Its journey had started in April 2006, up in trans-Himalayan Mustang where I went on a journey that would lead me to an in-depth contemplation upon my inner psyche.Indeed, as most life-turning events begin, it wasn’t a planned expedition but one prompted by my spiritual Guru, His Eminence Chogye Trichen Rinpoche, who was, like myself, then residing at Bouddhanath in Kathmandu.[break]
I was actually on my way to Tibet, and the day before departure, I went to visit him for his customary blessings. Yet with tickets bought and visas and permits already obtained, I was suddenly stopped in my tracks.
“Go to Muktinath instead!” was his instruction; and even though I was fully coherent in the final decision-making process, I couldn’t disobey this simple order that his clairvoyant mind had detected as more suitable for me. Is it protective advice against an ill to befall me in Tibet? I wondered at the time. Now I see it as a fulfillment of personal destiny.
Within a few days, I found myself in the Kali Gandaki gorge, heading to Mustang. But it was only upon entering the valley of Muktinath that I was unknowingly swept into the vortex of the place as I explored its highs and lows, interiors and exteriors as well as its sacred and mundane without any intention of going anywhere in particular.
Consciously realizing that I had entered a kind of substrata reality where the division between gross, hardcore existence blends into a subtler space of being, this uncharted journey of spiritual awakening culminated in a kind of transcending the so-called ‘ordinary’ world.
After returning to Kathmandu and shaken in a new way by what had happened, I set about to write it down in a travelogue of sorts. A mystical and yet flowing explanation of the deeper process that had occurred ensued upon the page in the root text, “The Rainbow Bridge”, that appeared in a series of verses pouring from my mind in an insistent and procreative way.
These verses remained in my computer for the next three years as I set about digesting their meaning into my everyday life.
It was only in the middle of 2008, when I had shifted to Mussoorie in the Indian Himalaya after the passing of my Guru, that I set about to explain the meaning of the verses in a commentary to the essential text.
Thus, bridging the so-called outer meaning of our lives to our inner senses, thoughts, perceptive states, and ultimately to that naked state of awareness that can’t define itself except as just existing, I explained the verses in as near as possible language to our ordinary perceptual state of being.
Including its most obvious as well as hidden meanings within the rainbow allegory that pervades the book by paralleling them with our various shades of consciousness, I also aimed at creating a holistic feeling of artistry in the book’s layout and design, integral to its overall message.
The completion of the book was obtained in the painstaking scanning of the colored photographic prints of my entire journey into the computer. The effort was worthwhile as they create a feeling of space on each page of the book whilst breaking the depth of the text, as well as both complementing and enhancing its meaning.
On March 1, 2009 in Delhi, I finally gazed at the cover of a hardback book held in my hands, depicting a rainbow outstretched above a monastery in the heart of the Muktinath valley, whilst looking across at the twenty or so boxes within which the 1,000 copies we had published were neatly stacked.
I decided to self-distribute the books as I was keen to learn the process as well as to keep tab on where they would be placed in the market. I also knew that this was not a book for everyone, and that it required an audience of likeminded seekers of knowledge and wisdom.
The truth is I didn’t know how, nor where to start. The only way to begin was just by beginning. I therefore turned to one city on my list of spiritually attractive centers, Rishikesh, nestled at the foot of Ganga’s mountainous path, thus transporting eighty books to the place.
On the first night there, I stacked the books on the table where I was eating dinner that evening, attaching a marketing poster advertising ‘New Book Release’ nearby. By the end of the evening, one copy had been sold, and I felt euphoric.
And so it continued, until I had combed the entire length and breadth of Rishikesh, leaving books in cafes and bookshops.
Sometimes, the purchasing of the book would happen in an extraordinary way. I would’ve just piled a stack of books on a table in a public place as I was counting, sorting, or rearranging my bag, and someone would appear out of the blue, ask about the book, glance over a copy, and buy it.
I began to feel no attachment to the books as it became obvious to me that those who were taking them were somewhat like vessels who would transport them to further pastures. I couldn’t cover the entire world with my 1,000 copies, but if I were to concentrate on certain key areas where people from all over the world would come, then they would do the job for me.
So it continued in Dharamsala, where the process of distribution had become easier as I was becoming familiar with the way that the shops worked. Then on to Delhi, Kathmandu, and Pokhara.
The finer details of what occurred in each of these places and the meetings and conversations that ensued around the distribution and selling of the book to both individuals and shops would merit a book in itself. I was meeting people of different religious backgrounds, beliefs and moods in which I came to detect a unified spiritual understanding that definitely exists between people of different origins.
The launch of the book at one of Delhi’s great cultural places, India Habitat Centre, in May 2009 brought about a new series of questioning and debate around it. I suddenly found enthusiasts interested in learning more and going deeper into the meaning of its content.
Today, as I see one third of the pile gone to their destinations and another third within the distribution network, I feel both a sense of satisfaction as well as intrigue as places further afield reveal their interest in it. From Holland and the United Kingdom to South Africa and Singapore, I have now been invited to lecture on its content and how it came about.
Today, I contemplate on how one small step, three small words of “Go to Muktinath!” really does lead to giant paces. And how Muktinath is now traveling the world, its inner meaning and secret essence manifest upon the pages of “The Rainbow Bridge.”
“The Rainbow Bridge” is available at all major bookstores in Kathmandu and Pokhara and also on Susan’s online website www.pyramidkey.com
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