Environmental
degradation and a rapidly changing climate have left populations in
the Himalayas vulnerable. Cloudbursts and mudslides have destroyed
villages while growing levels of plastic wastes and other kinds of
trash pollute rivers, harming the people who drink from
them.
In a journey as
spiritual as it was physical, 700 voyagers
trekked through the land of 15,000 glaciers in 2010 to
spread a message of love and ecological compassion. The journey,
led by His Holiness Gyalwang Drupka, a Buddhist spiritual leader in
the region, passed through 725 kilometers of some of the
world’s most dangerous and most stunning landscapes. Pad Yatras, or
pilgrimages on foot, have taken place annually since 2007
in different parts of the Himalayas and South Asia.
“Many of the
problems in this world are based on selfish and egoistic kinds of
fighting,” said His Holiness Gyalwang Drupka. “But the spirituality
is the kindness – real kindness – not only just being kind but
real, true kindness to not only human beings, but nature. Including
the trees and rocks and mountains.”
The current Gyalwang
Drupka, Jigme Pema Wangchen, is believed to be the twelfth
reincarnation of the first Drupka, Tsangpa Gyare, who was born
in the 12th century. Today’s reincarnation of the Drupka is
known for his environmental activism. In 2007, he launched Live to
Love, a humanitarian organization that aims to address the
environment protection, education, relief aid, medical services and
heritage preservation.
For the Drupka,
sharing a message of kindness and compassion is essential for
people living in high altitudes who often feel forgotten by their
country when faced with natural disasters and uncertainties caused
by a warming world. In an interview, he said he wanted people in
the Himalayas to feel they played a role in the protecting the
world.
The group survived
conditions well below freezing, off-season snow storms and came
close to starving when weather conditions made it impossible for
them to carry some of their supplies through the
mountains.
The experience was
documented by Himalayan
monk Ngawang Sodpa, who used solar power to charge his camera, in a
film produced by Michelle Yeo. Nearly a third of Sodpa’s footage
was lost from weather and physical damage at altitudes higher than
5,000 meters.
Along the path, the
voyagers, all followers of the Buddhist Drupka Lineage, encountered
hundreds of remote villages, passing on knowledge about the dangers
of non-biodegradeable waste and planting trees. Native communities
from the Himalayas were accompanied by travelers from around the
world. As they walked, they picked up half a ton of waste, which
they carried with them to the end of the journey.
“While modern
products have made their way to these areas, they have not come
with a sustainable means for disposal,” narrated American actress
Darryl Hannah.
Trekkers planted
more than 50,000 trees and rescued trapped and hurt animals. To
avoid unnecessary suffering in the world, they gently blew ants off
the paths they traveled along so the ants would not be crushed
under hundreds of feet.
“A respect for life,
no matter how small, is a defining character for this philosophy,”
said Hannah. “It is the same philosophy of compassion that
motivates this effort to motivate the national environment at
large.”
The legacy of the
Pad Yatra continues from year to year as one of the largest
environmental movements the world has ever seen. Numerous villages
in the Himalayas have banned plastics in their communities and have
undertaken projects to plant trees.