Buddhist Pilgrimage to India

When embarking on any kind of journey far from one’s homeland and into unknown territory, there is without doubt a certain amount of trepidation and anxiety surrounding the thoughts of what may or may not transpire. Moreover, the mind itself tends to work overtime with its imaginings and concerns. On this occasion the pilgrim, me, was already reasonably well travelled and at ease with Indian customs having previously spent a limited but insightful period working voluntarily in the Himalayan region of Northern India. This journey however, would unlike that previous one so well documented in 2009, be totally motivated by a deep appreciation for that sagacious teacher & His dispensation we refer to as the Buddha and the Dhamma.

By paying my last respects to the late Luang Ta Maha Bua (a highly revered and accomplished meditation master in the Forest Tradition of Northeast Thailand) on the day preceding the cremation presided over by Queen Sirikit, I was in a suitably gladdened state of mind to begin the trip to India; the land of the Buddha. On arrival in Delhi & following a sleepless overnight stay in the terminal for the connecting flight to Patna (the capital of Bihar) I was keen to make my way towards that place where, sat under a ficus religiosa tree around 2600 years ago, a great being penetrated the cloud of dust obscuring the sight of all humanity and beyond. That place is known presently as Bodh Gaya (ancient Uruvela) and is about two and a half hours or so south (depending on your mode of transport and pot luck) from the sprawling Bihar State capital of Patna. This particular bus journey took five hours due to various unforeseen circumstances such as a bag tumbling from the roof and causing a great commotion between local villagers and the distraught owner who was unable to retrieve it and also the untimely loosening of a wheel, no doubt due to the enthusiastic and adventurous driver. Nonetheless, I was in my element and the presence of a small TV playing local Indian music and the sights and smells of Bihar passing by were all setting the scene quite nicely.  

Noting the dry, rocky hills at Gaya I started to feel that I was approaching or indeed passing right through an area that must have seen a great ebb and flow of human history over the ages. It just has the look of being well-used, rugged & almost severe in the baking sun of the Ganges plains. Taking an auto rickshaw for the final leg of the journey to the holy site proper, one is transported to a place quite unlike any other.