The Pemakö is a Tibetan Buddhist sacred geography nestled in the eastern Himalayan syntaxis of the Namche Barwa Massif. This paper addresses the different relationships between the Pemakö’s Tibetan Buddhist religious heritage and its natural environment. Based on historical and current interactions between these two aspects of the region, the guiding research question of this article asks if and how they could inform the Pemakö’s future existence. Legends of the Indian guru Padmasambhava form the basis of the Pemakö’s religious culture. Tibetan Buddhist practitioners believe that his spiritual potency imbues the area’s natural settings and that this energy ensures swift enlightenment to anyone who ventures there (Dorjé, c. 1615–1672b, vv. 363–365).
The Yarlung Tsangpo River cuts through the region in a sharp curvature known as the Big Bend. Water, mountains and valleys create a dramatic geophysical and topographical landscape that is home to some of the world’s most biodiverse ecosystems (Xu et al., 2009, p. 521). The river has been the subject of efforts to harness its power through hydroelectric dams. In the Pemakö alone, two Chinese dam construction projects could be the world’s largest (Next Big Future, 2012). The region straddles the Sino-Indian border, which has long been the subject of dispute between the two nations (Lamb, 1966, pp. 293–531). Tensions have resulted in the breakdown of political relations and the buildup of territorial infrastructure (Gao, 2014; Lang, 2014; GOIMHA, 2014). Consequently, in the face of extensive environmental transformation, the ecosystem and Buddhist tradition particular to the Pemakö could be in danger of disappearing.
Current research on the region’s environment and cultural heritage are fragmented. Literature is often out of date, unavailable or contradictory. In order to contextualise these issues, I first present a brief data synthesis about the Pemakö based on scientific and historical studies over the last one hundred years. I then describe the region’s Tibetan Buddhist heritage using information extracted from religious documents about the Pemakö and ethnographic research conducted with Tibetan Buddhist pilgrims in the area.
By contrasting the information discovered in my research, it was possible to detect distinct patterns in the connections between the religious culture and environment in the Pemakö. These relationships define the parametres of what I define as the ‘Pemakö paradigm’.
The significance of these interactions was how the natural environment supported the Tibetan Buddhist narrative; however, even though Tibetan Buddhist thought is often considered an avenue through which to treat the environment, Buddhist ideals did not support the survival of the Pemakö’s ecosystems. Subsequently, as an extension of the different links between these two areas of the Pemakö paradigm, I describe how a region-specific strategy based on both the bodhisattva ideal and evolutionary theory could form an approach to the Pemakö’s future as an environmental jewel and Tibetan Buddhist icon.