Advertisement
Published: October 2nd 2007
Edit Blog Post
Burmese Vihar
This is the best shot of the Vihar I could get from the road. This is the top of the temple where we practice meditation. Just behind the temple are our living quarters and dining halls and such. The first thing I can think to express when I sit down at this computer is appreciation. I am so very lucky I am able to be here having this experience. Really. I have so much love and admiration for everyone who helped me make this happen.
Alright with that said let me explain a bit about my life in Bodh Gaya. We are living and studying in a Burmese Vihar (vihar meaning monastery). It was built in the 1930's to provide a place of refuge for the many Burmese Buddhists who started visiting India in the beginning of the century. 30 years later, large numbers of Burmese started fleeing Burma as a result of a military coup of 1962 and the harsh dictatorship that followed. These pilgrims also found a place for themselves in Bodh Gaya. The Vihar has continued to this day as a place of pilgrimage for the Burmese wishing to pay tribute to the Buddha under the Bodi Tree. The primary function of the Vihar is a temporary home for pilgrims, although there are some fully ordained monks and nuns living there. It is directed and run by the Abbot who has lived in the Vihar since 1976. He decides who may enter and who may not. He is the person who allows the program to continue each year and he is VERY kind...and old...and always sporting his robes. He tends to lounge about at the gate all day greeting and blessing people, which seems to be his primary function.
So every morning we wake up with the sun to the sound of a bell and a very dignified rooster at 5:00 am. Morning meditation is at 5:30 which lasts for an hour followed by a silent breakfast at 7:00. After breakfast is language class (Hindi) and then we have an hour break. At 10:00 the bell rings again to signify tea time...which is my favorite time because Indian Chai Masala is an exotic wonder for the soul. After tea time I have a history class focusing on south Asian Buddhism and then an hour of language practice. At 1:00 we eat lunch and then we are free until 4:00 when we drink more tea. yay. There is an optional yoga class offered three times a week and a women's group that meets once a week. Meditation commences again in the evening at 5:00 followed by dinner.
The program is quite rigorous, which adds a completely unusual element to the whole experience of India. I feel like I am constantly shifting in and out of different worlds. There is me as a university student when I am in the vihar trying desperately to Master the Devanagari script and keep up with the reading. Then there is me as the explorer/traveler wandering the streets of Bodh Gaya. There are all kinds of different temples here...Thai, Vietnamese, Japanese, Tibetan, Cambodian... each one frequented by some of the most beautiful Pilgrims I have ever seen...actually they are the only Pilgrims I have ever seen, but they are all uniquely identifiable by the color of their robes and the shapes of their eyes. So there is also me as a student of the dharma, practicing concentration and meditation. They are VERY different worlds that could only collide in this exceptional place and somehow not explode. It is really amazing.
I am coming to realize that meditation is probably going to be one of the most valuable skills I am learning here. In the west meditation is often characterized and utilized as a way to relax from the chaos of everyday life. This is not entirely incorrect, but there of course is so much more to it. Right now we are studying Vipassina which is of the Theravada tradition. Vipassina can be broken down into two words, Vi meaning extra ordinary and Passina meaning seeing. Extraordinary Seeing. This can be understood as awareness of the mental of physical phenomenon of the mind and body that is constantly changing...awareness of the self. The more you can observe what is happening in your mind and your body, the more you can control it and learn how to utilize your abilities in a way that is constructive.
The Experience of Insight by Joseph Goldstein is a great book for anyone who is interested to know more.
This past weekend I had the opportunity to take a 48 hour vow of silence in light of a meditation retreat outside of the vihar. It was one of the most challenging and fascinating weekends of my life and a rather bizarre social experiment. I learned more than I thought was possible to know about patience and lack there of. I hope to do it again for Zen practice.
So in a week we will be moving on to Zen and then in a month we will be shifting again into Tibetan meditation, both of which should be quiet different from what we are practicing now.
I will be sure to let everyone know if I attain any sort of supernatural powers or parinibanna (enlightenment), but for now I am still working on taming my many wandering thoughts.
This weekend we have 4 days to travel to Varanasi, the city of Shiva...a very important place for Hindus. I hope to write something upon my return.
As always I hope everyone is good and well.
-Rach
Advertisement
Tot: 0.058s; Tpl: 0.01s; cc: 5; qc: 44; dbt: 0.0341s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb