7 Bowls

Bowl 3

Are you ready to begin the third trial? Do you still want to experience nirvana? Then let's continue.

Find a horse and kill it. This can be a domesticated or wild one. Be sure to kill it with the phurba. When you've successfully killed the horse, harvest its blood, and hide. Return to the graveyard. Return along with the singing bowl, blood, and hide. Be sure to also bring along a bowl of oatmeal. Consume the hide and blood, then ring the singing bowl. Cold winds shriek along the oscillating sea of leviathan dunes, marbled with snow and sand. Snow-capped mountains kiss the clear midnight sky, sprinkled with twinkling and shooting stars. Scale one of the dunes. A Przewalski's Horse will be waiting. Tame it, mount it, and move your gaze towards the heavens. Find The Southern Cross and follow it.

No matter how cold, tired, and hungry you feel, keep riding through the vast desert until you see the entrance to a series of caves. The correct cave will have the glow of a campfire near its entrance. The massive silhouette of a black red-eyed Tibetan Mastiff will careen towards you. Barrel towards the cave entrance. Don't let the dog gain ground. When you reach the cave entrance (and, more importantly, the campfire), grab the torch nearby and scare the dog away. Turn your attention to the simmering pot and serve yourself a bowl of oatmeal. Warm and comforting, Chinese five-spice sings loud and proud upon your palate. Don't go for seconds. The third Dharmapala doesn't appreciate bad manners. When you are ready, ring the bowl again.

Tibetan throat chants buzz beneath the resonance of the singing bowl. The horse you've tamed will walk towards you. This is the third Dharmapala. He will stuff his snout in the pot. When he gets his fill, he'll ask you the first question. No matter the question, give him the correct answer. If you answer incorrectly, the very same starving and rabid dog you ran from will come back. The fire won't scare him away this time. The Third Dharmapala will ask you the second question. If you answer incorrectly, you will find that you can no longer hear or speak. You will mutate into a Tibetan Mastiff and will be forever enslaved to The Third Dharmapala.

The Third Dharmapala will ask you one last question. If you answer incorrectly, you'll become a leper, literally and figuratively. When you return to the real world, no one will want to be or stay with you. You'll spend the rest of your days in exile. If you've correctly answered all three questions, you'll return to the graveyard, having passed the third trial.

Can you pass the other four?