“All pheonomea of samsara and nirvana are your own mind, and do not appear apart from this mind- devoid of a self-nature, beyond thought, word, and description. Don’t accept the pleasant or reject the awful, don’t affirm or deny, make no preferences, but remain vividly awake in the state of unfabricated naturalness! By remaining like this, the sign of progress is that your body, speech, and mind feel free and easy, beyond the confines of pleasure and pain. That is the moment of understanding the awakened state!” (Guru Rinpoche Terma Teaching)
Although much of the Triptych Journey itinerary was predetermined by the living story of Padmasambhava, we also took time to witness and experience the daily unfolding of Himalayan life. On our last full day in Lo Manthang, Nepal, the former capital of the Himalayan Kingdom, we filmed and photographed the annual harvest. The harvesting time is determined by local astrologers and over the course of two days, much of the village turns out to cut and bundle the fields of wheat and barley.
We rose early on the first morning of the harvest, entering the fields with the farmers as dawn crested in the east. For nearly four hours, we filmed and photographed the scene, capturing the sounds and sights of the village event. We finished the day by filming a performance of the Vajrakilaya dance at the Lo Manthang Monastery. The dance is a terma treasure and is said to be the dance that Padmasambhava used to bind the demons of Samye Gompa in Tibet.