Beyul
Encyclopedia
Beyul are hidden valleys, encompassing hundreds of square kilometers, which Padmasambhava
Padmasambhava
Padmasambhava ; Mongolian ловон Бадмажунай, lovon Badmajunai, , Means The Lotus-Born, was a sage guru from Oddiyāna who is said to have transmitted Vajrayana Buddhism to Bhutan and Tibet and neighbouring countries in the 8th century...

 blessed as refuges in the Nyingmapa Tibetan Buddhist beliefs. Terton
Tertön
A tertön is a discoverer of ancient texts or "terma". Many tertöns are considered incarnations of the 25 main disciples of Padmasambhava. A vast system of transmission lineages developed...

 may reveal them from terma
Terma (religion)
Terma are key Tibetan Buddhist and Bön teachings, which the tradition holds were originally esoterically hidden by various adepts such as Padmasambhava and his consorts in the 8th century for future discovery at auspicious times by other adepts, known as tertöns. As such, they represent a...

 at specific and appropriate times. Their locations were kept on scrolls hidden under rocks and inside caves, monasteries and stupa
Stupa
A stupa is a mound-like structure containing Buddhist relics, typically the remains of Buddha, used by Buddhists as a place of worship....

s. Padmasambhava assigned deities to protect beyul. Protective forces manifest as snowstomes, mists and snow leopards. Buddhist texts indicate the beyul are discovered when the planet is approaching destruction and the world becomes too corrupt for spiritual practice. They describe valleys reminiscent of paradise, which can only be reached with enormous hardship. Pilgrims who travel to these wild and distant places often recount extraordinary experiences similar to those encountered by Buddhist spiritual practitioners on the path to Liberation. People who try to force their way in, may encounter failure and death. Beyul retreat time has concentrated benefits. The places originate from a faith which has traditional natural site respect. Life in beyul is sacred and protected. Earthly beyuls share significant characteristics with Shambhala
Shambhala
In Tibetan Buddhist tradition, Shambhala or Shangri-la is a mythical kingdom hidden somewhere in Inner Asia...

, which is the greatest hidden valley.

Guru Padmasambhava forecasted beyul while in the presence of Tibetan King Trisong Detsen
Trisong Detsen
Trisong Detsän or Trisong Detsen ཁྲི་སྲོང་ལྡེ་བཙན , was the son of Me Agtsom and one of the emperors of Tibet and ruled...

 and others at Samye
Samye
The Samye Monastery or Samye Gompa is the first Buddhist monastery built in Tibet, was most probably first constructed between 775 and 779 CE under the patronage of King Trisong Detsen of Tibet who sought to revitalize Buddhism, which had declined since its introduction by King Songtsen Gampo in...

 Monastery :– “in the future when there will be warfare, strife, and difficult circumstances in the world, good people and dharma practitioners should travel to ‘Beyuls’ or hidden valleys situated south of the Tibetan Himalayan range for refuge.”

In Buddhism, sacred environments are places to deeply enter the world, and to avoid escaping it. The qualities inherent in such places revel the interconnectedness of all life and deepen awareness of the spirit and mind's hidden regions. Visiting beyul with good motivation and appropriate merit, the pilgrim can learn to see the world differently from the way it commonly appears, developing and enhancing the Buddhist virtues of wisdom and compassion. Inside beyul, people should abandon their negative actions. The lands embody protector deities
Dharmapala
In Vajrayana Buddhism, a dharmapāla is a type of wrathful deity. The name means "Dharma-defender" in Sanskrit, and the dharmapālas are also known as the Defenders of the Law , or the Protectors of the Law, in English....

 and lords of the land, which are associated with the geographic features such as mountain, trees, rocks and water sources. In custom, ritual offerings are made to these spirits to appease their wrathful nature and with the symbolic unity that people share with them. The attitude affords a sustainable approach toward land stewardship.
In Nepal and Tibet, around Mount Everest
Mount Everest
Mount Everest is the world's highest mountain, with a peak at above sea level. It is located in the Mahalangur section of the Himalayas. The international boundary runs across the precise summit point...

, are the Khenbalung, Solukhumbu, Rolwaling, Rongshar, Kyirong and Nubri sacred valleys . The Sherpa
Sherpa people
The Sherpa are an ethnic group from the most mountainous region of Nepal, high in the Himalayas. Sherpas migrated from the Kham region in eastern Tibet to Nepal within the last 300–400 years.The initial mountainous migration from Tibet was a search for beyul...

 people discovered Solukhumbu when they left Tibet to escape religious persecution in the 15th and 16th centuries. They entered the valley to seek refuge and made a new homeland there. Buddhist monasteries and sacred mountains have brought many spiritual travelers to Solukhumbu. Traditional beyul are found in the Himalayan regions of Nepal, Tibet, Sikkim, Bhutan, India, China and Pakistan.
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