Buddha said "A HA!"
Trip Start
Feb 01, 2008
1
9
32
Trip End
Jun 2008
Bodh Gaya, India
Friday, February 29, 2008
So Bodh Gaya is to Buddhists what Mecca is to Muslims, what the wailing wall is to Jews, what Varanasi is to Hindus and what the Vatican is to Catholics. It's one of 4 cities on the "Buddhist Pilgrimage Tour", but absolutely the most important. After years and years of trying to "find" enlightenment, Gautama Buddha came to Bodh Gaya and sat under the Bodhi tree promising himself not to move from that spot until he attained enlightenment. 49 days later he went "AH HA!!!!" and Buddhism was born.
Soooo, the Bodhi tree as it stands today is actually taken from a sapling of the original, which was smuggled to Sri Lanka long ago (but that's another story). Net, net it was and experience beyond words to sit and meditate literally in the EXACT spot under the EXACT tree (well, 3rd generation anyways) that Buddha attained enlightenment. It can't be described, so I won't try.
Tracy's $0.02 - What a cool place. We took a train ride from Varanasi and five hours later we were meditating under the Bodi tree that Buddha was enlightened under. Some say its the original tree while others claim that Ashoka's wife chopped down the real deal in a fit of rage and that this one is just a descendant of that first tree....but either way its a beautiful thing and people from all over come to sit underneath its long leafy branches. Many Tibetan refugees live in this welcoming town and there are Buddist temples from Thailand, Tibet, Bhutan and Japan all smushed together in one lovely little community. We stopped in most of the temples and though I really loved the Bhutanese temple (because I want to go there one day!), I think the best experience was the Zen temple from Japan. We meditated with about 20 others and the insensce, monotone chanting and vibrating gongs made it one of the most memorable experiences I have had so far on this trip. We only stayed in Bodhgaya for the day but I wish we had stayed longer...seems that its a special place that could teach you a lot.
