After he (the pilgrim) has thus made peace with the past and has gone thorough the gates of death he crosses the threshold of his new life on the snow-covered pass of the all-merciful mother Dölma. And lo, at his feet there is a lake of the purest emerald colour (which is the colour of Dölma or Tara) in the midst of rocks and snows. In Tibetan it is called the Lake of Mercy while Hindus call it Gaurikund. In it the pilgrim receives his first baptism of a new-born being. – Lama Anagarika Govinda: The Way of the White Clouds.