Bokar Ngedon Chokhor Ling Monastery is located at the highest point of Mirik
at an altitude of 5,800 ft. From the lake if look towards south east, then
visitors can see this lovely monastery high up on the hills. Tourists can
imagine how wonderful the view of the lake and its surrounding area would be
when they look down below from the monastery.
The Bokar Ngedon Chokhor Ling Monastery is one of the prominent Buddhist
centres in the region. The monastery is home to around 500 monks who
participate in practicing and sustaining the teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha.
It also serves as a school teaching the principles of Buddhism. The monastery
has a monastic college named Shedra.
Kyabje Bokar Rinpoche established the monastery in 1984 as a retreat centre.
On the request of disciples and natives, Rinpoche began accepting monks for
training and the centre was transformed into a monastery. The activities of
the monastery are under the control of Kyabje Bokar Khenchen Donyo Rinpoche.
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Entering Bokar Monastery.
At a distance of 1 km from Mirik Lake and 2 km from Mirik Bus Stop,
Bokar Monastery is an ancient Buddhist monastery situated in Mirik.
Positioned on the top of a hill, it is one of the biggest monasteries in
Mirik and among the top places to visit in Mirik.
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Main temple of Bokar Monastery.
The beautiful monastery has an influence of Chinese architecture on it.
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Colorful and vibrant paintings on the wall symbolize the Buddhist
culture.
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Bhavacakra.
The bhavacakra (Sanskrit; Pali: bhavacakka; Tibetan:
srid pa'i 'khor lo) is a symbolic representation of
samsara (or cyclic existence). It is found on the outside walls
of Tibetan Buddhist temples and monasteries in the Indo-Tibetan region,
to help ordinary people understand Buddhist teachings.
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Symbolically, the three inner circles, moving from the center outward,
show that the three poisons of ignorance, attachment, and aversion
give rise to positive and negative actions; these actions and their
results are called karma. Karma in turn gives rise to the six realms,
which represent the different types of suffering within samsara.
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The fourth and outer layer of the wheel symbolizes the twelve links of
dependent origination; these links indicate how the sources of
suffering that the three poisons and karma produce live within cyclic
existence.
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The fierce being holding the wheel represents impermanence; this
symbolizes that the entire process of samsara or cyclic existence is
impermanent, transient, constantly changing. The moon above the wheel
indicates liberation. The Buddha is pointing to the moon, indicating
that liberation from samsara is possible.
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See more at
Bhavacakra - Wikipedia.
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Virupaksa (top left) and Vaisravana (bottom right).
The Four Heavenly Kings are four Buddhist gods or devas, each of whom is
believed to watch over one cardinal direction of the world.
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Virupaksa is the guardian of the western direction. He lives on
the western part of Mount Sumeru. He possesses the divine eye, which
allows him to see great distances as well as the karma of sentient
beings. He is commonly depicted as having red skin and clad in armor.
He is often depicted as gripping a red naga or a red lasso in his
hands, which he uses to snare people into the Buddhist faith.
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Vaisravana is the guardian of the northern direction, and his
home is in the northern quadrant of the topmost tier of the lower half
of Mount Sumeru. He is often portrayed with a yellow face. He carries
an umbrella or parasol (chatra) as a symbol of his sovereignty. He is
also sometimes displayed with a mongoose, often shown ejecting jewels
from its mouth. The mongoose is the enemy of the snake, a symbol of
greed or hatred; the ejection of jewels represents generosity.
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See more at
Virūpākṣa - Wikipedia
and
Vaiśravaṇa - Wikipedia.
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Virudhaka (top right) and Dhritarastra (bottom left).
The Four Heavenly Kings are said to currently live in the Four Great
Kings Heaven (Caturmaharajika) on the lower slopes of Mount
Sumeru, which is the lowest of the six worlds of the devas of the
Kamadhatu. They are the protectors of the world and fighters of evil,
each able to command a legion of supernatural creatures to protect the
Dharma.
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Virudhaka is the guardian of the southern direction. He lives
on the southern part of Mount Sumeru. In iconographic form, he is clad
in armor while brandishing a sword.
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Dhrtarastra is the guardian of the eastern direction. He lives
on the eastern part of Mount Sumeru. Dhrtarastra is considered to be a
god of music. In iconography, he holds a lute (pipa) in his
hands, indicating his desire to use music to convert sentient beings
to Buddhism.
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See more at
Virūḍhaka - Wikipedia
and
Dhṛtarāṣṭra - Wikipedia.
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Main hall with Buddha statue in the background.
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Golden statue of Buddha.
Bhumisparsha Buddha: the right hand pointing towards the ground is the
gesture of taking the earth as a witness for determination. The left
hand carries the alms bowl.
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The bhumisparsa or "earth witness" mudra of Gautama Buddha is
one of the most common iconic images of Buddhism. Other names include
"Buddha calling the earth to witness", and "earth-touching".
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It depicts the story from Buddhist legend of the moment when Buddha
attained complete enlightenment, with Buddha sitting in meditation
with his left hand, palm upright, in his lap, and his right hand
touching the earth.
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In the legend, Buddha was challenged by the evil one, Mara, who argue
for a witness to attest his right to achieve it. In response to Mara,
Buddha touched the ground, and Phra Mae Thorani, the earth goddess,
appeared to be the witnesses for the Buddha's enlightenment.
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See more at
Mudra, Buddhist Iconography - Wikipedia.
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See also
Sources
Location
Train from Patna to New Jalopaiguri
Mirik Tea Gardens
Wheel of Life
Gonjang Tibetan Monastery
Darjeeling