Returning to Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, for a week and being in one place is a much needed break from the road. Nepal’s history and beauty is a lot to absorb. There is a paradox hard to makes sense of. Just like Muktinath, there are several spiritual significant sites for both Buddhists and Sanatanis that I visit. The birthplace of the Buddha in Lumbini was a big highlight for me.  It was rediscovered in 1895. Since then, it is slowly being excavated to reveal the many layers of this land’s ancient history across centuries. It is history that became hidden to us by Mother Nature’s elements but remains preserved deep in the earth. Then there are the vast national parks aside from the Himalayan range that are home to all kinds of wildlife and nature. These parks are not like the protected parks we take for granted in the West. People have been living in their villages within these wild spaces for centuries harmoniously. They lived equitably with nature, so the land did not need to be protected from the day to day actions of people. This is changing now. Villages are transforming to towns with businesses, partly fueled by tourism, as much as modernization. The fragile balance maintained here is ending.

 

Questions about adapting, accommodating, and assimilating keep coming up as I explore the country in its own unique phase of development. They go deeper than addressing the human crises we mistakenly refer to as climate change. So far, since being initiated into the world of the Devi, I am aware of this dance between cooperative and competitive expressions of shakti. There is a balance between these forms of power expressed in relationship I rarely consider. It does not matter if the relationship is human or some other expression of life unfolding. Its just clear that life has a harmony and sense of peace when there is balance between competitive and collaborative actions. Through this balance, a healthier version of evolution seems to take shape. Balance of power between cooperative and competitive behavior seem to go against the conventional capitalistic drive to grow and create at any cost. Growth for the sake of growth is a competitive race between individuals. A law of the jungle we call a “Man’s World.” Cooperation with mutual compromise is more oriented towards the collective whole. A movement I more commonly notice in women’s circles. It first struck me while working with a group of tribal Kalenjin women in western Kenya who were united in building a chicken coup per month until everyone had their own.  They found a way for everyone to benefit from day one so it didn’t matter if you were last on the list to get your coup. Yet, the process of balance between these competitive and collaborative drivers is hidden from my comprehension.

 

I do not think it is so simple to reduce competitive behavior to some masculine principle, male behavior, or patriarchy. Then simultaneously name cooperation as something female or exclusively part of the Sacred Feminine. It is more refined than this. The quality of desire and ambition that compels us to discover our potential, to supersede ourselves is something beautiful. It is also at the heart of competitiveness. It is not uniquely male even if many men seem to fit this stereotype more than women. Women are more than capable of this and have been breaking the glass ceiling through competitive ambition. We can be fierce too and we can be fierce to each other. It is also not bad at the right dose. Comparably, the inherit drive to want to be whole, to be inclusive, have a collective expression of what we share universally is amazing. This is at the heart of collaboration. Its beautiful as long as we know when to confront what hurts the whole. Healthy inclusivity is devoid of notions of self-sacrifice or conflict avoidance, which fuels dysfunctional relationships out of fear of loosing the relationship all together. There is such a thing as being too inclusive. This cooperative quality is also not uniquely specific to all women even if women seem more inclined towards this.

 

Fortunately, Kathmandu offers something fresh. First, it shows me that not all Shakti Peeths live in the sky, steadfast on top of hard to reach mountain tops in the nether spaces of the world. Some landed in the heart of vibrant life. Next to the soothing sounds of flowing rivers that nourish communities into cities. This is what happened with Guhyeshwari Shakti Peeth located along the Bagmati River flowing through this lively capital. The Bagmati River to Nepal is like the Ganges River to India. All of life’s milestones are honored here. Life’s beginnings, endings and everything in the middle undergoes a ritual by this river as it snakes through the eastern part of the city. 

 

There are two notable temples, one to Shiva and one to Shakti, positioned on opposite sides of the river where it makes a wide bend.  Some believe this whole area is the Shakti Peeth. The temples are invisible to each other by a tall hill, which also connects them.  They seem separate but are not. The Shakti temple to Devi Guhyeshawari is to the east and is where the knees of Sati Devi fell. Today, most treat this temple as the Shakti Peeth. To the west is Pasupatinath, a temple to Lord Shiva in his form as a deer. As Pasupati, Shiva is a Lord to all animals. This temple is famous and attracts devotees from all over the world.  Bridging the two is a path that runs up and over the hill through a sacred forest at the top. In the middle of this forest is a clearing called Mrigasthali. It is a vast complex of countless stupa like structures that form a maze of shrines to Lord Shiva. The stupas vary in size but are more or less the same shape. Some are made of red stone, others are white. Inside each stupa is Shiva’s Lingam. Outside the door of each stupa is Nandi his devoted bull facing him. There are too many stupas to count. I tried but was too easily distracted by the many families of monkeys and stray dogs chaotically negotiating the space here along with the meditating sadhus. In between the stupas are even more lingams that are uncovered and scattered through out with primitive stone statues of the Devi located in the center of them. Here, Shiva and Shakti appear to be in union together with clear view of everything below.

 

 

The current temple was likely built around 1000 CE in the reign of King Shankar Dev and then renovated around the 17th century by King Pratap Malla. The temple remains hidden from view even at the entrance gate that leads to a steep stairwell. It is adorned with artwork that is a fusion of Tibetan Buddhist and Hindu iconography. Interestingly, like Muktinath, the temple is also significant to Buddhist and Tantrics.  Up until Nepal retired its monarchy, the country was known as a Hindu nation. The truth is, the country is just as much Buddhist. Everyone I spoke to during my travels through Nepal said something strikingly similar to me. After telling me which faith they were born into as either Hindu or Buddhist, they would without any prompting state they believe in both.  These are not separate religions to them but live as one in them. Religious pluralism has made for such a divisive human history and heartache.  The spiritual attitude of Nepali’s is a refreshing oasis to the polarization consuming most of the world’s attention these days. What is this secret ingredient? The impossible became possible here.