
other diseases. | |
* * * | |
Again a variant of the legend about Turfan: "From a cave came out a | |
tall man and went to the bazaar to buy something. He offered to pay | |
for his purchases with gold coins which were a thousand years old. | |
Then the man went back to the same cave and disappeared." | |
* * * | |
George is astonished that until now human beings are sold. And this | |
goes on openly and businesslike. | |
* * * | |
It is impossible to "listen with equal indifference to the good and | |
to the evil." | |
* * * | |
[On Easter] | |
A clear morning. Lamas are coming to congratulate us upon the | |
holiday. They are saying: "Christ is risen." Well, western | |
clergymen, would you rejoice with Buddhists on their holidays? ... | |
Only knowledge without prejudice opens up new possibilities. The | |
"incidental" of yesterday aligns itself with the moving files of | |
evolution, and to-days "imperative" seems often to become simply an | |
incidental experience. | |
* * * | |
In Turkestan one Mullah, because of the absence of an "unfaithful" | |
from the mosque, gave orders to pour forty pails of water over his | |
crown. After the seventeenth pail the unruly "faithful" | |
[unfaithful?] one had died. What is there to do about such logic? | |
* * * | |
Soon our Geshe will go to his mountains. To-day he tells us that the | |
head of the medical school in Lhasa spoke to him about "Azaras," | |
which is their name for the Mahatmas living in the mountains and | |
using their profound knowledge for the aid of humanity. This is not | |
Sanskrit. But how difficult it is to force the Geshe to tell us | |
details! Soon he will leave. | |
The head of the medical school told our Geshe that he himself met | |
such an "Azara" in the mountains of Sikhim. It is difficult to | |
ascertain more than the fact that there was a small house and that | |
the "Azara" was unusually tall. Then the "Azara" departed from the | |
place. | |
* * * | |
The stonelike metallic mass which remains after the cremation from | |
the lower lobes of the brain is called Ring-se, meaning treasure. | |
According to the size of this mass, the psychic development of the | |
dead is judged. What proof of materialism! On the border of Tibet, | |
we saw such a "mass" after the cremation of one Mongolian lama. It | |
looks like the precipitant of amber. | |
* * * | |
After passing red and copper mountains we descended to a green steppe | |
which is surrounded by blue crests; again the purity of the colors is | |
like a fairy rainbow. Map'an (thirteen p'o-t'ai from Kuldinen) is a | |
joyous resting place on the steppe. | |
* * * | |
Again a miracle; while we are still on the gangplank, the stevedores | |
gather around us and beg us to "tell" them. On the top deck we are | |
surrounded by a circle of all ages. And all of them are burning | |
equally with one desire: To know. Each one has [their own] angle of | |
approach; each one [their own] information, but all have one fervent | |
desire--to know more. And how they discriminate in what is told! | |
What remarks they make! One wants to know about the economic | |
situation of the countries; another wants to know about politics; | |
still another searches information about Hindu Yogis, saying, "That's | |
where truth is." People who so desire to know will receive what they | |
desire. | |
# Part X: Altai | |
But Vakhramey is not only versed in the coöperative movement and in | |
canticles. According to the covenant of the wise ones, he is not | |
astonished at anything; he knows the ores and the deer; he knows the | |
little bees and especially the secret traditions. He knows the herbs | |
and the flowers. This is indisputable. And not only does he know | |
how and where the flowers grow, and where the roots are hidden, but | |
he loves them and delights in them. Gathering a great bunch of | |
vari-colored grasses, that reach up to his gray beard, his face | |
lights up. And he pets them. And caressingly he speaks of their | |
usefulness. Here is verily Panteleon the Healer. It is not dark | |
witchery but knowledge drawn from experience. Greetings, Vakhramey | |
Semeonich! For thee, on Himalaya, does the Fire-Blossom grow! | |
Here is a task for the young: Give an image of the future life. From | |
factory whistles and from the peal of bells some one has synchronized | |
a symphony; though as yet it is unsuccessful, the whole conception is | |
truly resonant. And thus for the building of a house an alert hand | |
is necessary and dispassionate labor. | |
# Part XI: Mongolia | |
Unexpected guests come swiftly from out the desert Toward evening a | |
mysterious stranger, in a beautiful gold embroidered Mongol garb, | |
came galloping along. Who was he? Hurriedly he entered the tent. | |
Without naming himself he sad that he was our friend, that he must | |
warn us concerning an attack prepared against us on the border of | |
Tibet. He warned us of the need of increasing our guards and our | |
reconnoitering troops. Thus he spoke and galloped away. Who was he? | |
Our lamas say: "He is either a thief or a robber or a collector for | |
the monastery." No one liked the luxurious garments of the stranger. | |
But he was a friend. He desired to help. Again an operatic | |
episode. | |
[You may wonder how we fare without theaters. But we have drama here | |
each day--only without a stage, in actual life.] | |
* * * | |
The gesture of greeting of the Tsaidam Mongols is remarkable. They | |
uplift their arms as though paying their reverence to the sun. It is | |
so rhythmical and beautiful! It reminded me of the beautiful gesture | |
of the Hindu Brahmins that I saw in Benares during the hour of | |
morning prayer. In the same way I recall the beautiful gesture of | |
the Mussulmans when they are paying homage to the old Mazars (tombs). | |
# Part XII: Tibet | |
Everywhere are the signs of the cross. The old Mongolian coins of | |
Nestorian khans have a cross, and over an ancient Buddhist monastery | |
near Peking is a cross. On the seat of the saddle is also a cross | |
and the reins are also fitted out with a cross. Even upon the stones | |
of Ladak and Sinkiang are crosses. Nestorians and Manicheans passed | |
broadly through Asia. On the frescoes of the monasteries are | |
crosses. In the design of the kaftan, on the heads, on the | |
necklaces, on the amulets--always the very same cross: Not the | |
swastika with the streams of fire, but of equal arms, the eternal | |
symbol of life. On the Chinese hats of Tibetan generals glows a | |
ruby, crosslike dorje. The steed of happiness carries its sign. All | |
bronze fibulæ, probably from the tombs, are formed of a cross in a | |
circle. | |
* * * | |
The frost at dawn is cruel. As usual, below 70 degrees Celsius. In | |
the morning the doctor's cognac is frozen. One can imagine what a | |
frost is, when the strong wine becomes frozen. | |
* * * | |
A Mongolian lama says: "There lived a remarkably versed and | |
scientific Geshe. But he always walked in the most modest garment. | |
Once the Geshe went to visit his teacher, the former abbot of a big | |
Labrng. The vain courtiers of the abbot saw the humble visitor and | |
sent him away. And again came the Geshe and again he was evicted. | |
Then the Geshe went to a merchant in a bazaar and asked him to lend | |
him a rich garment and the geshe put into his girdle several stones | |
which looked like nuggets of Chinese silver. And in this way he was | |
at once permitted to see his teacher. The Geshe entered, took off | |
his rich garment, took from out the girdle the stones, and put them | |
all together in a corner. Then he bowed to the stones and the | |
garment; and only after did he bow to his teacher. | |
The other asked, "Am I not your teacher? If so, why do you bow first | |
to the stones and the garment?" | |
"It is true," answered the Geshe, "that you are my teacher, but | |
without these things I could not reach you, and therefore I bow to | |
that which brought me to my reverenced master." | |
* * * | |
How many of the younger generation want sincerely to start | |
correspondence with a Guru! They try to find a real teacher. | |
Everybody knocks in [their] own way. And how many of them find | |
disillusionment because they knock at the wrong door, or they lacked | |
sufficient energy and necessary determination to receive a true | |
answer. | |
"What laboratory could analyze those who approach the technical | |
methods of knowledge?" Yes, verily, it must be a laboratory where | |
labor and perseverance and fearlessness are the keys to the gates. | |
In sound rationalism, in a true and fearless materialism grow the | |
wings of spirit, the wings of consciousness. We are not to be | |
isolated from life--not destructive, but creative--such is the | |
teaching of the Mahatmas. | |
It is the greatest test of lamas if when they doubt about you, you | |
demand of them, "Ask your oracle what I am thinking at present and | |
what intention I have." Then at once they become confused. | |
Thus we distinguish two Tibets: One is the Tibet of officialdom--of | |
those officials of whom the Tibetans themselves assert that their | |
hearts are blacker than coal and harder than stone. These are the | |
ones who reflect so much prejudice and violence and falsehood, who | |
desecrate art and petrify learning with degeneracy. | |
But we also discern another Tibet, even though it is smaller in | |
numbers. This is the Tibet of the few educated lamas and of even | |
smaller number of enlightened laymen. This is the Tibet which guards | |
the essence of the Teaching and aspires toward enlightenment. It is | |
the Tibet of its spiritual leaders. | |
* * * | |
The new era of enlightenment is awaited. Each reaches in [their] own | |
way. One nearer, one further; one beautifully, one distortedly; but | |
all are concerned with the same predestined. It is especially | |
striking to see such consciousness at a time when not the printed | |
page, but sound itself--the human word--directs the loft expectation. | |
It is so precious to hear and to repeat. ... A blind one may ask, | |
"Is it so? Is there not exaggeration in it? Perhaps some fragments | |
of survivals are taken as beliefs of the future." | |
It means that [the one] who questions has never been in the East. If | |
you once were upon these sites; if you traversed many thousands of | |
miles; if you yourself have spoken to many people, then you know the | |
reality of what is related. You shall understand why, of these | |
sacred matters, one speaks only in the stillness of the evening, in | |
quiet penetrating tones. Why, if someone enters, do all become | |
silent? But if you say to them that they may continue the | |
conversation in the presence of the guest your words will be met with | |
a reverent bow. And it is not you who receives the silent | |
significant bow but the Great Maitreya [Itself]. | |
author: Roerich, Nicholas, 1874-1947 | |
detail: gopher://gopherpedia.com/0/Nicholas_Roerich | |
LOC: DS785 .R7 | |
source: gopher://tilde.pink/1/~bencollver/ia/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.16090 | |
tags: ebook,non-fiction,travel | |
title: Altai--Himalayas; A Travel Diary | |
ebook | |
non-fiction | |
travel |