A photo taken from a small plane in Nepal of the Annapurna Mountain Range
Category: Nepal
A Buddhist Sunday – Lions, Snakes and Dragons
Along most temples in Asia, you will find strong animals to protect the site. Sometimes there is one on each corner of the building, but more common there is a pair guarding the entrance, and in some cases snaking along the sides of the stairs. They can be out of stone or metal, and can be…
A Buddhist Sunday – Sankhu Vajrayoginī temple
In the area near Sankhu according to legend there used to be a huge lake where Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and great masters came to meditate. Sankhu was also the home of Śakya Demma. Unwanted and discarded by her family she had to fend for herself in the wild with the monkeys in the jungle. Still…
A Buddhist Sunday – Earthquake Aftermath in Nepal
Since 2012 I have made regular visits to Nepal. Sometimes we stayed for a month and sometimes just for a week. Our last visit in March was only 5 days long. Every time we go we have to visit at least two different places. We go see Svayambhū stūpa and Boudhanāth stūpa. I have written…
Nepal earthquake
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Patrick de Vries (@schererdevries) Last month we visited Kathmandu, as we have done several times before. I have the blue and yellow visa stickers in my passport to proof it. Then Saturday the devastating news reached us. Nepal was hit by an earthquake of 7.9 on…
A Buddhist Sunday – A bit of Compassion
There are many different Buddha aspects and bodhisattvas, but none so famous as Avalokiteśvara (or Chenrezig སྤྱན་རས་གཟིགས་ in Tibetan). He (or she – Guānyīn in Chinese Buddhism) embodies enlightened compassion. In his most popular form he appears with four arms showing that compassion has four aspects: loving kindness as an attitude towards all sentient beings;…
A Buddhist Sunday – Climbing up to Svayambhūnāth Stūpa (स्वयम्भूनाथ स्तुप)
In the Northwest of Kathmandu, half an hour walk or a 200 rupee taxi journey (although it is possible to get there for less) from the city centre lies Svayambhūnāth(a). According to the Svayambhū purāṇa, a Buddhist scripture describing the origin of the Kathmandu valley, the area of Svayambhūnāth was a huge lake out of which…
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