While volunteering at a hospital in Pharping, I took time out to visit the Asura Caves.
Pharping is a village/town about 16-20 Km southwest of Kathmandu. It’s not much of a tourist destination except for religious pilgrims or curiousity seekers coming to visit the many Tibetan Monasteries. One of these monasteries is built around the Asura Caves.
The picture below is of the steps up to that monastery. Indiana Jones hates snakes; Travelman hates steps. “Steps... I hate steps.”
The steps up to the monastery were only a five minute walk from the homestay. Beggars sat on the steps waiting for handouts. The beggars were unique in appearance. I shoud’ve given them some money and taken a picture of them in return, but I was too busy complaining to myself about the steps.
Once you get to the monastery, the steps lead around back. That’s where you find the first cave, it’s small. Surrounding the cave, there is a shrine with an area to light a candle....
The entrance to the cave...
Another shot of the shrine that is part of the monestary in front of the cave...
The cave is important because Guru Rinpoche, A.K.A. Padmasambhava, meditated there. He’s credited with bringing Buddhism to Tibet (according to the websites I visited). The cave is apparently connected to another lower cave, spaces too small for a normal mortal to traverse, but not for Padmasambhava, he could go through solid objects and small spaces. David Blaine eat your heart out.
This is a hand print outside the cave. Depending on who you talk to or the websites you visit, this is either the print of Padmasambhava or that of one of his disciples. Either way, someone meditated so hard that they pressed their hand into the rock. -Work hard, meditate hard...
Visitors and pilgrims place their hand on the print and rub it back and forth before entering the cave. Kind of like rubbing the Blarney Stone for luck.
The skeptic in me says that a faint shape of a hand was there years ago, people began to rub their hand on it, and wha-la! A handprint! Sabin at the homestay assured me that the print was there clear as day before this became a practice.
The skeptic in me also says that you’d think the handprint maker would’ve done it more at shoulder level, rather than reaching up so high. But who am I to inject reason into religion, maybe he was on a stepladder.
Or maybe he was in a bad relationship and arguing with his crazy girlfriend. Maybe she made him so mad that he slapped the wall in frustration. And she was like, “Dude, You’re crazy, you know that? You just put a friggin’ handprint in the stone! Who does that? Psycho! That’s it. It’s time to separate our spice collection.. I’m moving out.”
And the monk’s like, “Fine, but don’t touch the turmeric! My mother gave that to me. ...And you’re wrong about the end of Inception! Leo was still in a dream!”
And she’s like, “No he wasn’t! It was open ended! We don’t know!”
And he shoots back, “Oh, I know. Believe me, I know! And a guy who meditates hard puts a handprint in a stone! That’s who does that!”
And they may have gone on like this for quite some time. But we’ll move on...
Inside the cave...
It’s about the size of a walk-in closet.
It’s an important place. Many people, such as the woman I met at the restaurant I went to every night, think it’s a place that holds great power and energy. She was there to pray in the cave and on the mountain.
The monestary regularly hosts meditation retreats. The woman was from Estonia. We didn’t talk much, she seemed troubled and hurt. She was in search of peace. I sincerely hope she found it there. I’ve met a few people here in Nepal searching for that peace.
They may be right to come here. Nepal reminds me of Hawaii in the way that it feels like someone giving you a comforting hug. Trash may be burning nearby, and dust may be swirling in the air, but something stronger lifts you up. Then again, maybe it’s the altitude.
I’m only half joking when I say that about the altitude. Natalie, another volunteer who’d gone on the Annapurna Circuit Trek, told me that she and other trekkers with whom she spoke had vivid, deeply meaningful dreams while in the upper heights of the circuit. Disturbed sleep is a symptom of altitude sickness. The Asura Caves, relatively, aren’t very high in the sky.
Still, I felt like someone plugged me into a low power battery charger while standing in the cave. Maybe there is something to it.
Here is view of Pharping from the top of the monestary. A sign said do not enter. I entered for fourteen seconds to take this shot. I probably blew half of my positive karma cache for the pic, so enjoy...
Here’s another pic at sunset from a terrace I was allowed to inhabit...
And a giant prayer wheel...
Inside the giant prayer wheel room...
A line of smaller prayer wheels...
And a pretty pic...
Travelman log, day 193. Figuring out how to get to India. Looks like I’ll have to fly because of the visa. !steemitworldmap 27.6131 lat 85.2603 long A Handprint in Stone at The Asura Caves-Pharping, Nepal, d3scr 323 Followers and counting, 955.1 steem earned. Rep 59.1 Travelman out.