Bodh Gaya: The Ruins of Nalanda

The distance between Nalanda and Vulture Peak is approximately 15 km; therefore, it didn't take us more than thirty minutes.

From the bus parking, we immediately rushed towards the gate to collect tickets from the counter. Any visitors are charged, but with different prices. While Indians are charged less than outsiders, I was told westerners are charged even higher than that.

Group photo with His Holiness

This is not a new trend in some parts of Indian places where scams are part of their bread. Be careful! Otherwise, there are scammers in auto drivers, taxi drivers, hoteliers, shopkeepers, street hawkers, beggars, even police officers ready to take advantage of innocents and newcomers.

Before coming, I had heard, read, and watched about Nalanda, which is not only the oldest in the world but also the biggest university of its time. I was also told it took three months to raze down the entire university by fire, and millions of books were burnt.

I couldn't believe I was in that particular place where great panditas like Nagarjuna, Shantrakshikta, Chandrakriti, Shanti Deva, Arya Deva, Asanga, Vasubandhu, and so many others had studied. Though there are boards at all the sites written about the events, it is not enough to make you understand. I was even skeptical when pilgrims were listening to guides. I feel it is better not to listen to distorted information. This is because if you listen, you'll pass it on to others; if you don't listen, you'll not get information, but you will not pass false information.

While inspecting some of the sites, our Kyabje Rinpoche arrived. We assembled to receive oral transmission of Manjusrinamasamgiti, the first chapter of Madhyamaka-alam-kara and madhyamakavatara, recited expressions of reverence of panditas, recited Ganachakra or feast gathering, even had debates at the end within monks.

To be continued.....

Bodh Gaya: The Importance of Mindfulness in Travel

I'm sure we've heard "Bodh Gaya" more than any other place's name, and some of us have dreamt of visiting this place for so long. But not everyone is blessed equally, at least if your dream of visiting is still pending.

Mahabodhi Temple

In my case, I was blessed that the monastery bore all the costs for some 300 monks. Sometimes, I feel that what I've achieved can never be compensated for with what I do in this life, though I don't have much to show materially. Yet, I feel the tightness of having a lot!

As soon as we reached Bodh Gaya, one of our friends from Namdroling Monastery received us and brought us to our rented apartment that would be home for the next 13 days. In a season like this, finding a good room with required amenities is competitive. Somehow, Pema managed to get one for the six of us.

In our group, two could neither speak nor understand Hindi, two of course understood and spoke a little, while another two were a bit more advanced. I fell into the third category, which means I was bound to talk and do miscellaneous activities.

Since we reached four days ahead of '35th Nyingma Monlam Chenmo' on the second day, we were informed to reach Vulture Peak, the place in Rajgir which is approximately 75 km away. This meant we were supposed to wake up early in the morning because the bus takes nearly three hours. We missed our 2 a.m. alarm. 

The 22-hour journey the previous day and night on the bus actually made us go deep into sleep. I don't know if it is luck, but something woke me up. I checked my phone to find it was 5:56 a.m. I couldn't believe it, rubbed my eyes, carefully squinted before uttering, “yalama chu tshe khung dewa la!” One of them quickly responded, “Hung? Mangi du ko.” I showed him my phone, “5:56 dewa la.” By that time, all hurried from their mattresses and rushed to their belongings.

Many of our friends had called us on messenger, some even tried calling us but received no response. Hoping to reach the place on time, we had to take a taxi. We couldn't make it to the oral transmission of Prajnaparamita, but at least got satisfaction that we sat for a few minutes in the presence of our own Guru and chanted a short version of the same scripture.

To be continued.......