Are We There Yet?
The Journey Home


In a world where transformation of the soul (non-material) has shifted towards the material, many people worship a “false God”. This is in direct violation of religion. Circling the Sacred Mountain is a memoir of the pilgrimage to Mount Kailash, to seek out the essence of the true religion, one of selflessness.
“Are we there yet?” the words uttered by eager children, peering over the back seat when on a journey, conjuring up an image of the parents driving trying to be patient with the repeated questions. The questions seem easy to ignore, until the repetition becomes too much to endure. “Soon,” might be the response in effort to distract the children until the destination is reached. The ride turns into a time for reflection; filled with distain the child is bored. The trip is grueling, and just plain old, not fun. Suffering and in anticipation of the rewards, the journey seems endless and cruel. They are at the mercy of their parents. The theme of suffering on the journey of life is the key element to the philosophy and the beliefs of Buddhism. In the book, Circling the Sacred Mountain, authors Tad Wise and Robert Thurman encourage the reader to observe and participate in a spiritual pilgrimage to Mount Kailash.
Mount Kailash known as Kang Rinpoche, means “Precious Snow Mountain.” The mountain’s sacredness has been established from stories and legends passed down and recorded in the experiences of great-awakened spiritual masters (Tibetweb 1). A Hindu myth says:
Lord Shiva is known as the link between the realms of gods and humans, bringing all the teachings of Hinduism to humans. Kailash is the seat of Shiva, where the sacred River Ganges falls down from heaven. (1)
Tibetan Buddhists believe Mount Kailash, to be the most magical place in the world, and a place where ones prayers are answered instantly.
The tome takes the reader on a journey through the experiences of the trekkers on their physical, mental, and spiritual quest of selfless healing. The main dramatis personae are the authors, Wise and Thurman who could be seen as the children in the back seat, asking “Are we there yet?” The narrow and precarious path that leads up the mountain is an allegory for dharma, also referred as “The moral guide to action.” The mountain is a metaphor for the parents or Ultimate Being.
Thurman, the first Westerner ordained by the fourteenth Dalai Lama as a Tibetan Buddhist monk, is the leader of this passage. Thurman was ordained as a Tibetan monk in 1964, named Tenzin by His Holiness, it means “Upholder of the Teaching” (6), Thurman was Time Magazine's “25 Most Influential People of 1997,” and has been a college professor and writer for 30 years. Tenzin was the first endowed chair in Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies in America (Jey Tsong Khapa Chair, Columbia University) and is the co-founder and president of the non-profit organization, Tibet House New York (Spiritwalk 1).
Wise, thirty-nine at the time of the passage to Mount Kailash, is co- author of Circling the Sacred Mountain, was a student and friend with Tenzin since he was seventeen. Wise took on the demanding journey, faced with an alcohol problem, new baby and quite a few issues; he commitments to the pilgrimage. Confronted with doubts, and often struggling with Tenzin’s teachings and the rigorous trek into high altitudes, Wise attempts to opens his heart to The Blade Wheel of Mind Reform.
Buddhism evolved out of the Hindu religion, Philip Novak, author of The World’s Wisdom: Sacred Texts of the World’s Religions states that the birth of Hinduism:
Originated in India some 4000 years ago with pastoral nomads called the “Aryans” These tribal people chanted hymns known as Vedas, the scriptural foundation of Hinduism. (1)
One of the late Vedic scriptures consisted of the Upanishads, which was a reflection of a new spirituality. The Upanishads try to explain the fundamentals of existence and go deeper by posing two main questions, “What is the true nature of reality? and Who am I in the deepest level of my existence?” (Koller 20) German Philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer pays reverence to the Upanishads by stating, “In the world, there is no study so beautiful and elevating as the Upanishads. It has been the solace of my life and will be the solace of my death,” (qtd. in Novak 9). Novak reiterates, “In the Upanishads those majestic “Himalayas of the Soul” we discover the pan –Indian diagnosis of the human condition as trapped in a ceaseless round of death and rebirth” (9). The stages of the Vedas are as follows: Rebirth (samsara), consequences of action performed in ignorance (karma), and liberation (moksha). The way from samsara to moksha, eloquently declared in the Svetasvatara Upanishads read as such:
When man knows God, he is free: his sorrows have an end, and birth and death are no more. When in inner union he is beyond the world of the body, then the third world, the world of the spirit, is found…for he is one with the One. (Upanishads 86)
Out of this knowledge come the acumen of Buddhism and The Blade Wheel of Mind Control.
The Blade Wheel of Mind Control is a process that encompasses the Buddhist teachings, in what Tenzin describes as, a crash course in Buddhism. Tenzin explains, “the simple, direct and not easy solution is the direct annihilation or severing the attitude of the victim to the attitude of responsibility,” (11). In Buddhism, reincarnation and karma are primary components to freedom from suffering. Anything that happens to a soul is in direct correlation to action performed in this life or a past life.
Whoever said, “ignorance is bliss,” has it completely wrong, ignorance perpetuates suffering. Tenzin teaches and explains the principle wisdom of Buddhism to his fellow seekers. Tenzin, states, “Contemplating wisdom is the essential key that frees us” (109) and indicates that this is the first noble truth of suffering. The second noble truth is the source of suffering’s causation, and the third noble truth of freedom. Tenzin points out that Buddha said the third noble truth is when” a human being can actually become totally aware of reality and totally free from suffering forever, and thereby become the evolutionary engine for all others to find their way”(109).
The reader cannot help but reflect his or her own suffering when reading this book and contemplate the underlying principles of one’s own existence. The members of this pilgrimage and I were introduced to a way out of samara by way of The Blade Wheel. While I recounted the experiences that have molded my perception into a way of thinking and believing that perpetuates suffering. Spinning, over and over again, like a wheel, I repeat negative events, creating my own torment. As Tenzin reads verses of The Blade Wheel, I could see why such a frontal attack on the negative forces in my own life needs to be done. The course of feat of asserting accountability for events that I blamed others for is de rigueur in my evolution of becoming a more aware and caring person. In my mind’s eye I see myself uttering the words, “How can God be so cruel to me, doesn’t he love me?” or “I wouldn’t have done that if I had not been treated this way or that.” I hear Tenzin say. “Slice through those thoughts with “The Blade Wheel.”
The book describes The Blade Wheel as a type of meditation that addresses anger, resentment, and selfish actions. Reflecting on my own path, cancer patient at age twelve, chemotherapy, seven years in recovery from alcohol addiction, broken relationships, the death of close friends, family and my fiancé. I began to assimilate these events that have left me with a frozen heart and with an attitude anchored in sadness. I am imprisoned by my own suffering. I can state, “I have faith,” although being in the back seat with someone else driving is very hard for me. Impatience and always-wanting things to go my way leads to my affliction. I am quite accomplished at this task. Tenzin refers to the solution of this state of existence as the, Yamantaka’s Wheel of Wisdom, “ the wheel that destroys the devil of self-preoccupation,” which is the step that precedes the concentration of “the negative consequences of our past and turning toward the spirit of altruism” (186).
It is funny how the mind works. While reading this book, I hear John Lennon singing, “I’m just sitting here watching the wheels turn round and round, I really like to watch them roll.” and Joni Mitchell singing, “I am on a lonely road and I am traveling. Looking for the key to set me free. Oh the jealousy, the greed is the unraveling. It’s the unraveling. And it undoes all the joy that could be,” these lyrics cryptically convey a message centuries old in the Buddhist philosophy. How many times have I heard these words without true reflection of what they mean? I cannot count: Is this a step from ignorance to insight? Is this my own passage to Mount Kailash?
I acquired a meditation CD while reading this book, the Buddhist meditation of Development of Loving-kindness, otherwise known as Metta Bhavanna. This particular rumination is a process of visualizing the well-being, happiness, and freedom from suffering for others and myself. The process amazed me, I entered into a quiet state of mind; I was guided to wish others and myself well being, happiness, and freedom from suffering. I felt as if I could not take in air, I was standing on top of Mount Kailash in high altitudes where the air is thin. I felt as if I was under muddy water. I moved through that sensation and began to shed tears, for myself, for others, for the whole world and. Bodhipaksa, the person leading the meditation, ask me to remember when I was healthy and content. The only image that came to mind was when I was eight, laying awake during a rainstorm. I was listening to a train off in the distance wondering where it was going and where it could take me. Even at eight years old, I wanted to be somewhere else and I felt comfort in being discontented. How can that be? Tenzin answers this; “The world is not treating us right…so there is a struggle between our expectation and what is” (74). Tenzin offers a challenge, “Stop saying, “If I can just get to the next level, I’ll be happy…or move to another state, it will be OK…Realize that’s a delusion…” (74). The noble truth of suffering is the reality that we are “habitually out of balance” and all experiences will prove to be unsatisfactory. This is the noble truth because only a noble or enlightened person has found a different way of relating to the world (74).
After I broke down, I fell in the most restful sleep. The next day I began to read Circling the Sacred Mountain, I came to a page where Wise explains a profound experience analogous to my own experience. Wise writes:
Have you ever awakened in the hospital or rehab or jail...Right now I wake up here on this trail, a mucus and tear streaked mess, promising all the people I do love and even those I don’t love, that it will different…That I will be different. (218)
All through out the book I related with Wise, bound by addiction, selfish actions and aspiring to be like Tenzin.
The Blade Wheel of Mind Reform echoes through my mind. Verses such as, “I really want happiness but I don’t perform its causes,” (210). I find myself fighting with the concept of karma and past deeds while I read the verse:
When I am suddenly hit with strokes and diseases, it’s my bad action blade wheel come full circle; from formally breaking solemn vows~ Henceforth may I give up negative actions! (153)
Being a cancer survivor from age twelve, I found myself defensive. How can a twelve year old know about breaking vows? Why should I get punished for something I did in a past life time that I don’t even remember? Tenzin points out that an enlightened person really should guide this process. I am not a Buddhist; I am getting my toe wet at this point. To conceptualize this perception I thought to myself, “I do not know about all this karma stuff, but I can commit to not breaking vows now, in this life time.” That seemed to work for me, for all I have is today.
In Circling the Sacred Mountain, Tenzin and Wise have the capacity to translate the Buddhist philosophy into simple language. Regardless of what religious affiliation the reader might have, this book contains gems of wisdom that can be incorporated into a more mindful approach to life. Tenzin has an aptitude for teaching while Wise reflects a mirror image of myself, full of doubts, longing for answers, standing on the edge of change.
The reader has a choice to decipher Circling the Sacred Mountain as an account of a spiritual journey as a bystander, or use the book as a road map to navigate to a life with vigilant reflection and self-realization. Tenzin and Wise allow the reader to choose how much insight or introspection they would like to exert. Emblematical of life, the question asked is, “Do I want to just observe or do I want to be mindful and put a honest effort into changing?”
The journey of looking at oneself is tedious and not pleasurable, but a stipulation if transformation is going to transpire. I am the child, asking, “Are we there yet? The ride turns into a time for introspection, which from a child’s perspective is boring, grueling, and just plain old, not fun. The children perceive suffering and in anticipation of the rewards, the passage seems endless and brutal. They are at the mercy of their parents, The Ultimate Being, and dharma.