Samye Monastery: Tibet´s First Monastery & Chimpu Hermitage
(Photos of Chimpu Hermitage are far below) Samye is Tibet´s very first Buddhist monastery. It is surrounded by barren mountains and rolling sand dunes. The juxtaposition of desert and monastery gives out a wild and magical charm. Look at the first picture, you will see that it is encircled in a wall. In fact, the entire place is an architectural manifestation of a mandala! In another word, it symbolizes the universe as Indians and Tibetans see it. The central Utse temple represents the sacred mountain Mt Meru, and the temples around it in two concentric circles represent the oceans and the continents that ring the mountain. Walking in Samye is a trip inside the Buddhist cosmology. It is in Samye where the first seven Tibetan monks were ordained. It was also here Great Debate of Samye happened. The debate, which took place in early 790s, was essentially an argument between an Indian approach to Bodhisattvahood through textual study and scholarship, and the more im...