Nepal detains 20 Tibetans for illegal crossing

The cold moon dust high desert behind the Himalayas where moisture from India can only rarely overcome the peaks.

• Amazing photos of Tibet by Chandni Dossani

KATMANDU, Nepal (AP) - Police in Nepal say they have detained 20 Tibetans who trekked the treacherous Himalayan trail for more than two weeks from their mountain homes.

They do it to escape the Chinese controlled Autonomous Tibetan Region and visit their exiled spiritual/political leader.] Police spokesman Binod Shrestha said the 15 men and five women were detained Monday after they crossed the border. They are aged 18 to 21 years old and are being transported to the capital, Katmandu. Tibetan refugees who are detained in Nepal are generally handed over to the United Nations' refugee agency.

The U.N. helps them on their journey to the Indian town of Dharmsala where the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama lives. Hundreds of Tibetans trek into Nepal every year to visit Dalai Lama. They walk route to avoid Chinese border guards.

Himalayas (kerdowney.com)

Giant Underwater Cities of India (video)

Building the World's Largest Buddha (Bhutan)

Wisdom Quarterly
(michaelfoleyphotography/flickr.com)

The largest Buddha in antiquity was perhaps in Afghanistan, at Bamiyan. It was destroyed by Taliban vandals. Other enormous statues of the Buddha, possibly larger and in the supine position, were also discovered in Afghanistan. Ancient artisans of the area (Central Asia), where Siddhartha may have grown up far from Nepal, often portray the Buddha-to-come, Maitreya, rather than the historical Buddha Gautama welcoming him with great monuments. Maitreya is a favorite of Vajrayana and Mahayana Buddhism. The new Bhutanese Buddha in the capital of Thimphu rivals the great rock-hewn statue at Leshan, Sichuan, China and other enormous statuary.

(lisajanenapoli)

This is a tiny glimpse of what is purported to be the world's largest Buddha, high above Thimphu Valley, Bhutan -- which until recently was the last Himalayan Buddhist kingdom (before the king unilaterally converted to democracy), from the author of Radio Shangri-La: What I Learned in Bhutan, the Happiest Kingdom on Earth.

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(Lisa Napoli)

"OM" - Flying Over the Himalayas (film)

("OM" Quasistellar1)

"Worldly fools search for exotic masters, not realizing that their own mind is the master" (Bodhidharma).

"I haven't got any Buddhism. I live by letting things happen" (Dogen).

"If you wish to find the Buddha, first you must look into your own mind; outside of the mind, there is no Buddha" (Hakuin).

"Our Buddha-nature is there from the very beginning. It is like the sun emerging from behind clouds. It is like a mirror that reflects perfectly when it is wiped clean... and returned to its original clarity" (Ho-Shan).