Sacred Mountains and Holy Lakes in Tibet (Part 2) : Between creation and governance

In any classical painting depicting the sacred mountains and lakes of Tibet, these natural landscapes typically have three identities: individual identity (mountains and lakes), spiritual identity (mountain gods and lake gods), and ritual identity (worship of mountain gods and lake gods). I have elaborated on this in detail in my previous article. When we explore the origins of the sacred mountains and lakes in Tibet, it is best not to start from their deification stage, because for the people living here, the process of attributing power and glory to natural objects is very long and variable, and everything starts from the distinctive features of the mountains and lakes (geographical markers). The classification and imagination of the natural environment by people make it possible to define mountains and lakes, and defining mountains and lakes is defining oneself (ethnic markers).

Whether it is the "Four Sacred Mountains" (ཕྱོགས་བཞིའི་གནས་རི་; usually centered around the Central Tibetan region), the "Nine Creator Gods" (སྲིད་པ་ཆགས་པའི་ལྷ་དགུ་; a rich concept of combined deities), or the "Four Sacred Lakes" (གནས་ཆེན་མཚོ་བཞི་; often narrated in connection with a particular sacred mountain), people who create order will ultimately trace the beginning of all laws back to the sacred mountains and lakes, transforming them from immense natural entities into deified objects that continually generate meaning and commandments. From creation to governance, these mountains and lakes possess the most primal powers, and the stories between them have become the memories upon which people rely for survival. Unlike the volcanic mountain deities of Japan or Hawaii (essential nature; such as Japan's Mount Kaguaki-Yorihira), or the mountain deities symbolizing specific actions or emotions in Southeast Asia (functional nature; such as the Philippines' Maria Cacao), the mountain and lake spirits of Tibet bear the weighty responsibility of answering the profound wisdom of the universe and life, a position that has never been shaken.

With the narrative of the dynasty occupying the core of Tibetan history, the public belief in the sacred mountains and lakes eventually became the spiritual bond linking different regions of Tibet. From the sacred lineage of the rulers to the daily lives of remote villages, the mountain and lake deities are often seen as constant presences observing and guiding the people. The mountains and lakes are no longer just containers of a specific concept; after years of cyclical worship by the people, the sacred mountains and lakes have found a fitting place in the human world. With the introduction and flourishing of Buddhism during the imperial era, as well as the reutilization and transformation of mountain and lake beliefs by Buddhists, the system of sacred mountains and lakes in Tibet will take on a new appearance, which will be the focus of our next article.