By been there done that, aged 48: It’s me again :) And what about the four rivers and the four animal-shaped formations?
This is also loosely based on Tibetan mythology. David, our author, continues and elaborates on that.
Yungdrung Bön, the root culture and religion of Tibet, originated from the teachings of’ I’onpa Shenrab, who is believed to have been born in a completely pure land named Tagzig Olmo Lung Ring (hereinafter, Olmo Lung Ring), which is beyond the impure nature of this existing world. The birthplace of all the enlightened ones, it is a perfect realm where peace and true joy last forever, and it is free from any danger of destruction by any of the elements of nature.
The land of Olmo Lung Ring lies to the west of Mount Kailash and is in the shape of an eight-petaled lotus divided into four parts: the inner, the middle, the outer parts, and the boundary. Its sky is like an eight-spoke wheel. Olmo Lung Ring is filled with beautiful gardens and snow-covered mountains. Yungdrung Gutsek, a pyramid-shaped mountain, is at the center of Olmo Lung Ring.
Four rivers flow from Yungdrung Gutsek. The mountain has four sides that face in the four directions, and these rivers flow from the corners at the mountain’s base, from formations that resemble the heads of four different animals. From the east, the snow lion is the source of the River Narazara; from the north, the horse is the source of the River Pakshi; from the west, the peacock is the source of the River Gyim Shang; and from the south, the elephant is the source of the River Sindhu.
Olmo Lung Ring is not a physical place that can be visited by ordinary human beings. In order to reach Olmo Lung Ring, one must practice, become purified of all negativities, and achieve enlightenment.
So, indeed, Bravya, as an imaginary place – with its green gardens, a valley, snowy mountains and in particular, the pyramid-shaped mountain and the four rivers that flow from the corners at the mountain’s base and from formations that resemble a snow lion, a horse, a peacock and an elephant – finds its roots in Olmo Lung Ring.
