Himalaya

Himalaya refers to those big mountains where Everest and K2 are up there in Nepal and Tibet.  The native peoples, tribes, many of them are thought of as rather spiritual people.  The locals gave the mountains that name.  It is really two words.  "Hima" means snow.  "Alaya" means abode.  Their idea is that snow does not simply fall and lie on the ground like a "thing" that is so different from us.  Snow abides.  It has a home, the mountains.  The snow is alive, animated, with a spiritual entity to it.  Those people who climb to the heights of Spirit, a tough climb for sure, enter into the world of "eternal life."  Up there in the home of the abiding snow, there is also the abiding spirit that permeates all matter, as "Himalaya" implies.  This spiritual and physical climb is best done with someone else, never alone.  So many of us fail in our spiritual climb because we try to do it alone.  We all need help.  I climb with others and when I am not sure of the path or next step, someone with more experience and strength at that moment shows me the way and helps me along.  Climbing requires "recovery."  Stop along the way and regroup.  Lots of steps, but one at a time.  "Namaste" is what the Tibetan says.  The plus of the spiritual journey is that you can do it at any age.  An old person can do it.  We can grow in Spirit as we age.  But you cannot climb the big mountains after a certain age.  By 40, you best stay at the fourteeners in Colorado.