With my Indian visa quickly expiring, I decided to take heed and depart Benares. Off to Nepal I head for a refresh of both my visa and head in the crisp mountains.

I entered the train station to await my train to Gorakhpur from whence buses will complete the journey to Pokhara and then Kathmandu. As I entered the crowded station I noticed a monk in auroral attire monitoring the entrance to the platform. He quickly engaged me in converstation about my destination and our plans were the same: journey to Kushinagar on the Indian side to visit the place of Buddha’s death and to Lumbini on the Nepali side where Buddha was born.

“Yes, okay, well then- just follow me, ok? I’ve been here several times!”

And just like that I met Master Roy, a monk born in Singapore living in Taiwan for many years and my companion for the next several days. He now lives at Taipei’s famed White Cloud Temple. With him was another Taiwanese pilgrim, a woman of about his age, whom he was escorting around the famous Buddhist pilgrimage points of India and Nepal.

Master Roy

Master Roy is certainly eccentric and friendly- and doesn’t he resemble Bob Hoskins, the actor from Who Framed Roger Rabbit? At the station, I thought of my freshly shaved head under my hat as I watched Master Roy apply generous amounts of some kind of oil upon his own shorn dome. It was bound to happen. With a smile I unveiled my cranium and accepted a coating of his Sri Lanken lube that left me shining like a cue ball and Master Roy chuckling with pleasure.

At both stops, Buddhist countries and organizations have spent large amounts of money to build temples of their own style. In these temples it is possible to stay and eat, donation appreciated. Master Roy has been to these sites several times and thus knows where to stay, who the head monks are, and what to see. I couldn’t ask for a better method of visitation.

Kushinagar

Our first stop was Kushinagar. Guatama Buddha would achieve parinirvana here at the age of 80 in 483 BCE. Parinirvana occurs upon the bodily death of one who has attained complete awakening, escaping samsara or the cycle of reincarnation.

According to tradition Buddha would take his final meal, either that of pork or mushroom, from a blacksmith and fall violently ill. Sensing the end was near, Buddha would instruct his attendant to convince the blacksmith, Cunda, that the meal had nothing to do with his death and was in fact a source of great merit to provide the Buddha with his last nourishment. Buddha told his disciples at his death to follow no leader, but to follow his teachings (dharma). Today, the Parinirvana Temple marks the spot of his death with a statue inside.

“All composite things pass away. Strive for your own liberation with diligence.”

-Final words of Guatama Buddha

Parinirvana Temple, Picture courtesy Wikipedia

Picture courtesy Wikipedia

Sleeping Buddha Detail

Buddha Feet

Makutabandhana, the cremation-site. Picture courtesy Wikipedia.

Over the centuries, warring invasions left the site destroyed and jungle retook the surrounding countryside. In the 1800′s, English attached to the East India Company rediscovered the site and eventually made the connection from the ancient texts that this was in fact the site of Buddha’s death.

Of interest, The Maitreya Project aims to build a 152 meter tall statue of Buddha that will surely bring many more pilgrims to this holy site of Buddhism. The Statue of Liberty is 46 meters tall.

Lumbini

So we left Kushinagar, where we stayed at the Burmese Temple, and continued across the border of Nepal to Lumbini. This is the place of Buddha’s birth and is much more vibrant in feeling and community. We first stayed where all traveler’s rest their heads, the gigantic Korean Temple. This temple can accommodate large numbers of people in several housing building and boasts a concrete reconstruction of a traditional Korean temple. Though this was fine, we eventually used Master Roy’s connections to get us into the still under-construction Vietnamese Temple.

And what a temple it is. Vast amounts of money are creating a sort of Buddhist-Disney compound with slightly trippy statues, a crane pond, and huge main temple with dragons, lotus, and mountain sculpture.

View from top of Vietnamese Temple, looking onto the grounds.

Local resident of the Vietnam Temple

Surrounding the holy sites of Lumbini are large monastic zones separated into Theravadin monasteries on one side with Mahayana and Vajrayana monasteries in another.

But we came to see the birthplace of Buddha, where Queen Mayadevi delivered young Siddhartha (“he who achieves his aim”) in a pond. She was on her way to her father’s kingdom to give birth, as custom of the time. During the celebrations over his birth, a hermit seer predicted that the child would become either a a great king or a great holy man.

Birthplace of Buddha.

Buddha’s Exact Place of Birth, picture courtesy of Wikipedia

The modern site boasts a Bodhi tree, an Ashokan pillar to mark the visit of the great king, a bathing pond, and a temple housing a marker for the exact site of Buddha’s birth.

Under the Bodhi Tree

Countryside

I ended up staying longer at these sites with the company of Master Roy and his travelling companion. He is a first class individual and a prime example of one of the first tenets of Buddhism: charity. So it was with some hesitance I took my leave and continued into Nepal. Hopefully I can meet Master Roy again when I visit friends in Taiwan.

My timing was perfect to arrive in Varanasi because just 13 kilometers away in peaceful Sarnath, the Dalai Lama arrived to give lectures from January 8 to 14, 2009 at the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies. His focus was Arya Asanga’s Compendium of Higher Knowledge and Shantideva’s Way of the Bodhisattva.

When I visited Dharamsala, I mentioned I caught a brief glimpse of the DL when he returned from a speaking tour abroad. This time I had the opportunity to sit 100 meters from him and listen to him speak.

First 5 disciples of the Buddha at the Deer Park of Sarnath, showing their respects to the Wheel of the Dharma, Photo Courtesy Wikipedia

Sarnath is one of the four main places of pilgrimage in Buddhism. About five weeks after attaining enlightenment, the Buddha journeyed to Sarnath where he delivered his first sermon to his disciples. Today the Dhamek Stupa inside a deer park marks this spot. It is said a Bodhisattva offered himself as sacrifice to a king in exchange for the life of a doe he was planning to kill. Thus moved, the king created a sanctuary for deer that still exists today.

A Bodhisattva, it should be noted, is an enlightened being who has chosen not to enter nirvana in order to help others reach enlightenment.

Dhamekh Stupa, site of Gautama Buddha's first sermon

The city is a short rickshaw drive away from Varanasi and I made about 5 trips to the area to see the temples, take in a fine museum, and listen to the Dalai Lama expound on the Dharma. Its quite a change from hustling, busting Varanasi with tranquil monks and deer parks. Finding transport for near the correct price was always a hassle, but once I shared a rickshaw back with some monks and they immediately got the correct price that I would have to spend 20 minutes arguing about.

The museum contains the most famous of the four-faced lion carvings that today adorn Indian money and passports as well as being the state emblem. This one is referred to as the “Lion Capital of Asoka” after the famous and successful Indian king Ashoka the Great who embraced Buddhism patronized these statues.

Lion Capital of Asoka, Photo Courtesy Wikipedia

Unfortunately, security was rather strict about no cameras. These days I am only carrying a larger SLR and video camera which are difficult to sneak in. (In usual fashion, a couple weeks into my journey my parents say, “Oh, we’ve got a pocket camera we could have sent you with the last package.” I shed a tear for the thousands of missed photographs.) So, I have no photos but it looked similar to this other photo of a DL lecture in Sarnath:

Photo by Taara

The lectures were conducted in Tibetan. To be able to listen, I purchased a radio and brought headphones since an English translation was being made on the fly. The translator did well, but it was quite a difficult task due to the complexity of the subject matter. For me, since I did not attend each and every lecture, the most interesting parts were the small asides and stories the DL would insert. He elaborated on his bodyguards, his recent sickness and hospitalization, and having jaundice, which turns you yellow. At one point he was describing a meditation technique where you focus on the tip of you nose. He warned, to the laughter of the crowd, not to go cross-eyed but that doing such was easier for foreigners since they have bigger noses. More than a few heads turned my way to check my own proboscis.

It was a great opportunity for soak in more Tibetan culture and really get to see the Dalai Lama. Other than the usual Indian hucksters, including a particularity creepy one, Sarnath is a welcome respite to chaotic Varanasi.

Mulagandhakuti Temple

Dharamsala

Back into colder mountain weather, my anticipated next stop is Dharamsala and the home of the Tibetan Government in Exile. I spent most of my time just above the village proper in McLeod Ganj, also called Upper Dharamsala. Administration buildings, monasteries, the home of the Dalai Lama, Parliament House, and schools have turned with place into “Little Lhasa.”

Since 1960, several thousand Tibetans have relocated themselves to this area transplanting their monasteries and culture into the surrounding Hindu backdrop. McLeod, a couple kilometers walk uphill, is what you consider “touristy” with guest houses, Western cuisine, and souvenir vendors lining the streets.

My schedule has slowed much in the past month and my stay of almost 2 weeks was rather quiet and relaxing. I met a few local Tibetans and got into a habit of playing pool everyday, along with lots of reading and chess games.

Rinchen

The most notable thing I did was attend some philosophy classes at the Library. I would love to have several months to spend studying here with many kinds of Buddhist teachings offered. As it is, I attended a class given by a Tibetan lama and his interpreter, an English woman in her 60s. The translator was excellent, having spent many years here in study.

The focus of this class, which runs about a month in total, is on “The Wheel of Sharp Weapons Effectively Striking the Heart of the Foe” composed in the 10th Century by Dharmarakshita. The text is essentially an investigation in the effect of karma on our lives, the vital role of cause and effect, and that all our suffering is self-imposed. Our own selfish actions come back to us and cause harm, which is why a life of compassion for all living things is cultivated. “The Wheel of Sharp Weapons comes back upon us full circle!” was the repeated phrase in these talks. Very interesting text I will pick up later to study in depth.

I also briefly saw the Dalai Lama as he returned from a speaking tour in Japan and Europe. Unfortunately his motorcade drove through the closely packed streets quite quickly and I bungled the photo operation before I could get a good shot! I had someone else man my video camera so perhaps I got something there (will have to wait and see…). I did see him though and her was in the front seat of vehicle waving both hands at one and grinning.

Waiting for the Dalai Lama

Dharamsala, shortly before my arrival, held a series of important talks concerning their stance on the occupation of Tibet by China. One cannot help but feel a sense of despair hanging over the setting here. Some sport shirts that say “Tibet was Raped by China” in bold lettering and an anti-Chinese feel permeates the literature, DVDs, thoughts, and mentality that are produced here.

You also find many foreigners here volunteering and working for all types of causes. Not negatively implied, this sort of “do-gooder tourism” attracts certain kinds of people. I myself have done this kind of thing extensively (in Jamaica) but it brings up mixed emotions on the effectiveness of this and the fine line between tourist and community member. Some people walk the streets with wine in their belly; others searching for some religious experience and it’s quite impossible to tell the two apart.

One “local-foreigner” approached me one night with bundles of raffle tickets supporting some charity for which she probably spent the day painting benches for. Prizes were big TVs and other electronics. What the hell am I going to do with a flat screen TV here? Why, donate it to charity of course!

Her (to anyone listening): “Where is the ________ Shop?”

Her (to me): “Where is the–, How long have you been here?”

Me: “Ummm, about–”

Her (to anyone listening): sigh, “I guess I’ll just have to go myself”

Me: “……..”

She tromped off with her raffle tickets.

I can’t figure out of this girl (and others) is motivated by her compassion to help people, or her sense of self-worth derived from her compassion to help people.

Since its off-season, I found a room for very cheap (100 Rps = $2) during my stay. I enjoyed the mini-enclave of Tibet in India and hope to return someday to explore further north into Ladakh, which is reachable by plane in the wintery months.