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Published: February 17th 2009
Being at the Bodhi tree was an experience in the people. Thousands of monks and nuns and devotees everywhere in prayer. Hope I will be able to download the video I took. The chanting and praying at every available spot. Overwhelming with activity.
In the video you will see how we circled,clockwise, the outer parameter of the stupa. Below where the Bodhi tree is and the chanting monks there is hardly any space. We work our way down and sit under the Bodhi Tree. I root myself and feel what could be felt at this sacred spot. To my surprise the energy is not as strong as when with the relics. So many people also make it hard to be as relaxed as I could be.
I plant my energy in the ground and gather from the sky, like in our qigong practice and I have a realization that all the Earth is sacred. Not just this spot. What keeps this space is the beliefs,prayers and hope given to and by the people. I thought of my Mother, who is worried I will become a Buddhist.
If this were Jurusalem she would be in heaven. For others it might be Mecca. For me , it is just another place , made holy by people not the Earth itself. I went back again and again when the crowds had left. For me Taos has more natural Earth energy then here. What a surprise for me. It does not mean that this is not a holy site. I believe that it is. I just believe that it is the people who make it so.
All the more impressive of the Buddha's awakening. No need to be under a special tree, in a remote country. Insight can and does happen everywhere.
I was able to meet a holy man, thanks to JP. JP tells me by email to get in touch with a fellow who runs a store in Bodhgaya just outside the Bodhi Tree Stupa. His nickname is called " Medium." And that is what he is. He says it is to mimick the middle path as outlined by the Buddha. I know it is much more. I found his shop. He was not there. I asked to see him and his son goes and finds him. He brings me a chair and some Chai and we just sit. Not too much talking. I can feel heat again in my chest and arms. We sit. Eventually we begin to talk. He tells me he was born literaly under the boddhi tree and led the life of a beggar as an infant and child. Now he owns a few small businesses including a small Hotel. Life can surely be amazing.
The time spent with this peaceful old man was wonderful. He gave me a gift of a Mala or prayer bead.
He asked if I could come back again and we could talk more and to bring Annya. Events happened in such a way that we did not connect. He was unavailable and could not be reached when we went back to see him. Another small crisis with our cell phone not working took time away. Had to get as new simms card for the phone. We would be coming in late, after midnight on the next step of our journey to Jaipur and I had made arrangements thru phone to call hotel and taxi service on arrival. All info was stored on the phone. Anyway, did not get a chance to be with him again.
While waiting for him and after finding a simms card, foto copies of passport, two foto pictures and a local reference to get my phone working again I had another great adventure. There at the entrance to the Bodhi tree stupa was a group of young men playing hackey sack. They invited me to play as they saw me watching. What great joy. The hackey sack was like a big rubberband tied into an infinite loop. No one as good as Mike Hogan in the group and I did well. They called me Papa and I really enjoyed myself. What a treat.
A final note about Bodhgaya. Something is not right with the air here. The pollution is less then anywhere else we have stayed and coughing and sore throat, upper respitory infections everywhere. Read in a newspaper after we left that the Bodhi tree is being monitored because it is showing signs of stress. One thing that the report said was that the tree was suffering from high levels of Copper. That must what be in the air. You can taste it and sometimes there is a thin coat of some sand like material on surfaces.
Next stop Jaipur
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Jono
non-member comment
At the Bodhi Tree
What a great story. I am reminded of the book "An Autobiography of a Yogi" where the author keeps on trying to go to the Himalayas to find God and ends up meeting his guru only a few miles from his home, far from the romance and mystery of the mountains. Love, Jono