In Nepal’s highlands, climate change threatens Tibet’s Bon faith

An past signifier nether threat

Still, successful the look of galore challenges, the radical of Lubra are holding connected to their culture, each excessively alert of its importance. Nowhere is this clearer than successful the Chasey Kengtse Hostel, a boarding schoolhouse for children from Lubra and different distant Bon villages successful northwest Nepal.

The schoolhouse was acceptable up 25 years agone to stem the migration of children leaving the country for an acquisition successful Kathmandu. It sits atop a strenuous way done terraced fields that are sprouting with the archetypal shoots of spring.

Long wires, strung implicit poles, are covered with drying clothes. Children tally astir brushing teeth and combing bedewed hair. Nyima Dhundul Gurung, a Bon monk from Lubra, runs the school. Unlike Lama Tsultrim, who, alongside his ritual duties, lives with his household and farms the land, 36-year-old Nyima is simply a celibate monk. His agelong maroon robes and short, airy brownish hairsbreadth bespeak his antithetic standing.

“We volition beryllium celebrating the 25th day of the hostel successful September 2026. It volition beryllium a three-day celebration,” Nyima says, noting that the hostel present has 105 children from Lubra and different places successful northwest Nepal.

“One of the reasons for mounting up the hostel,” helium says, “was to support the children connected to their location place, truthful they tin larn their ain connection and practise their Bon rituals. The main purpose was to forestall our civilization and religion from dying out.”

The colony monastery is besides cardinal to Lubra, Nyima explains.

Nyima Dhundul Gurung, a Bon monk from Lubra, stands extracurricular the Chasey Kengtse Hostel, which helium runs [Eileen McDougall/Al Jazeera]

Surrounded by aged houses, Phuntshok Ling Monastery was founded by a Tibetan maestro successful the mid-19th century, and is wherever the villagers transportation retired galore regular rituals.

Village rules stipulate that astatine slightest 1 antheral from each household indispensable stitchery astatine the monastery for spiritual duties. It’s a assemblage abstraction wherever the men mould tormas – dough and food effigies offered to the gods — and the women make chyaang, the atom brew utilized successful the ceremonies.

The monastery, similar galore of Lubra’s earthen buildings, however, is suffering from the dense rainfall.

“The accepted roofs are conscionable world packed connected apical of layers of wood,” says Dane Carlson, a scenery architect, who has been studying the shifting of the village.

“That works truly good erstwhile it snows a lot, and it doesn’t rain. But present it rains a lot, and it doesn’t snow,” helium explains.

“The level extortion is leaking, and that means the structural rot of timbers, and the dilatory erosion of rammed-earth walls,” helium adds.

There is truthful overmuch urgency among the villagers to code the occupation that Carlson, on with organisation Mustang Bon Action, is successful the process of applying for grants for restoration funds.

Meditation caves similar this one, which are carved into the brushed clay cliffs connected the other broadside of the vale from Lubra, are besides astatine hazard [Eileen McDougall/Al Jazeera]

According to Nyima, the taste practice of the radical is entwined with the colony monasteries and the surrounding landscape.

“Nyamlon Phu is besides precise important to us,” helium says, referring to the meditation caves carved into the brushed clay cliffs connected the other broadside of the valley. “Like the village, it is precise old.”

There are astir a twelve caves there, immoderate appearing intolerable to reach. They are believed to person been inhabited by the archetypal settlers to the area. A fewer accessible caves are maintained by the section community, and Bon practitioners from astir the satellite inactive travel to meditate successful these solitary chambers.

Near the caves are sheer cliffs with wave-like abrasions that lucifer snakes.

“The sanction of our colony – Lubra – comes from these cliffs. ‘Lu’ means serpent spirits, and ‘brak’ means cliff,” Nyima explains.

“Lubra has a heavy transportation with the lu. They unrecorded successful water. We judge these spirits are precise almighty and tin inflict large harm if not happy. When determination is simply a terrible shortage of water, we bash a ritual for them,” helium says.

As with the h2o spirits, the section Bonpos often worship different deities residing successful the section landscape.

“There is simply a beardown transportation with quality successful Bon,” says Nyima.

These gods are believed to person power implicit galore elements of mundane life, specified arsenic harvest yields, livestock wellness and the wellbeing of families.

“For example, we worship the yulsa, the protector deity of the village, connected the apical of that crag,” Nyima says, pointing supra to a rocky promontory, peppered with dark-green conifers.

As helium walks location from his fields, Lama Tsultrim explains much astir the colony protector.

“The yulsa was erstwhile a cruel demon surviving successful a cave that terrorised the valley, eating children. But Trashi Gyaltsen arrived and paralysed him with his prayers,” helium says. “He offered to provender the demon if helium stopped bringing harm and protected Lubra. The demon agreed, and we inactive provender him [in a ritual] today.”

The upwind picks up, and grey clouds stitchery implicit the village.

The aged lama passes a caller reddish chorten adorned with aureate script.

One happening is for sure, Bon volition continue.

by Lama Tsultrim

“This is simply a replacement for a chorten that was washed distant from the vale level by the river. Chortens are precise important to our religion,” helium says.

When asked astir the future, helium says, “Who tin tell? You cannot constitute of the future.”

Bon’s symbol, the yungdrung, stands for eternity and indestructibility. Over centuries, the colony and radical of Lubra person embodied these characteristics, defying galore challenges to sphere Bon’s unique, past traditions until the contiguous day.

While immoderate locals admit the request to move, “people don’t privation to determination far, arsenic the proximity to the temple and ancestral location is truly important”, says Carlson.

But contempt a aboriginal filled with caller uncertainties, many, including Tsultrim, stay resolute.

“One happening is for sure, Bon volition continue,” the monk says, turning and walking slowly, hands clasped down his back, down the earthen way towards his caller home.