India #3: Bodhgaya and the Tibetans

I can’t leave India without talking about the Tibetans as they were the reason we spent 2 years living and working in that country.  On our first trip in 1990 we came across Tibetan’s in many of the Hill Stations selling their wares, like sweaters, jewelry and minerals.  We were so taken with their smiles, friendliness and outgoing personalities which were in stark contrast to the more reserved and blank faced Indians we had sometimes encountered in our travels.  Even though they had had to leave their homeland and were living in some very poor conditions, they radiated such warmth, love and humor.

When we heard that, every winter, many of the Tibetans set up restaurants and sold their wares in the town of Bodhgaya we decided to go as well.  A fascinating little town where Buddhists from all over the world have built temples. 

Each temple reflects the different “styles” of how Buddhism is practiced in each country.  Some are very simple and austere and some are extremely ornate.  China, Japan, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Burma, Tibet are all represented. 

The reason

all these Buddhists have built their temples and monasteries here is that this is where the Buddha received his enlightenment.  The Bodhi tree, where the Buddha sat for many days fasting and praying to become enlightened, is located at the main stupa.

Each of the monasteries has a guest house and restaurants serving Western type foods like cakes, pancakes, etc., drawing Western tourists to get a taste of home.  The other reason the Western travelers are there is to receive the Buddhist teachings given by high lamas and usually the Dalai Lama as well.  Bodhgaya draws a very interesting crowd from all over the world.  The seekers, the self proclaimed teachers, students of Buddhism, meditators, lost souls and the just curious, flock there each year.

A visit to the central, main stupa, which rises above all else in the area, finds devotees circumambulating the edifice along its outer wall chanting, fingering their prayer beads or twirling their prayer wheels. Tibetan women in their long black skirts and leg warmers, with long dark hair in braids down their backs, smile and chat as they walk; maroon robed monks chant to the click of their beads; an angelic looking young Tibetan girl plays with an Indian baby in her care, pure love radiating from her shining face; Tibetan men, with lined weathered faces, dressed as if they came right out of the mountains step along with a twinkle in their eyes.

The inner courtyard contains hundreds of small stone stupas which stand amongst colorful flowers. Monastery students prostrate themselves thousands of times along boards shined smooth as silk from their hands gliding across them their arm and shoulder muscles straining, sweat glistening. Other monks clean the Buddha statues and tend the hundreds of tiny flames of candles flickering in the breeze.  Everywhere, devotees sit with their sheaf books of Buddhist teachings, chanting them page after page until finished. The sacred texts are wrapped in yellow cloth and tied with a multi colored ribbon and stored in moth balled filled cabinets in one of the shrines.

In the heart of the temple, amidst candle flames and flower garlands, sits a Golden Buddha. Nearby, in a small chamber, monks sit in meditation.

Our visit to Bodhgaya was only our first introduction to Buddhism and the Tibetans.  Over the next few years we were to travel around India receiving teachings from the Dalai Lama, and then went to live in Dharamsala where he has his residence.  We studied Buddhism, the Tibetan language, taught English to new arrivals from Tibet, lived with our Tibetan “family”, made many friends both Tibetan and Western and had many, many adventures.  Maybe I will share some of that in later posts, or maybe you will have to read about it in the book I am writing!

Until next time, be fearless in exploring and learning other ways of “being”.