GAIA MANDALA

Earth Treasure Vase for our root temple
Tolu Tharling Gompa, Nepal

The Root Temple of the Global Mandala

Tolu Tharling Gompa (Monastery) is one of the oldest temples in Nepal and the root temple of the Gaia Mandala Global Healing Community. It was Lama Ngawang Tsultrim Zangpo, the current abbot of the monastery, who guided Cynthia to meet his teacher H.E. Kushok Mangden (Charok Rinpoche) from whom she received the practice of the Earth Treasure Vases. Lama Tsultrim is also responsible for overseeing the crafting of the treasure vases that the global community has been distributing around the world.

Sadly, in 2015, an earthquake measuring 8 on the Richter scale devastated Nepal and damaged the monastery radically, leaving only two buildings standing – the main Gompa (Temple) shrine building and enclosed Prayer Wheel Temple.

With the intention to help plant the seed of restoration and to support the continuation of this precious and ancient lineage, it was decided to bring an Earth Treasure Vase to this sacred mountain portal, our root temple, Tolu Tharling Gompa.

Both the monastery compound and surrounding forest are home to many holy sites where physical signs of the presence of great masters and their teachings can be found among the trees and rolling hills. Here, in this amazing place of cultural significance, a myriad of beautiful “mani” inscriptions can be discovered. The ‘mani’ (meaning ‘jewel’ or ‘infinite altruism’) carvings are of sacred syllables and prayers on rocks. These ancient inscriptions are the remnants of teachings left behind by dedicated practitioners who lived in the area.

Tolu Tharling Monastery is also renowned as a place that Padmasambhava visited. Also known as Guru Rinpoche, the enlightened master who traveled through Nepal on his way from India to bring Buddhism to Tibet. Guru Rinpoche visited this region in the 7th Century, leaving an exceptionally clear body print in a rock not far from Tolu Tharling. Secret markings of protectors such as Ekajati, which self-arise only in places where deep practice has been achieved, lie deep within the forest canopy. In the 1940s, after centuries of practice by hidden yogis in the surrounding caves and cabins, a temple was finally constructed to provide a main shrine building for ceremonies to be performed in. The site on which the temple is built was carefully chosen based on an exact calculation of sacred geomantic ley lines that run through the heart of the Himalayan range.

Tolu Tharling Monastery is one of only three monasteries in the whole of Nepal, that contains murals and shrine artwork done by the hand of one master craftsman who was an emanation of a well-known artist and treasure revealer (tertön) from the 14th century. The temple buildings still standing, are home to these hand-painted murals done with precious mineral paints sourced from the ground in the region, depicting full visual representations of the highest level of Nyingmapa Dzogchen Vajrayana teachings, including the Shitro Bardo of Death and Dying; the Dzogchen teachings of the Konchok Chidu, Vajrakilaya and the great dharma protectors Mahakala, Ekajati, Rahula and Dorje Legpa.

Many other precious artifacts are also housed here, including hundreds of traditional hand-made block print texts brought over to the Himalayas from Tibet on the backs of fleeing pilgrims in the early 20th Century, antique ceremonial musical instruments, crystals, statues and stupas that retain the powerful energetic imprint of the great masters who have offered their lives, by seeking enlightenment to serve all sentient beings and emanate their light into the world.

Pilgrimage to Tolu Gompa

May the wisdom and beauty of this sacred place, now a node on the mandala, feed all the other nodes, spreading the light of our love and the profound intentions of the lineage masters, ever more powerfully around our world.

To revitalize this ancient seat so that it is relevant today, we are seeking the support of our extended community. Together we can preserve, rebuild and revitalize Tolu Tharling Gompa for the benefit of all beings and future generations yet to come.