Places/Pilgrimage

Old Kangyur texts housed at the Stakna Monastery, Ladakh. Photo Adele Tomlin (July 2022).

This page is for research on sacred places and/or pilgrimage trips, such as the sacred sites in Sikkim associated with the Jamyang Khyentse lineage (2020), monasteries and history of Tibetan Buddhism in Ladakh and the sacred places of Milarepa.

TASHI JONG MONASTERY (2023)

SLASHING THE TORMAS OPEN AND THUNDEROUS CLOUDS AND WAVES OF BLISS AT THE TASHI JONG ‘KAGYE’ DRUBCHEN 2023: ‘Eight Great Transmissions’ (Kagye), Drukpa Kagyu, the Khamtrul Rinpoches and the Togden Yogis

BODH GAYA (2023)
Buddha statue at Mahakala Cave, near Bodh Gaya
Masses of colourful Tibetan prayer flags at Vulture’s Peak, Rajgir

SAVED BY A WOMAN’S KIND COMPASSION, SEEING THROUGH ‘DIRTY’ APPEARANCES: BODH GAYA PILGRIMAGE (I). Sujātā’s food offering to Gautama Buddha after he came down from the Dungeshwari Hill (Mahakala) Caves nearby

THE MOTHER OF ALL TATHĀGATAS: THE SOUND OF ĀH. Vulture’s Peak, its surrounding caves, the place where the Buddha taught the Heart Sūtra and Prajñāpāramitā (Bodh Gaya pilgrimage: Part II)

LADAKH (2022)
Guru Rinpoche statue in the small temple at Leh Palace, Ladakh. Photo Adele Tomlin (July 2022).
Image of 1st Zhabdrung Rinpoche in Stakna Monastery. Photo: Adele Tomlin (July 2022).

THE DRUGPA (DRAGON) KAGYU IN LADAKH: Tiger’s Nose (Stakna) Monastery, Tibetan History and masters: past and present, the Bhutanese connection, current activities/teachers and the Kung Fu cycling nuns

THE DALAI LAMAS IN LADAKH: Ladakhi King Senge Namgyal and the Gelug/Tibet-Mongolian takeover of Ladakh; Drugpa Kagyu and the subsequent banning of Gelug in Bhutan; and 14th Dalai Lama activities in Ladakh

THE KARMAPAS IN LADAKH: Previous visits and the Karma Drubgyu Monastery

Main gate at a Karma Kagyu monastery, Choglamsar, Leh Ladakh. Photo Adele Tomlin (July 2022).
BHUTAN (2019 and 2022)
Paro Dzong, 29 September 2022. Photo: Adele Tomlin.

‘PURE’, ‘INDEPENDENT’ AND ‘HAPPY’ BHUTAN? A BRIEF CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE “LAST SURVIVING VAJRAYANA COUNTRY”.

NOT A MOUNTED TIGRESS BUT A POWERFUL COUGAR? YESHE TSOGYEL AT TIGER’S NEST (PARO TAGTSANG) WITH HER YOUNG MALE CONSORTS. Yeshe Tsogyel’s connection to Tiger’s Nest in Bhutan, her young male consorts, contemporary research on her life-stories and a 21st Century interpretation of her experiences as a woman (Bhutan 2022))

At the famed Tiger’s Nest monastery, Paro, Bhutan (March 2019). Photo: Adele Tomlin.
NEPAL
One of Milarepa’s Meditation Caves.

Hermit-Yogi Caves and Fortresses (Part I): Jetsun Milarepa’s Twenty-Eight Sacred Places

Vanaratna, the Six Yogas of Kālacakra and the Śāntapurī Vihāra, Swayambhūnath

Visiting Vikramashila-Bihar, Nepal: the forgotten and neglected Kālacakra pilgrimage site of Kālacakra lineage holder and Indian master, Vibhūticandra

SIKKIM (2020)
At the golden stupa of Jamyang Khyentse Chokyi Lodro in Tashi Ding, Sikkim, India. Photo Adele Tomlin (2020).

Part I: Images on the Sikkimese trail of Jamyang Khyentse Chokyi Lodro

Part II: On the Sikkimese trail of Jamyang Khyentse Chokyi Lodro, the Golden Stupa of Tashi Ding and the doorway to Shambhala

Part III: The private quarters and sacred ritual items of Jamyang Khyentse Chokyi Lodro and Khandro Tsering Chodron

Guru Rinpoche statue, room of Jamyang Khyentse Chokyi Lodro, Royal Temple, Gangtok, Sikkim. Photo Adele Tomlin (2020).