Blogs from Bodh Gaya, Bihar, India, Asia - page 4

We started our journey early leaving at 6 am from Varanassi and heading to gaya by train and then taxi to Bodhgaya. WE had made arrangements for a cousin to meet us at gaya and take Taxi to the Root Institute in Bodhgaya. He did not meet us as planned, train was late, time difference in our planning and my cell phone not working. Kept cutting out while trying to find out where he was. Meanwhile we are bombarded by hoards of folks wanting to take us by rickshaw and taxi, ect . Saying Nahi ( No) trying to make a cell call that was not working amidst chaos was stressing for me. Annya did great, firmly holding a position while I searched for better reception. It all turned out o'k. They showed, got a taxi ... read more

VON VARANASI sind wir mit dem zug in den bundesstaat bihar, nach bodhgaya gefahren. dies ist der heiligste ort fuer buddhisten aus aller welt, hier hat der prinz siddharta gautama die erleuchtung (http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erleuchtung_(Buddhismus) erlangt! BIHAR IST der aermste staat indiens, bietet die hoechste kriminalitaetsrate von ganz asien, leidet unter jaehrlichen flutkatastrophen, so auch im september dieses jahres. die obligaten stunden verspaetung kommen wir mit dem patna express (was fuer ein hohn!) in gaya an, wo uns auch gleich die rikhsahyaenen in beschlag nehmen! was zu einem handgemenge fuehrt, bis wir den erstbieter in schutz nehmen und den anderen zu verstehen geben, sich zu schleichen....sakkra nomoleini...hauts eich nit die fressn ein wegn a por rupie, ha!? die ersten kilometer richtung bodhgaya isch der uebliche dreck-staub-diesel-verkehrswahnsinn, dann, plo... read more

The Buddha lived and taught in India about 500 years BCE. He died there too. He recommended four special places to his disciples just before his death : Lumbini in Nepal, where he was born, Bodh Gaya where he achieved enlightenment, Sarnath where he first preached his message and Kushinagar where he died and passed into parinirvana. In December 2007 Graham, Robert and myself flew into to Bodh Gaya, Bihar, in Northern India intending to visit the sacred sites. Hiring a car with a sympathetic driver was well worth it. We only missed one of the Big Four, and he took us to other places as well. (The photos follow the order of the places mentioned in bold and there are more images in the video.) The Buddha was born in the open air. I went ... read more

Sleeping in a moving train is not yet an easy matter for us, not when you have a high fever. Here the merit goes to Ina, who got this Indian cold virus that knocked her out for a few days while in Haridwar and we had no choice but to travel with her suffering this. After 24 long hours we arrived to Bodhgaya with the idea of participating in a highly recommended meditation training and, of course, visiting an important pilgrimage site where the Buddha attained enlightment. The meditation training happened to be a serious and challenging experience. We were to wake up at 4 in the morning to start the first hour of 10 long sitting meditation schedule. We lived in confinement and, more drastically, we were not to communicate with any of the participants, ... read more

Hey all, We are now currently staying in Bodghaya in a very modest monastery with big rooms and simple furnishings. The train journey was quite an adventure as Calcutta train station was full of hundreds of commuters and it was all rather chaotic. After finding our train we had to find our section (one of many, the trains are a good 3 times longer then british trains at least). Once we found our seats we realised that they turned into bunks and so we would have beds for the night, all groovy except that they were three beds on top of each other with a further three a few feet in front of these, so alot of people in a very small space. It was however suprisingly comfortable and we slept rather well before arriving at ... read more