“I am present in front of anyone who has faith in me, just as the moon casts its reflection, effortlessly, in any vessel filled with water.” (Guru Rinpoche Terma Teaching)
To explore the story of Guru Rinpoche is to explore the Himalayan landscape—they are synonymous. The mountains, hills, and valleys bare the markings of his presence and tell the tale of his feats. Each region has its own unique Guru Rinpoche story: a cave where he meditated, or a footprint in stone, or the consecrated remains of a demon.
The landscape also holds secret spiritual instructions and objects that were left by Padmasambhava. These terma, or ‘treasures’, lie in wait for the right meditator, at the right time, with the right karma. When all of these forces unite, the landscape reveals it’s hidden secret, providing a boon to both the meditator and Tibetan Buddhists. With the discovery of the treasure, a new chapter is written into the landscape.
In this view of landscape and story, time and space are fluid.
The Triptych Journey team traveled through a remarkable array of landscapes in search of the Guru. We began our journey amidst the vast expanses of the Gobi Desert and then journeyed into the ethereal heights of the Himalaya, from Nepal to Tibet, Bhutan, and India. These landscapes, however, weren’t simply a backdrop to our travels- they were central to our stories and artistic endeavors and we bared witness to their awesome beauty, power, and influence.