Picture of Prostrating Tibetan pilgrim on the streets of Lhasa (Tibet, China)

Tibetan pilgrim prostrating on the streets of Lhasa

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Pilgrimage is a vital part of the life of any Tibetan, and Tibetan pilgrims are inevitably part of life for any visitor to these parts of the world.
After hearing his story, I was baffled and dumbstruck. I tried to imagine what one can do in two years - this man, clearly younger than me, chose to spend two years prostrating his way to Lhasa. I looked at him with the admiration one can feel for someone who does something completely unthinkable for yourself. He insisted he show me how he prostrated, put on a protective cloth, gloves, and wooden blocks on his hands, and raised them to the sky in which by now some small clouds had appeared, after which he moved like I had seen him doing before, from a distance. We donated everything we could to this brave, devout man: the driver appeared to have several gloves, I had fruit and biscuits as emergency food. The pilgrim happily accepted. I would come across other pilgrims in the weeks after this encounter, and I viewed especially those prostrating with particular admiration. In one case, I even saw a Tibetan pilgrim prostrating sideways - an even more cumbersome way of pilgrimage.
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