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Sacred Vajrayogini Temple and Ancient Meditation Caves

The village of Sankhu, a 45 minute drive from Kathmandu, offers visitors the opportunity to explore a traditional Buddhist monastery brimming with young monks, 1500 year-old meditation caves and a sacred Vajrayogini temple complex. The monastery was founded by the modern-day meditation master, scholar and Harvard PhD, Trungram Gyaltrul Rinpoche, who is also establishing a retreat center in upstate New York [www.dharmakaya.org & www.utbf.org]. The temple and meditation caves are accessed by climbing up stone steps located behind the monastery. Advanced Buddhist masters from ancient India, including the ‘80 Mahasiddhas’ meditated for years in these caves and attained high spiritual realization and meditation powers. One cave is well known as the dwelling place of Tibet’s greatest saint and poet, Milarepa, who composed spontaneous songs of realization from his meditation seat in the cave.

Built in 1655, the Vajrayogini temple complex is a magnificent example of Newari architecture boasting tiered roofs of sheet copper, beautiful wood-carvings, repousse work and stone statues. Vajrayogini is an important tantric meditation deity of Tibetan & Indian Buddhism. Deities in the Buddhist tradition are not external gods, but are representations of one’s own enlightened qualities. The blessings of all the masters who practiced meditation and attained realization there are very much perceptible in these sacred sites, temples and caves today.

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