elusiveworld

Rimpoche (Tibetan: རིན་པོ་ཆེ་; Wylie: rin po che; IPA: [rinˈpotʃe]) is an honorific used in Tibetan Buddhism. It literally means “precious one”.

This young rimpoche, holding the toy gun is wearing a sweater with ‘cheeky monkey’ emblazened across it. Other monks who live at Rumtek Monastery doted on him considerably. The young rimpoche is greatly revered in Sikkim and other Tibetan lands. A rimpoche is identified at birth through cosmic alignments, birth marks and other  attributes.

During the struggle for power by the Nepal Maoist army, much of the Himalaya was contested territory. Trade routes through the mountains were also routes used by guerillas. The popular trekking route through Solo Khumbu to the Everest Ice field is no exception. Here we meet  a venerable young rimpoche, three nuns and a small hound on their way to complete a month of deep meditation ceremonies high in the mountain passes.  The aim of these meditations –  to instill peace in the region and beyond.