Rumtek Monastery and other Monasteries of Sikkim

Near Gangtok, the capital of Sikkim, we visited several monasteries including Rumtek, the seat of the Karmapa.

Trekking

From Lake Tsomgo we trekked to the top of the nearby peak for an amazing view. Supposedly one of these peaks is the third tallest mounain in the world, Kangchenjunga, but given there were no snowcaps, we think it may be just a little local marketing. Geshe-la joined us for the hike but stopped halfway to take a nap :-)

Yak Riding!

Geshe-la said that when we got to the lake we could ride yaks. Daniel thought he meant wild yaks and was relieved to see saddled yaks greeting us on our arrival. Allie's yak was a baby girl named Rambo and Daniel's yak was a bit rambunctious.

Tsomgo Lake, Sikkim

We are now in the beautiful, peaceful ancient Himalayan kingdom of Sikkim where we would now like to move! Today we visited Tsomgo Lake, a glacial lake at 12,400ft elevation, which is right on the border with Tibet. The lake is revered by both Buddhists and Hindus as a mystical location.

Kushinagar

Kushinagar is where the Buddha is said to have died and his body cremated, and where he entered "parinirvana," trancsending samsara, the cycle of rebirth and suffering. On a morning blanketed with heavy fog, we sat together with many Tibetan pilgrims inside the temple housing a golden statue of the Buddha in the reclining position, signifying his passing into parinirvana. For four days of our pilgrimage we hired a taxi with Geshe-la and three Tibetan friends, travelling long distances through vast rural areas of India, passing farming fields, large brick baking ovens, herds of goats and sheep, and poor villages with huts of straw and mud with people huddled together around open fires with their cows, goats, and stray dogs. It was no relaxing cruise control journey for our driver who was constantly alternating between slamming on the brakes and accelerating while honking (which in India means "Here I come!") as he dodged trucks, rickshaws, bicycles, pedestrians, children, dogs, goats, etc. with whom we shared the rutted, uneven, and narrow mud roads. This was a wonderful pilgrimage in which we were able to visit all the major holy sites of the Buddha, including the sites of his birth and passing, his enlightenment, and the locations of all Three Turnings of the Wheel of Dharma. We also visited a myriad of other pilgrimage sites along the way which we will post later.

Vaishali

In Vaishali the Buddha taught the Third Turning of the Wheel, first ordained nuns, and was said to have been offered a bowl of honey by a monkey chief. Once a thriving and evolved Indian metropolis, Vaishali is now a dusty, almost abandoned site with scattered groupings of straw and mud huts nearby. Generally when we arrive a pilgrimage site, Geshe-la leads us in "korwa," which is circling the site three times. We also offer candles, incense, and sometimes khatag's (white ceremonial scarfs) in honor of the Buddha's teachings.

Vulture's Peak

It was here that the Buddha taught the Heart Sutra, expounding the nature of reality as part of the Second Turning of the Wheel. We sat atop this tiny peak with many pilgrims all reciting the Heart Sutra in their respective languages. As with all the sites of pilgrimage, we spent some time meditating with Geshe-la, this time accompanied with Geshe-la's father, sister, and brother-in-law.

Sarnath: Buddha's First Teaching after Attaining Enlightenment

After the Buddha attained enlightement under the Bodhi tree in Bodhgaya, he gave his first teaching here in Sarnath, also known as Deer Park. This teaching was on the Four Noble Truths and is part of the First Turning of the Wheel of Dharma. There are said to be three Turnings of the Wheel of Dharma which represent three main classifications of the Buddha's teachings.
While we were here at Sarnath, we visited the Central University for Tibetan Studies where Geshe-la was a lecturer for many years. It is a wonderful university with a rich library of ancient texts.

Lumbini, Nepal: The Birthplace of Buddha

During our pilgrimage we travelled to Nepal to visit the birthplace of the Buddha, Lumbini. The Buddha was born a prince and was named Siddhartha. It was foretold by the royal astrologers that he would become either a great king or a great saint. It was here also that after having been sheltered in the palace for all of his youth that he first witnessed the sufferings of human life in the form of aging, sickness, and death which inspired him to become a spiritual seeker. Looking around Lumbini, it was hard for us to imagine there once being a kingdom with a palace nearby, however the sufferings that the Buddha witnessed are grossly apparent 2,500 years later in this impoverished region.

More Bodhgaya

From the 5th to the 9th of January we attended teachings with His Holiness the Dalai Lama in the "Land of Enlightenment," Bodhgaya. There were 50,000 attendees to the teachings including 1000 westerners from all parts of the world. The Gelug Monlam (Prayer Festival) has been going on during the teachings as well at the site of the Mahabodhi Stupa next to the Bodhi tree. As the dust and pollution here is overwhelming, we decided to join the latest fashion trend and donned face masks!

Bodhgaya

"Bodhgaya is little more than a shantytown and most visitors are shocked and stunned by the dust, the dirt, the beggars and the poverty—although the situation is slowly improving. What many people experience once they’ve left the madness and entered the inner circle is that the atmosphere created by the Mahabodhi Temple is so potent it’s as if you fall into a trance. Here you’ll find the vajra seat (vajra asana, also known as the Diamond Seat) where, after many years of searching for the truth and six excruciating years of penance by the banks of the Niranjana River, Siddhartha finally discovered the Middle Path and achieved enlightenment under the bodhi tree. The actual tree under which Siddhartha sat was destroyed centuries ago, but a seed found its way to Sri Lanka and a tree was propagated so that later its fruit could be returned to India (there are many wonderful stories about how this seed was acquired) and planted on the exact spot of the original tree. The bodhi tree is important to Buddhists because it is a symbol of enlightenment." ~Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche