Читать книгу Edge of the Map. The Mountain Life of Christine Boskoff онлайн

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There exists a natural tension between those wishing to scale mountains in this part of the world and those who believe the peaks are sacred and should remain undisturbed. Whether deference is given to those seeking to protect the mountains is often a very personal decision. Some climbers look for signs or meaning in the words of spiritual leaders, while others remain focused on goals unhindered by such influences. Few laws exist to provide guidance for alpinists or spiritual figures—only the laws of the heart.

Jamling Norgay, the son of Tenzing Norgay, the first Sherpa to scale Everest, with Sir Edmund Hillary, once spoke about this balance:

You know we look at the mountains as sacred, and to this day some of the Himalayas remain off limits to us. They are such holy mountains that to climb them would be wrong. For many of us, especially on Everest, mountain-climbing has become our livelihood. But we go to the mountain with respect. We know that Chomolungma [the Tibetan name for Mount Everest, meaning Goddess Mother of the World] lives there, and so prayer and ceremony must precede any attempt to climb the mountain. We place prayer flags wherever we go. The mother goddess of the world lives on Everest, and our prayers are sent to her by the wind horse. The flags blowing in the wind are the sound of our prayers, our communication with the goddess. In prayer, we learn the respect with which we must approach the mountain. The deities can be defiled by people who abuse the mountain, who pollute it with garbage or try to climb it without showing proper respect. Ignorant people sometimes climb mountains. They climb only as an expression of their ego. It is very important that climbers respect the mountain and the people who live here.