The grace of a pilgrimage

A pilgrimage is a journey that a person takes to a holy site in search of a new expanded meaning of life, to experience a deeper current of truth. After the journey a person feel reinvigorated and grateful for the grace of the experience.

That is how I feel right now. I am not one to take much time off. However unlike my usual pattern I decided to take a few weeks off to go on a spiritual pilgrimage with a meditation teacher Ajahn Achalo. He was spending over a month in Bodhgaya to complete his vow of finishing 4000 hours of meditation under the Bodhi Tree in Bodhgaya. Bodhgaya in India is the site where Gautam Buddha attained enlightenment or Nibbana. It is a holy site visited by many pilgrims and devotees from all over the world and therefore the place is undeniably powerful energetically. I decided to join him and his group of students for a portion of the trip.

My connection with the Buddhist way started when I was 20. My brother encouraged me after I finished my University exams to go sit for a Vipassana meditation retreat in the Goenka method. I am 50 now and it was one of the best things I did. We all know life has it’s ups and downs…and to stay centered or more importantly know how to return to the center is an important skill indeed. For me the Eight Fold Path as laid out by the Buddha has been a refuge and having a meditation practice has definitely helped me to return to a center of calm within the chaos.

So here was this amazing opportunity of this journey ahead of me. I get a chance to deeply thank the Buddha for leaving behind extensive teachings and leaving behind a monastic tradition of the Sangha which practices, upholds and share the teaching. I had the good fortune of being able to practice this.

Before I give an outline of my journey I do want to thank all my students who have enabled me to do this. If I didn’t have the opportunity to teach yoga as a livelihood and the support of many students who wish to study Iyengar Yoga with me I would not have the funds to take time off and do this pilgrimage. So a big thank you to each and everyone of you and I hope after this I am able to serve you better as a teacher to guide you to your inner sanctum of peace through the practice of Iyengar Yoga.

Initially the plan was I leave on the 18th of December 2022, go spend a few hours in Delhi with my brother and mother and then take a connecting flight to Bodhgaya. However a new opportunity arose. Ajahn Achalo with his group was going to Ajanta and Ellora. The Ajanta caves dating from second century BCE to about 480CE are located in the Aurangabad district of Maharashtra in India. These caves include rock-cut sculptures and paintings around Buddhist themes, perhaps the finest surviving examples of Indian Art. I long with my love for all things related to meditation, yoga, spiritual books also love all things related to art. So wow what an opportunity! Luckily and (that I took as a sign that I was meant to do this) with just a change of my initial flight into Delhi and adding a internal flight to Aurangabad I could do this too!

DELHI

I left Dubai on the 14th December 2022 a late night. Landed in New Delhi early around 4am. My brother picked me up and I got to spend a lovely day with him my mother and enjoy eating good home-cooked Bengali food. They have a cook Deepali who cooks very well…and I enjoyed indulging in both lunch and dinner with delight!

 

AJANTA & ELLORA

Then it was time to take a flight to Aurangabad on the 16th to join Ajahn’s group for the Ajanta Ellora Caves part of the trip. It was pretty hassle free landing around 6:36am and the hotel I was booked in was only 15 mins from the Airport. By 7:30am I was booked into my room. We were meant to head out to the Ajanta caves that morning. I went down to the restaurant to meet Ajahn Achalo and his group for the first time. I have listened to many of his teachings online and had the good fortune of designing a few books and videos for him, so it was great to meet him in-person finally! He was warm friendly and all the other members of his group were very welcoming. I felt at home already though I was meeting all of them for the first time! I met Mae Chee Amy who has been a nun for most of her life. Over the journey I grew to really like her a lot, so good to meet women who have wholeheartedly given their life to the Dhamma. She is truly an inspiration!

For each part of the trip I will probably have to write a different blog post. This is an overview of sorts. Visiting the Ajanta caves was awe inspiring! I marveled at the craftsmanship and could only imagine how hard it must have been to get these amazing rock sculptures. I admire and respect the artists who worked with the simplest of tools and yet created these long lasting structures that I can admire today. Truly the skill and beauty of the work is mind blowing. Being lucky to do the journey with a group of spiritual practitioners was also very special. We chanted and meditated in a few of the caves. There was a palpable energy in these caves which helped to quieten the mind easily.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next day we headed to the Ellora caves. It is grand archeological site from the 6th to 10th century featuring religious monuments cut into rock. It has many Buddhist caves, rock cut Hindu temples and Jain temples. What is fascinating once again is to see the skill of such amazing rock-cut structure. Here too we chanted and meditated and spent quiet time simply admiring the magnificence of the art.

 

 

BODHGAYA

After the joy of appreciating art and venerating the beautiful Buddhist art, it was time to head to Bodhgaya. By now because of the fatigue of the trip I was feeling a bit unwell. Luckily I had a day extra in Aurangabad so I just stayed in cocooned in my hotel room and spent time recovering. I felt fine the day after and headed to the seat of Buddha’s enlightenment! I was excited. I landed in Bodhgaya in the early evening. Being with the group and having made my reservations for my stay during the next 12 days took the pain out of the logistics of planning.

The next few days has too many moments which I still need to write about. However for this post I will keep it short and simple. Over the next few days I focused on spending as much time I could to meditate. I would head to the Mahabodhi Temple in the morning around 8am, meditate till 10:30am. Then something to eat rest in the afternoon and then head back to the Temple and sit till closing time. Meditating in a holy place like this is very layered. This is not a quiet place. Crowds, noise, chanting all sorts of sense impingements yet once one sits down it is possible to meditate here longer and deeper than any other place. The current of the energy of Enlightenment is high here. I sat for an average of 7-8 hours in meditative everyday. I was also supported with the group of the other spiritual practitioners. There was my teacher Veenerable Ajahn Achalo putting in the hours, two other monks Tahn Wei Shen and Bhikku Bukhara and the nuns May Chee Amy, Padma Samaneri and Mae Chi Yin along with lay practitioners like Diana, Le Ching, Joe and Ern, JC and many others who had travelled from their countries to meditate here. So it helped to manage to sit more hours than I thought myself capable.

 
 

VULTURE’S PEAK

Vulture’s peak is in Rajgir, one of Buddha’s favorite retreat places. It was the scene of many of his discourses. To end the pilgrimage Ajahn gifted us a visit to this holy site. It’s the 1st of January 2023, what better way to begin the year!

This truly was an amazing experience. Once again despite the chaos of crowds and rowdy holiday makers on entering certain areas I could definitely feel the energy of peace. We visited the caves of Sariputta and Maha Mogalana Buddha’s foremost disciples, the highest part of the peace where the Buddha gave his discourses and Ananda his disciple’s kuti. I paid my respect to these great beings and all of us sat in meditation. Right on top when we were sitting quietly in meditation a group of women pilgrims from Himachal Pradesh started chanting. It was the most sublime experience.

THE GIFT RECEIVED WITH GRATITUDE

So now I am back in Delhi. I fly back to Dubai tomorrow. I am looking forward to practicing and teaching Iyengar yoga, meeting my friends students and being home with my partner Ben and Leo my cat. I am grateful for all the conditions in my life that allowed this experience and I affirm to practice the path that leads to peace and liberation diligently. The last bit of the trip was yet another bonus of visiting the Buddha art exhibit in Delhi Museum. I got to see many amazing arts and also paid my respect to the Buddha relics enshrined there.