the hidden lands of the Mahaguru
(Click here to embark on the journey or read the short introduction below)
Introduction to Beyuls
More than one thousand years ago, Guru Rinpoché visited and discovered many places that were highly conducive to insight and realization. He practiced extensively at these sites, blessing them with his profound accomplishments. While the Mahaguru disclosed many of them in his biographies, he also concealed other places as treasures (termas) for a specific time in the future. Among the latter are the hidden valleys, known as beyuls or—safe havens for Dharma practitioners in times of conflict.
Beyuls are valleys (yul) in the Himalayas. These valleys are hidden (bé) not only because of their secluded, largely inaccessible locations, but also because they are guarded by the Mahaguru himself. By concealing their spiritual qualities, Guru Padmasambhava has kept these locales pure of the many ways humans contaminate sacred space. Beyuls are therefore treasure-safes that keep sacred environments hidden for generations until they are ripe for the time, ensuring their blessings are kept alive and vibrant.
For a beyul’s spiritual qualities to be accessible, a qualified treasure-revealer must not only discover, but also "open" the beyul. Opening the beyul involves the treasure-revealer, or a predestined and highly accomplished practitioner, guided by Guru Padmasambhava, to travel to the location on an auspicious day and perform special rituals and practices. Once the beyul has been opened, the treasure-revealer or practitioner receives further visionary guidance from Guru Rinpoche, explaining the sacred features of the site.
Visiting and practicing at the beyul’s vital spots enables the pilgrim or practitioner to tap into the sacred environment and receive its blessing. Kyapjé Chatral Rinpoché explains that,
Beyuls possess multiple dimensions corresponding to increasingly subtle levels of perception. Beyond their visible terrain of mountains, streams, and forests, lies an inner level, corresponding to the flow of intangible energies in the physical body. Deeper still, the subtle elements animating the environment merge with the elements present within the practitioner—the secret level. Finally, at the beyul’s innermost level lies a paradisiacal, or unitary dimension revealed through an auspicious conjunction of person, place, and time.
There are varying lists of beyuls, both discovered and undiscovered, depending on region and tradition, but the total number of beyuls is often said to be 108. The beyuls recognized thus far are interconnected valleys in the Himalayas bordering Tibet. Their exact geographical locations are often subject to debates. As Hamid Sardar-Afkhami explaines, “the reality of these sacred spaces is neither entirely psychological nor geographical, but a dimension that can only manifest between the two, when mind and landscape become transparent to each other in a non-dual space.”
Discovered lands and their revealers
Among the first great treasure revealers to begin opening Guru Rinpoché’s beyuls was Rigdzin Gödemchen Ngodrub Gyeltsen (1337-1409), known simply as Rigdzin Gödem. He is most well known as the terma revealer of the Northern Treasures (Changter). Guided by Guru Rinpoché in both visions and dreams, Rigdzin Gödem went on a hazardous journey in search for the beyul Dremojong, ‘the Valley of Fruits,’ which later became known as Sikkim. He first entered the hidden land through the snow covered high northwest pass known as Chorten Nyima, and opened the gate of Sikkim to the Land of the Snows. His visionary insight was monumental in establishing Sikkim as a sacred landscape, a true beyul that would serve as a spiritual refuge for many Tibetans in the years to come. Later, in 1646 the renowned treasure-revealer Lhatsün Namkha Jikmé (1597-1653) journeyed to Sikkim where he tamed the local spirits and thus fully established the sacred land in the Dharma.
To the west of Sikkim, in Nepal's Solukumbu region near Mt. Everest, Rigdzin Gödem is again credited with revealing another beyul known as Khembalung. Other lands within the modern day boarders of Nepal discovered by the great tertön include Nubri, Helambu, Lapchi, Rongshar, and Dolpo. Though one tertön may be credited with initially finding the hidden land, beyuls are continually revealed as the years progress and the timing ripens. Among the most famous beyuls, Pemakö in southeastern Tibet was first mentioned in the prophesies of 17th century master Jatsön Nyingpo. Over the course of two hundred years, the sacred land was gradually made more accessible until becoming fully opened by Dudjöm Lingpa in the late 19th century. In more recent years, Kyapjé Chatral Rinpoché revealed several sites in the Helambu region, which was established as a beyul over 600 years before his time. These modern sites identified by Chatral Rinpoché have become highly revered sites of pilgrimage for the Hyolmo people who inhabit the valley.
Visiting Beyuls Today
As valleys amidst towering snowcapped mountains, beyuls are often major hubs for biodiversity. Water typically flows freely from glacial ice melt into the the ponds and lakes of the alpine meadows and forested hills, carving rock canyons and shaping the land. Many of these lakes, rocks, and forests are said to be home to local deities and other spirits. As areas encompassing vast stretches of land, these beyuls have dramatic elevation changes, providing sanctuary for multitudes of plants and animals with little disturbances from humans. Since beyuls are highly revered by local residents hunting, fishing and other interferences to the natural setting are deemed disrespectful and best to be avoided.
While many of the beyuls were once truly secluded valleys of the Himalayas, the modern development of infrastructure, such as roads and air landing strips, has also allowed everyone to enter these sacred environments much more easily. Nowadays, many beyuls in the Himalayas are protected through governmental designations as national preserves or parks. Though still largely unspoiled, many of these places have seen increased interest through trekking tourism in the Himalayan regions.
By coming to know and venerate the qualities of a beyul, a practitioners can tap into the beyul’s sacred nature and swiftly receive its blessings. Likewise, it is believed that disrespecting the beyul’s land or entering retreat without proper preparation, could also harm the practitioner. Thus we advise to enter a beyul with utmost respect and leaving as little trace as possible behind, and if you plan a retreat please to consult with your teacher.
We invite you on a journey to our ongoing and expanding section on the hidden valleys. As time permits we will add further beyuls.