The Drak Yerpa meditation cave complex is located about 30km (or 40 min of driving) to the North-East of Lhasa. It is a large complex of temples, monasteries and meditation caves nestled on the mountain and is the site of meditation for some of Tibetan Buddhism's greatest lamas and masters. Some of these Buddhist masters meditated for up to 3 years with very little food or water.
Visiting Drak Yerpa makes a great day trip outside of Lhasa. You can also combine it with a visit to Ganden monastery in the afternoon.
As one of the holiest centers of Buddhist thought, Drakyerpa monastery will be of particular interest to those who are interested in meditation and to visitors who are preparing for a trek in Tibet. The elevation of the caves is at 4,400 meters and this can make for a great acclimatization trip as you are getting ready to prepare for Everest Base Camp. Also makes for a nice "down time" recovery day after a long drive to Everest.
King Songtsen Gampo and his two foreign queens are said to have meditated here in the Peu Marsergyi Lhakhang. In this cave, they discovered self-arising symbols of Buddha-body, speech, and mind. Later, Padmasambhava (also known as Guru Rinpohe) concealed many holy Buddhist objects around the Yerpa valley, including the celebrated ritual dagger of Sera (aka Sera Phurzhal). This dagger was eventually rediscovered by the treasure-finder Darcharuba at Sewalung. Padmasambhava spent several months in retreat in the Dawa Puk. The cave is one of his three most significant places of spiritual attainment in all of Tibet (drub-ne).
In the ninth century, Lhalung Pelgyi Dorje stayed at Drak Yerpa in solitary meditation, both prior to and after his assassination of the apostate anit-Buddhist King Langdarma.
#Lhasa #Tibet #Drakyerpa #Buddhism
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