Vishnu Bhairav: Last time when I visited Mt. Thalaya Sagar and Kedar Tal, which is a Hindu sacred place, the penance land of Maharishi Bhrigu and many other rishi in the ancient time.There, I was more astonished to find the surroundings covered with Vajrayana Buddhist prayer flags and mantra enshrined in the rocks then the holy place itself. It felt as if the place has been in a way overtaken by Buddhist intrusion. No Buddha has ever meditated there nor Guru Rinpoche Padmasambha has ever set his foot there for meditation so it got me thinking as to why the Buddhist covered it with their prayer flags and mantras?

Kedar Tal is the place of Lord Shiva and it is the gateway to the Kailash, a holy abode of Lord Shiva as it is also believed that Lord Shiva took Parvati through the pass of Mt.Thalaya Sagar to Kailash. In the area, Maharishi Bhrigu whose guru is Nandi worshiped Lord Shiva and performed many penances. He also taught timeless wisdom to Maharishi Bhrigu there.

Kedartal is the holy pilgrimage site of Hindu. Hindus go there to bath in the holy water. The lake is little spreaded like a boomerang shaped. If you walk through the banks of the lake, you shall stumble two or three places where the Buddhist mantra is carved in the rocks or painted, and prayer flags put on it. I even spotted a small temple made of rocks where there was a small Shivlinga surrounded by Buddhist idols. I do not understand as to why Vajrayana Buddhist have to do that because the place and spiritual significance of the place has no connection with Vajrayana Buddhism whatsoever. Why would a Vajrayani Buddhist go to a Hindu pilgrimage site and establish there idols with ours? Is it a forced intrusion or superimposition because we Hindus do not mind such subtle acts and take it positively?

Furthermore, are they trying to insinuate something else which carries a deep purpose for something in future? Do we Hindu devotees also do similar acts by establishing an idol in the Buddhist holy place without any resemblance and connection whatsoever?

Similarly, in the Kugti Trek in the area of Himachal Pradesh, there is a temple of “Khodu Devta” which has been worshiped by the local peoples from centuries even before the emergence of Vajrayana Buddhism. They have sidelined the Lord Shiva statue besides the “Khodu Devta” and have placed an idol of Buddha in it. What would be the motive of Vajrayani Buddhist to replace the idol of Shiva with Buddha? They are also free to build their own Buddhist temple nearby but why replace Lord Shiva statue with a Buddha idol?

Most of the places in Nepal and India that I have traveled, there is always a holy place of Hindus where Vajrayana Buddhist have forcefully superimposed themselves. Why would they try to superimpose themselves like in the Kugti trek and the Kedartal where they have no connection at all? Can these be the sign of “subtle intolerance” or “subtle act of hate.” There are no places of India and Nepal where have have not superimposed or intruded themselves in the name of religious harmony.

For instance, the caves of upper Mustang do not belong to Vajrayani Buddhist. Those caves were of left hand path tantric of Hindu origin. Mustang is the place of Mahasiddha Matsyendra Nath and inside the caves, vama marga or left hand path sadhana used to be practiced. Now if you go there, the caves have mantras painted inside it to give impressions that it a Buddhist cave because if a Buddhist carves something on the cave then century later, it becomes an empirical proof that Buddhist had entered inside the cave but it doesn’t necessarily prove that the cave had Buddhist origin. The empirical conclusion drawn in future would be based on fallacies of the past. The premise that the caves belonged to Buddhist is ipso facto a invalid statement so how can the conclusion be a truth. We should not let future conclusion be based on fallacies.

The Buddhism have sutras which condemns violence and hate outright. Buddhism is the way of the peace for perfection of ones own existence. But why should a peaceful Buddhist try and replace the Lord Shiva idol with Buddha’s idol? Why should they carve mantras and hang the prayer flags where they have no connection to whatsoever. Nobody is stopping them to use the Hindu holy places for their meditation but why create a propaganda to insinuate that the places are of Buddhist origin and importance. Is this a sign that the Buddhist not adhering to their own scriptures?

As a matter of fact, will they tolerate a Hindu devotee if they do the same in Buddhist monasteries? Would the Buddhist entertain the idea of keeping a Lord Shiva statue in between the five Buddhas?

I remember one of my co-worker who is a Mongolian by origin had visited Mukti Nath temple with her friends who were also Mongolian by ethnicity. They went to a monastery where the monastery would not feed Hindu pilgrimages but asked her and her friends to step in for lunch because of their skin complexion and ethnicity. They were also blessed by one of the top Lamas there. She is a Hindu by birth. So, why did the monastery segregate the Hindus at first place, if they believe in religious harmony? Does their peace have hidden agenda? We do not segregate the Buddhist because Pashupati Nath temple of Lord Shiva in Kathmandu doesn’t allow foreign people to enter its premises but they do not stop a Buddhist monk to enter inside. They treat the monks more as a spiritual seeker then a Vajrayani Buddhist.

It is high time for us to observe our environment and our holy places and shrines. We should with all our senses engaged observe the acts of Buddhist. We should then after a fine bit of research introspect based on our research, “With what motive do they enter into the premises of Hindu temples and hang the prayer flags and paint the mantras on the walls?”

History also suggests that in the era of Emperor Ashoka, Buddhism had spread very wide in the Indian subcontinent and they had created a havoc in the places like Badrinath and even Pashupati Nath. Later, Adi Shankaracharya restored the Vedic Sanatana Dharma. Because of their wide spread in the era of Emperor Ashoka, they captured every next monument they came to but Adi Shankaracharya displaced them and returned the pilgrimages of Hindus to Hindu. Now, a quick search in the internet, you shall find that they even claim that Tirupati Balaji and Badri Nath are Buddhist pilgrimages.

We all know that the Tirupati Balaji as well as Badri Nath predated lord Buddha. Well we even consider Buddha to be the ninth incarnation of Lord Vishnu but we have Buddhist monks who claim that Buddha predates the Tirupati Balaji and Badri Nath places. Is this a fallacy in Buddhism?

I believe it is also high time for Buddhist monk to not perform such activities. They can dwell freely in the temple premises and perform meditation without changing anything of it. They should in a way learn to respect our premises like we respect their monasteries.

I further believe that we should draw a line because if we don’t then in the centuries to come, Buddhist shall encroach all our holy places and shrines, and even produce the proofs of mantra carvings and prayer flags which they do it right now through the subtle propaganda for future.

The propaganda of Buddhist should be stopped or if not for the sake of truth, we should all expose their subtle propaganda everywhere so that they do not take advantage of our hospitality and intolerance. Right now, it is the time for all Hindus to wake up and claim their rights.