The very idea behind a pilgrimage is fundamentally to subdue the sense of who you are. It is to become nothing in the process of just walking and climbing and subjecting yourself to various arduous processes of nature.
In the ancient past, to get to such places, a person had to go through a certain amount of physical, mental, and every kind of hardship, so that he becomes less than who he thinks he is right now. Today things have been made much comfortable.
We have used them to make ourselves weaker, more difficult with ourselves and with the surroundings in which we exist. So the fundamental idea of pilgrimage becomes all the more relevant to modern societies than it was to the ancient ones. In terms of destination, the Kailash and Manasarovar pilgrimage is probably the greatest that any Hindu or Buddhist can make.
For thousands of years, realised beings always traveled to Kailash and deposited their knowledge in a certain way, in a certain energy form. Hindus say Shiva lives there, and South Indian mysticism always says their greatest yogi, one of the seven direct disciples of Shiva who are known as the Sapta Rishis, Agastya Muni, the basis of South Indian mysticism, lives there too, in the southern face of Kailash.
What it means is not that they are actually living there, but they deposited all their work there because they could not transmit it into the people. So it is a treasure house of knowledge.
{{/usCountry}}What it means is not that they are actually living there, but they deposited all their work there because they could not transmit it into the people. So it is a treasure house of knowledge.
{{/usCountry}}Before going to Kailash, one passes through Manasarovar. ‘Sarovar’ means ‘lake;’ ‘Manas’ means ‘mind’ or ‘consciousness.’
So Manasarovar is a ‘Lake of Consciousness.’ Energy-wise, I see a very deep connection between Manasarovar and Kailash. It is the same phenomenon – one is a lake, the other is a mountain; but energy-wise, it is the same phenomenon.
This is a space you must see. It is not a question of belief, it is not a question of faith, and it is not a question of religion.
It is a very enhanced space compared to what you normally live in.