As Gabe says: "There is no holiday, no festival, this is not a clown car."
An ordinary day, an ordinary bus ride, an ordinary village in Bihar.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Our Buddha pilgrimage, part 5
Okay, so it's not a holy site, or sight. But easily one of the highlights of our month in Bihar.
Monk laundry:
Monk laundry:
Our Buddha pilgrimage, part 4
Buddha lived for 12 years in Rajgir, preaching, meditating and creating his second wheel of law. The Japanese built beautiful, peaceful structure on Vulture's Peak, the Vishwashanti Stupa, in his honor. It is, bar none, one of the most beautiful, serene places we have ever experienced.
The view from the stupa:
Of course, this is still India. Requisite useless, out of shape police officers with guns and bats at the foot of a Buddhist pilgrimage site, check:
The view from the stupa:
Of course, this is still India. Requisite useless, out of shape police officers with guns and bats at the foot of a Buddhist pilgrimage site, check:
Our Buddha pilgrimage, part 3
Nalanda University was once home to tens of thousands of monks who came to Rajgir, Bihar to study Buddhism. The school was ransacked in the 12th century by Mogul invaders, and it is said that the texts of Nalanda burned for three months. The buildings and dormitories are in ruins now, but are a fascinating look at one of the first major universities in the world.
Gabe, trying out of a monk bed for size:
Gabe, trying out of a monk bed for size:
Our Buddha pilgrimage, part 1
Buddha first attained enlightenment in the tiny town of Bodhgaya, in the Indian state of Bihar. Bihar, which borders Nepal, is the poorest state in the country, and where we spent most of our time. Bodhgaya, though, is incredible - basically a United Nations of Buddhism, and home to monks and pilgrims from all over the world. Stunning.
Buddha was sitting under a bodhi tree when he first reached enlightenment. A descendent of that tree lives on in Bodhgaya, and serves as the main pilgrimage point for Buddhists and spiritual tourists.
While Buddha was meditating in Bodhgaya, a rain began to fall. The story has it that all of the animals came out to shelter him so he could continue meditating undisturbed. This image of the cobra protecting Buddha is ubiquitous in Buddhist monasteries and sculpture.
The Sri Lankan Mahabodhi Temple, which houses the bodhi tree, is also home to a stunning meditation garden, filled with tiny pagodas, meditation platforms, and inscriptions. It is the place modern India forgot, and it is glorious.
I like monks. Even their feet.
Buddha was sitting under a bodhi tree when he first reached enlightenment. A descendent of that tree lives on in Bodhgaya, and serves as the main pilgrimage point for Buddhists and spiritual tourists.
While Buddha was meditating in Bodhgaya, a rain began to fall. The story has it that all of the animals came out to shelter him so he could continue meditating undisturbed. This image of the cobra protecting Buddha is ubiquitous in Buddhist monasteries and sculpture.
The Sri Lankan Mahabodhi Temple, which houses the bodhi tree, is also home to a stunning meditation garden, filled with tiny pagodas, meditation platforms, and inscriptions. It is the place modern India forgot, and it is glorious.
I like monks. Even their feet.
So. India.
We spent two months in India, and it's hard to put to words our feelings, which is likely why my ass hasn't blogged in two months. I dunno. Here's a go: Inspiring. Overwhelming. Fucking filthy. Stunning. Disappointing. Crushing. Oppressive. Enraging. And full, full, full of love.
Love.
I think that's probably the strongest response we had to India. Not necessarily love for India. But love, and the importance of love, and the strength of love, and the importance of taking love and using it as a fount of strength. Because in a place like India, love is all that will save you, and keep you steady during the highest highs (which you will experience) and the lowest lows (which you will experience). We thought long and hard in India about the worst impulses of mankind, and the incredible strides people make to amend those impulses. We want to help. We followed Buddha's footsteps. We traveled through the poorest and most cosmopolitan places India has to offer. We thought a looooooooot about God - as one friend joked, every rickshaw ride you take in Delhi will make you understand why Indians are so religious.
I'm still sorting out the details, but India has made a believer out of me.
One of our worst moments of our summer in India was getting stuck in the middle of a Shiva festival at the mouth of the Ganges. Hundreds of thousands of men and boys were collecting in Haridwar and Rishikesh for the festival, sleeping in makeshift camps, crowding the roads, shitting in the streets, squeezing into any mode of transportation available, and pinching, groping, staring and leering at anyone they could. We were stuck on a local bus for hours for a 30-kilometer trip, sweat streaming down us, kids crammed between our legs, spicy sweat thick in the air, staring out the windows and trying to catch a breeze while cursing the boys dressed in orange pilgrim rags and the horrifying heat of the bus and our stupidity for ever traveling to India.
Then we passed by a red truck parked in one of the camps - it was a typical people mover, filthy, caked with mud and shit, with metal cots nailed into the bed, boys in rags sleeping in, under, and on top of it. Nothing special to it, except for a giant decal on the passenger door. It said, "love is life."
Love is life. That's about right.
Love.
I think that's probably the strongest response we had to India. Not necessarily love for India. But love, and the importance of love, and the strength of love, and the importance of taking love and using it as a fount of strength. Because in a place like India, love is all that will save you, and keep you steady during the highest highs (which you will experience) and the lowest lows (which you will experience). We thought long and hard in India about the worst impulses of mankind, and the incredible strides people make to amend those impulses. We want to help. We followed Buddha's footsteps. We traveled through the poorest and most cosmopolitan places India has to offer. We thought a looooooooot about God - as one friend joked, every rickshaw ride you take in Delhi will make you understand why Indians are so religious.
I'm still sorting out the details, but India has made a believer out of me.
One of our worst moments of our summer in India was getting stuck in the middle of a Shiva festival at the mouth of the Ganges. Hundreds of thousands of men and boys were collecting in Haridwar and Rishikesh for the festival, sleeping in makeshift camps, crowding the roads, shitting in the streets, squeezing into any mode of transportation available, and pinching, groping, staring and leering at anyone they could. We were stuck on a local bus for hours for a 30-kilometer trip, sweat streaming down us, kids crammed between our legs, spicy sweat thick in the air, staring out the windows and trying to catch a breeze while cursing the boys dressed in orange pilgrim rags and the horrifying heat of the bus and our stupidity for ever traveling to India.
Then we passed by a red truck parked in one of the camps - it was a typical people mover, filthy, caked with mud and shit, with metal cots nailed into the bed, boys in rags sleeping in, under, and on top of it. Nothing special to it, except for a giant decal on the passenger door. It said, "love is life."
Love is life. That's about right.
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