A Doorway to Heaven 2

A Sacred Atmosphere

The Palchor Monastery in Gyantse was built in 14th century Tibet during the Ming Dynasty and belongs to the Nying-ma-pa sect of Tibetan Buddhism. Only a couple of buildings remain to this day as many of them were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. Originally there was close to a hundred buildings.

The main temple building with its priceless art and statuary remains fully in tact as it has for several hundred years. It’s amazing! From the outside you wouldn’t expect that it is a magical place, but on the inside where butter lamps are still lit, incense still wafts through the air and a sacred atmosphere still surrounds when you enter.

I had seen a photograph of one of the statues in a picture and I could tell that there was something special about this statue. I’m a bit psychic in the sense that I was able to sense the sacred aura even from the picture of the statue long before I was able to go there. I wasn’t disappointed when I finally arrived there. What few people realize is that these Tibetan statues are very special not only as art but they have an occult or esoteric significance. They act as spiritual transformers. These statues in the Tibetan pantheon of deities are expressions of a higher dimensional being, a great cosmic individuality, on a 3 dimensional platform, the statue. Through rituals, the burning of incense, butter lamps, and other offering plus the chanting of mantrams these deities come down, closer to humanity. The statues act as a ground to allow for easier communication between the two evolutions, man and gods. Even though the rituals are not now being regularly held at the Palchor Monastery the sacred aura of past rituals is still embedded in the statues in the 3 main chapels.

When you walk in, the main shrine (chapel) directly in front is of the Buddha. On the right is a separate room and in it there is both a statue of Avalokiteshvara with a 1000 arms (representing an expression of the Solar Logos in form) and a magnificent statue of Lord Maitreya. In fact, there are a couple of statues of Lord Maitreya. As I was practicing my meditation very intensely I only took several photographs. I have to admit that I felt awkward taking pictures in such a sacred atmosphere. But my greatest surprise came when the picture were developed (I was using a regular camera). Though there was very little light in the shrine rooms, rays of light danced around the statues in the developed pictures. Unknowingly I had taken psychic photographs.