Looking back, take 3b (stranded in India; reflections on teachings, expectations and the tasks of a pilgrim.)

Domo Geshe Rinpoche and students in discussion on the grounds of Nalanda University

Well, now back to the very long day.....

After leaving Rajgir, we drove a while longer (it all becomes a blur after a while.) I began to tell that my tailbone was getting a bit sore - hmmm, if I was going to avoid a pressure ulcer, I was going to have to take precautions. The roads are uniformly bumpy, so comfort was a relative term. Some fellow travelers suffered from motion sickness and I was glad I brought along ginger Altoids for them.

We arrived at the ruins of Nalanda University. Nalanda is of great significance to Tibetan Buddhism. The great Buddhist philosophers and meditators who were the teachers and disseminators of the Vajrayana Buddhism that went to Tibet came primarily from Nalanda. The names of its scholars and practitioners reads like a "who's who" of Buddhist philosophy and practice. Nalanda was comprised of a collection of 'monasteries', perhaps like our modern universities are collections of 'colleges.' The student-teacher ratio was something like 2.5 to 1. Nalanda was a major center of Buddhist thought and learning for centuries and continued to be an active university until the Turkish Muslims invaded and, in their own version of the crusades, wiped out Indian Buddhism. If Indian Vajrayana Buddhism had not been disseminated to Tibet and neighboring Himalayan countries (such as Bhutan, Nepal and Mongolia), it would probably have been lost to the world. So being at Nalanda and walking the "hallowed halls"(or at least the hallowed courtyards) of meditation and learning was a real treat for us. We saw the individual cubicles of the monk scholars, and an altar nook was built into each room. These scholars did not just think and think; they meditated and meditated. They delved into the nature of reality. Yet, when all was said and done, it was the actual practice (the inner practice) that was the true dharma. Sometimes the strongest practitioners were scholars - and sometimes they weren't.

Rinpoche, being a scholar as well as a yogi, was in her element. She took us over onto the grass under a tree and we sat down and had a discussion, where we students asked questions and we discussed them, much as we imagined might have occurred centuries ago among the real students and teachers at Nalanda.

The grounds of Nalanda was the only place in India I saw that was truly free of litter. They were beautiful, flowers were planted, and there was still careful excavation going on. When we left, we were tired. We had been up a long time and had walked a LOT, climbing up to Massed Vultures Peak and riding for hours in the bus. We were ready for lunch and then a nap in the bus on the way to the airport at Patna and a plane to Delhi. Many of us did nap and we arrived at Patna as dark was nearing. We discoverd that fog in Delhi had caused our flight to be cancelled. It was Saturday and there were no more flights to Delhi from Patna until Monday. However, those of us going home were supposed to leave for the US on Sunday night. We were hours from any other airport. It took Jugney & John and the travel agent and the bus driver several hours to come up with an alternative plan. And we sat on the bus, or played our Chod drums, or walked around the parking lot as one plan after another was discussed and scrapped. As Trilbu finally said, if she was going to be stranded in India with anyone, she would rather be stranded with us. We ate more junk food during that time on the bus than we had eaten during the entire rest of our trip. I began to wonder if we would even have time to go to the tailor in Delhi and pick up our orders before leaving - if we even made it back to Delhi in time to catch our flight at all. I agreed with Trilbu; if I was going to be stranded in India, I would rather be stranded with Rinpoche and my dharma brothers & sisters than anyone.

Finally we had a plan. The closest ariport was in Varanasi, 7-8 hours drive away. If we left now, we would pass through an unprotected area during the night, which the bus driver said was not safe. So we went to a hotel, and 3-to-a-room, we slept until almost 2 am. We left all our luggage in the luggage compartment of the bus and slept in the clothes on our backs. At 2 am we boarded the bus for the 8 hour drive to Varanasi (Sarnath actually). Arriving close to 10 am on the morning of the day we were scheduled to fly home, we had a breakfast buffet and rested for a couple of hours. The travel agent was working on getting enough seats on flights back to Delhi for at least those who would be leaving the country that night. The plan was a moving target - as one flight after another changed, and the hours that we were originally going to spend doing our last day's shopping slipped away. In the end most of us took a flight that left Varanasi at 3 something pm, and we didn't actually get back to the Potala guest house until 7-7:30 pm. This left us less than 2 hours to get our orders from the tailor, make last minute purchases (which I knew I would not be able to do, so I let go of my wish to go back to the thangka shop I had found several weeks before and obtain a thangka of the 21 Taras.) My order at the tailor was not correct (this was my winter monastic robes), and there was no time to have it corrected. I was able to retrieve the remaining material and leave it with N. Pema. We hope she has time to get the correct items made for me during the week she remains in India, but she will be traveling and that may or may not occur. Final packing was completed just in time. With all of this unwanted excitement of the last day and a half, and in spite of the uncertainty and disappointment that accompanied each change in plans, everyone seemed to take it in stride. After all, this was only what one could expect from samsara. It was a bit disappointing, but it was not that big a deal. With bags in the lobby, those of us who were to leave went to Rinpoche's room for her end-of-the-pilgrimage instructions and a final blessing. In the lobby, Pema and Jugney gave us each a kata and reminded us that the purpose of pilgrimage is to remove obstacles. May they be gone!

The bus was loaded and we were off to the airport for our 24 hour plus trip home. Since we were heading west, Jan 15th lasted 36 hours for us. Difficulties were few and we arrived home safe and sound. However, as several have pointed out, we are not the same people we were when we left. I do not feel the same. Here is where I will try to pull together the themes of the pilgrimage for me: Who am I willing to become? and the tasks of a pilgrim.

I've never been a pilgrim before - at least not in this life, and so I really had little idea what to expect. I expected almost daily teachings like we get at retreats. We actually got very few outer teachings. What we got were initiations, empowerments, impromptu teachings and unbelievable inner teachings - if we were open to receive them. I cannot say I realized at the time where the questions of pilgrimage I posted way back in November came from. They seemed to write themselves and they sounded good. Looking back, it makes much more sense. At one point, Rinpoche had said that the purpose of pilgrimage is to remove obstacles, but I gave that little real thought. Looking back, it makes perfect sense. Rinpoche's first real teaching of the pilgrimage was about personality and healing personality. Looking back it makes perfect sense. At one point I wrote about dealing with self-cherishing, and finally realizing that I needed to apply the antidote (tonglen), after which I could move on to the tasks of a pilgrim. What I didn't realize at the time was - that was the task of a pilgrim. This pilgrimage was not about sitting at the outer feet of our teacher and learning more stuff. It was not about going to whiz bang nifty spiritual sites and saying, "Wow, what great energy!." It was not about fancy meditations and the direct experience of suchness (although I am sure that would be welcome if it happened.) This pilgrimage was about removing obstacles. It was about reducing self-cherishing and getting rid of (or significantly reducing) the dense habitual patterns that hold us in suffering - those aspects of our personalities that cause ourselves and those around us unhappiness. It was not about learning, but about becoming. Rinpoche once told me that enlightenment is not something you do; it is something you are. You don't learn enlightenment; You become enlightened. This trip was not about getting all the magnificent teachings we are accustomed to, but it was about changing enough so that when things did not go well (like on our very long day), we didn't go into suffering. When our buttons got pushed, did we wallow, or did we just disconnect the button?

Some days I wallowed. One morning, walking towards the temple, Pema asked how I was. (That morning I was near wallowing.) I told Pema and Trilbu that I was dealing with obscurations (actually the ones that most frequently cause me unhappiness.) Pema just said, "Hold them lightly and laugh at them....oh, you already are." Finally, they disappeared like a morning fog is burned off by the sun. My discovery is that the task of a pilgrim is to answer the question, "What am I willing to let go of? Who am I willing to become?"

I still hope that Pema has the chance to get the rest of my monastic robes made, but if it doesn't work out...... well...we'll just have to go at it a different way.

may there be a rain of dharma

Looking back, take 3a (Rajgir, the first third of the very long day)

Picture: Domo Geshe Rinpoche on Massed Vultures Peak demonstrating the enlightened state: some others had better shots, so feel free to put up a better one.

In India, we were expected to behave in a way that is considered respectful by the culture, especially the Buddhist culture. Since we were clearly identifiable as Buddhist (even with Western faces), and there are many Buddhists around, we were to act the part. This meant that in public, we moved in a very traditional way. All the ordained wore robes every day. Rinpoche was (almost) always in the lead. The only exception to this was the times when there were beggars or sellers trying to access her from in front, and then 1-2 sangha members would walk in front of her to the right and left to run interference. Following immediately behind her were her 2 attendants side-by-side. It took a few days for our group to learn that you never step between Rinpoche and her attendants. The attendants during the pilgrimage rotated, so it was up to us to track who was attending on any given day. Immediately behind the attendants are the monastics (and monastic candidates), followed by the ngakphang (and ngakphang candidates), and then the lay practitioners. All dressed in modest, respectful clothing. All the women with long hair wore it up in the top knot of a yogic practitioner, and most wore long skirts. This respect discipline was also maintained at meals. Rinpoche, of course, always goes first. But in India, even lining up to eat was done in this order. If an ordained person walked in, they were shuttled to the front of the line, monastics before ngakphang. As a group, we learned this discipline fairly well and members reminded each other when necessary to help us maintain the discipline. Rinpoche commented that she appreciated the respect we showed by maintaining this order. It was clear to the locals from our discipline, that we are practitioners, and we were shown a lot of respect by them.

Early on the morning of Jan 13th we left Bodhgaya by bus for a very long day. As alluded to by others, it was longer than we bargained for. All our bags were in the luggage compartment - where it turned out they would stay for a day and a half. Mostly with us in the passenger section, we brought our chod drums and the jolas (monks & nuns bags) that we carried everything around in (our rare and precious toilet paper, wet wipes, rupees, etc). On the bus, Rinpoche launched into an impromptu teaching in response to questions (presumably by one or both of her attendants who were sitting hearby). Fortunately, Jugney brought a hand-held recording device rather than the marantz, and it was whipped out, so at least part of the teaching is recorded. Menma has posted some very nice notes covering some of the main points.

What follows is my recollection of part of the teaching that Rinpoche gave us on the bus on the way to Rajgir. If there are errors in memory or interpretation, they are mine. At the time Lord Buddha Shakyamuni attained full enlightenment, he apparently thought it (the method he used) could not be taught to others. When Lord Buddha went to Sarnath, located his 5 mendicant companions and sat on the grass, god-realm beings (not enlightened, but very long-lived and powerful from a human perspective) handed him a 1000-spoked golden wheel and strongly requested that he teach (hence we get the expression,"turning the wheel of dharma" The dharma is the teachings, and to turn the wheel is to teach the path to enlightenment). Having been requested, he taught from his own experience, thinking perhaps it would benefit others to replicate what he had done. This is the beginning of Theravada Buddhism.

note: Even today, Buddhist teachers and lamas tend to only teach if they have been requested. So, as their students, we request frequently, and our specific topics of interest have great influence on what teachings we receive. Many of Rinpoche's students in the Milwaukee area are in the healing professions, so we get a lot of teachings on healing, because we request them all the time.

Once Lord Buddha began teaching, many people would come to him with their problems. As the Buddha gave advice, and saw the positive results, the "remedies" developed. Eventually, he realized that the path could be taught. As this process continued and increased, the seeds of Mahayana Buddhism were planted and nurtured. Lord Buddha himself became a remedy.

Several hours later, we arrived at Rajgir (Massed Vultures Peak). The peak gets its name from a rock formation that, from one angle, looks like a mass of vultures roosting together. It was a favorite place for Lord Buddha Shakyamuni and many of his followers to stay, meditate and have teachings. It is here that the Heart Sutra, one of the most precious teachings of Mahayana Buddhism, was given. The teaching is so important, that it is considered the second turning of the wheel of dharma, and is essentially the birth of Mahayana Buddhism. N. Pema posted a wonderful translation of the Heart Sutra, so I refer you to that posting. If you have no significant exposure to Buddhist thought, I don't guarantee you will understand it. You might want to get a commentary or two for that purpose. (Heck, even if you do have significant exposure to Buddhist thought, you will probably struggle with the teaching.)

On a neighboring peak, across from Massed Vultures Peak, is a beautiful temple built by Japanese Buddhists. The Zen Buddhists from Japan are of the Mahayana tradition, by the way (as are Tibetan Buddhists.) Rajgir is rich in history and important to Buddhists, Jains and Hindus. More information on Rajgir can be had here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajgir

We arrived, and it was only a short wait until the aerial ropeway would open and take us up to the peak of the Japanese temple. The ropeway seats are similar to those of a ski lift, but only hold one person each. They do have a restraining bar across each seat for safety. For those who had not been on a ski lift before - or were afraid of heights - it would be a bit of a challenge - and each person had to ride alone. We were lined up for the tram in our tradition formation. This afforded me a good position from which to be near Rinpoche as she took her first lift ride. She was delighted by the experience and it delighted us to observe her. One attendant and Jugney were sent before Rinpoche in case they needed to assist her to get off the tram. Pema followed her and I followed Pema. The ride over the hills was wonderful! Quiet! Scenic! And it was the most trash-free area I had seen in India thus far. Pema had her camera hanging out the back of her tram so I suspect she has a picture of me riding in my little one-seater, but I didn't get around to asking her if that was what she was doing.

The Japanese Temple and stupa at the top is absolutely beautiful. To the side of the stupa, from the temple, is the constant and rhythmic sound of a deep drum. We circumnambulated the temple, which is white. On each of the four sides is a large, gold image of one of the major events of the life of Lord Buddha. They include his birth, enlightenment, teaching and death. Many pictures were taken and I hope some are posted here. After circumnambulating the stupa, we entered the Japanese temple and joined Rinpoche in bowing before the images of Buddha to the rhythm of the drum, which is traditional in the Japanese Buddhist tradition. The drum beater was so pleased by our respect that he offered holy pills to Rinpoche (Changchub actually received them on behalf of Rinpoche).

Then we took a path over to Massed Vultures Peak. First you go down from one peak to meet the path that goes up the other peak. The 'path' was paved - if you consider loose stones with steps at uneven intervals and pitched rather than flat to be a paved path. It was treacherous and difficult. We had to watch each step. Apparently the rainy season really wreaks havoc on the path and it does not seem to be maintained. Rinpoche commented that one advantage of pilgrimage was that it forced you to stay grounded. You must watch where you step, and so you cannot afford to become a space cadet - all airy fairy. Once we met the path up, we found it easier going. True enough, we were now climbing and working hard at it, but the paving was smooth. The steps were still a bit uneven, but it was in much better shape. Below Vultures Peak are a couple of caves. They are believed to be sites where Lord Buddha Shakyamuni spent a great deal of time in meditation. There is a altar in each cave and pilgrims stop and do prayers and prostrations there.

At one of the caves, Rinpoche stopped to rest, and Changchub told a small group of Tibetans that this is Domo Geshe Rinpoche. The title "Rinpoche" seems to have a strong effect on Tibetans. They approached one by one, bowing their heads down in the traditional request for a blessing. Again, I was close enough to observe the interaction. As each would bend down, Rinpoche would touch him or her on the top of the head at the crown with the knuckle of a bent finger and in that time she appeared to be checking that one out energetically, and then providing some energetic assistance depending on what she found. In response to one older woman, Rinpoche was very pleased and said to her several times "Om Mani Pema Hum". The woman was delighted at Rinpoche's response and responded back. My interpretation was that Rinpoche determined that the woman had said many 'manis' in her life with great devotion which had had a greatly beneficial effect on her spiritual development, and Rinpoche was giving her very positive and supportive acknowledgement of her great efforts. With a younger woman, Rinpoche said something like, "oh, no" and she did some work on that one. Again, I did not ask what, but only observed. When a high level lama gives a 'blessing', it is more than just a rote prayer. The recipient actually gets an energetic/spiritual check up, and some help - depending on what is indicated. It is sort of like the "nursing process." We do an assessment, and then we plan interventions based on that assessment. Rinpoche does an assessment, and then plans her interventions based on her assessment. Maybe we can call it the "guru process?"

We continued to the top of Massed Vultures Peak where there is a shrine, and a view out over the valley that is awe-inspiring - even if much of the valley below is shrouded in smog. Many people were gathered there, and we went to an area over to the side, and together we read aloud the prajnaparamita. (Again, I refer you to N. Pema's posting of the Heart sutra.) After most of the others had left, we circumnambulated the shrine. Rinpoche did a precious demonstration of the buddhas free from suffering. Several people took a picture of it and I hope one of them posts it here. I think we all want copies!

The walk down from Vultures Peak was much easier than the walk up. After reaching our bus, we headed out for another hour or so's drive to the ruins of Nalanda University.

The very long Day....to be continued......

may there be a rain of dharma

Heart Sutra on Vulture's Peak

Here is one translation of the Heart Sutra

Om Homage to the Perfection of Wisdom the Lovely, the Holy !

Avalokita, the Holy Lord and Bodhisattva, was moving in the deep course of the Wisdom which has gone beyond.

He looked down from on high, He beheld but five heaps, and He saw that in their own-being they were empty.

Here, O Sariputra, form is emptiness and the very emptiness is form; emptiness does not differ from form, form does not differ from emptiness, whatever is emptiness, that is form, the same is true of feelings, perceptions, impulses, and consciousness.

Here, O Sariputra, all dharmas are marked with emptiness; they are not produced or stopped, not defiled or immaculate, not deficient or complete.

Therefore, O Sariputra, in emptiness there is no form nor feeling, nor perception, nor impulse, nor consciousness; No eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind ; No forms, sounds, smells, tastes, touchables or objects of mind ; No sight-organ element, and so forth, until we come to :

No mind-consciousness element ; There is no ignorance, no extinction of ignorance, and so forth, until we come to : There is no decay and death, no extinction of decay and death. There is no suffering, no origination, no stopping, no path.

There is no cognition, no attainment and no non-attainment.

Therefore, O Sariputra, it is because of his non-attainmentness that a Bodhisattva, through having relied on the Perfection of Wisdom, dwells without thought-coverings. In the absence of thought-coverings he has not been made to tremble, he has overcome what can upset, and in the end he attains to Nirvana.

All those who appear as Buddhas in the three periods of time fully awake to the utmost, right and perfect Enlightenment because they have relied on the Perfection of Wisdom.

Therefore one should know the prajnaparamita as the great spell, the spell of great knowledge, the utmost spell, the unequalled spell, allayer of all suffering, in truth -- for what could go wrong ? By the prajnaparamita has this spell been delivered. It runs like this :

gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha.

(Gone, gone, gone beyond, gone altogether beyond, O what an awakening, all-hail ! -- )

This completes the Heart of perfect Wisdom.