Buddhist Bihar

Where to begin. I've been wrestling for over a week now of how to process my adventure in Bihar with Hamsa, Danika and Jane Marie... literally, we took almost 15GB of photos and videos on this trip. I knew I wanted to make a movie to share this trip with you - I just hadn't anticipated how much there was to tell. Be prepared - the movie is not short. But I hope it really does give you a sense of the places we visited and the various sites we saw.

To recap: Jane Marie, a professor of Japanese Religions, came to India to visit as many of the Buddhist holy sites in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh as she could manage. Our mutual friends Hamsa and Danika helped organize her trip and accompanied her on her travels. And I'm the bum who got to tag along for the ride!

We went to Sarnath, site of the deer park where the Buddha gave his first sermon. Next, was Bodhgaya, where the Buddha - under the Bodhi tree - attained enlightenment. After that was Rajgir, home to Vulture's Peak (Griddhkuta) where the Buddha gave several important sermons. Last, but certainly not least, was Nalanda, which is said to be "one of the first great universities in recorded history." It was of interest to us on our Buddhist pilgrimage because it had been patronized by many Buddhist rulers, including Ashoka and the Gupta Empire.

So without much further ado, here's my most recent video of our exploits:

Bihari Buddhist Pilgrimage from Nikki on Vimeo.

Some takeaways from the footage:

First, I couldn't even capture one half of everything that we saw ... if I had the movie would probably have been closer to 2 hours. Feel thankful I didn't put you through that.

Second, all of these sites were active sites of worship, primarily for the Tibetan exiles but for other sects of Buddhism as well. I try to give a flavor of that in the video, but I couldn't record in the museum, for example, monks and nuns touching their heads to the feet of the of every image of a Bodhisattva they could get close enough to touch.... and the security guards at first lamely trying to stop them, then just accepting the tide of human spirituality they were witnessing, and then slyly pocketing any monetary offerings that were left behind.

Third, yes we went to a lot of Japanese temples because of Jane Marie's field interests --- but also they were a sign of a large amount of foreign investment coming to Bihar for development and tourism. Universally we heard the chorus singing the praises of the new Chief Minister of Bihar, Shri Nitish Kumar, and what a good job he is doing of modernizing Bihar. It was hard to disagree... especially considering Bihar had the best roads I had seen in India. Period.

We were told, after the fact, that it is only this road - in between Buddhist holy sites - that is so well maintained and that the money for it is coming from the Japanese --- but that's almost besides the point! Baby steps, right?

And lastly, despite the influx of foreign investment (and subsequent reclaiming) in these holy sites the Tibetans have overwhelmingly made these spaces their own. With their homeland and holy sites off limits to them, Tibetan Buddhists in exile have embraced India... and they are clearly not letting go anytime soon. The Dali Lama loomed large in these spaces (with images or because he was planning to give a lecture or just had recently given a lecture...). I wouldn't say that these spaces are contentious at all ... but it does make one wonder how the power struggle between China and the Dali Lama will play out in India.... which seems to have benefited so much from the Buddhist tourist trade.

It was a fascinating trip on its own - but it was made even more so by my company of scholars who were extremely knowledgeable and excited about all the places we visited. Many, many, many thanks Jane Marie, Hamsa and Danika for letting me crash your trip ... it was an experience that I hope stays with me for the rest of my life.

Next up for me - a 10 day Vipassana meditation retreat in Sarnath while Allen ... oh, yeah... does more field work.

Surprise Tour of Buddist Sites in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar

Crazy story....

So we were out visiting Sarnath, the location of the deer park where the Buddha first taught about dharma, with our bridge-playing friends Hamsa and Danika and their friend Jane, a Buddhologist, and they asked me if I'd be interested in tagging along with them as they visit two other major Buddhist pilgrimage locations in the region: Bodh Gaya, the place where Buddha attained enlightenment, and Nalanda, the location of the oldest Buddhist university.

And I said, "Sure, why not?" Chances like this, to travel around historical Buddhist sites with folks who know a great deal about them only comes around once in a lifetime, right?

Sadly, Allen can't come because of a number of complications* ... but I'm betting I'll some pretty entertaining stories when I get back.
_________________________________
* Read: Interestingly, buying last minute train tickets the night before departure is is more likely that the women's compartment will be relatively empty than not.... Plus, isn't he doing some sort of research something or other .... [scratching head]

Nikah in Ridauli Town

I was wonderfully blessed with the opportunity to witness a Nikah or Muslim Wedding. My tabla teacher's younger brother was getting married, and I got to go with all the family to the bride's home town of Ridauli - about 2 1/2 hours by car from Lucknow.

In traditional Hindustani fashion, I was told to be ready by 2pm and we left around 4:30. We got there around 7pm and had some pre-wedding snacks while preparations were made. While going out to get some bottled water (just in case) a friend and I learned that in Ridauli they only have electricity from 10 to 6. Some days it's 10 to 6 during the day, and other days it is 10 to 6 during the night. We were, fortunately, on the "night" schedule which meant that some time around 10 pm or so they would be able to turn on some fans. It was very hot in the rural school house that had been remade into a Wedding house.

Alas, Nikki was unable to attend - she wasn't feeling well - and it was probably for the best, given the heat.

The event consisted of a few parts. First, the Groom was covered with a veil of flowers.

Then, he was brought to the front to sit on the stage where the Maulvi (or priest) sat beside him and read some passages from the Qur'an, and then asked him whether or not he agreed to marry his bride.

He said yes, papers were signed by him and several witnesses, and there was much rejoicing. Men waited while women ate - and then it was our turn. Apparently the bride had been asked the same thing by another Maulvi in a different room. They were now married - even though they had never once seen each other face to face. Hooray!

After several hours and everyone had eaten, the bride was brought forward to meet her new husband for the first time. The groom's mother first said some prayers and then covered both their heads with a cloth. Underneath this communal veil, the each lifted their respective veils - hers of silk and his of flowers - and looked at each other's reflection in a hand mirror that was resting on the Holy Qur'an. This was the first time they saw each other - and even then it was through a reflection in a mirror (and they were already married!)

It just kind of blew my mind. It was such a powerful moment to be a part of. I felt honored that I had been invited to witness it.

Afterwards, the bride went back to the woman's space where some more rites happened for several more hours; it was the official leaving of her family. At around 4am she slowly began to get into a well decorated car with female members of the groom's family. There was much weeping. In some ways it felt like the bride had died. It felt almost like a funeral the weeping was so intense.

Shortly after they left, the rest of us packed up the bus and took off. I got back home around 7:30 in the morning - exhausted.

Sikkim Photo Essay: Monasteries and More

One of the most wonderful aspects of this trip was visiting Tibetan monestarys and getting a small peak into what Allen's life was like when he spent 6 months living in Nepal. Sikkim is a unique place, nestled as it is between the borders of Nepal, Tibet and Bhutan. The historical and cultural history of this place, with Nepali as the predominant language and Tibetan Buddhism as the predominant religion, make the political borders seem a little arbitrary.

I don't intend this post to be an explanation of Tibetan Buddhism - I'm not qualified to do it justice. Rather, I hope to just give you a snap shot of the sights (and hopefully the sounds) of the monestaries and to this very colorful form of religious practice.

We were able to seem many different Monastaries on our trip - and these are just a few examples of what they looked like from the outside...

... and the inside...

But forms of prayer and religious observance were displayed everywhere -- in homes, on the road, in the fields, on the mountains --- in the brightly colored prayer flags.

Video of prayer flags blowing in the wind

The flag colors represent different elements: blue the sky, green for water, red for fire, white for air, and yellow for earth. The flags are enscribed with prayers, like Om and it is believed that when the wind blows the flag those prayers are offered ... similarly they have prayer wells that get spun by water. So, in essence the whole Earth can offer prayers .... which, I think is a pretty neat idea.

One prayer in particular, Om Mani Padme Hum, (pronounced Oh Mah Nee Peh Meh Hoong) seems to be the refrain for this community. One of the trekker huts we stayed at even had the mantra as the chime of its clock. Check out the video I got of it below...

On various occasions, we happened to visit the monasteries during puja, and were able to watch as the monks repeated their mantras and prayers over and over again. The sound of these collective voices... the hum of their dronning was so relaxing... it was easy to see why this was a practice used for clearing the mind. In Darjeeling at the Yiga Choling Gompa we happened to see local practitioners praying on rosary beads and counting out their repeated prayers with prostrations. Here is a video clip of it.

We were always made to feel welcome ... I think it amused many of the young monks that we would sit and listen to their recitations for a half an hour or more sometimes. By far the most touching experience we had at a monestary was at Bokar Ngedhon Choekhor Ling Institute in Mirik. We were there for start of pujas for Budda's birthday on May 25th. As you can imagine these weren't ordinary pujas - these were full day affairs. So intermittently a young monk would come around with tea (caffeine sugar break, anyone?) ... but I guess because we were there during their break, a young monk brought us cups and offered us some! We weren't ignored. We weren't discouraged from being there. We weren't harassed .... we were wonderfully and quietly just accepted. Which was wonderful.

Getting tea from a monk

The food was also pretty wonderful.

The first panel of this photo is their millet beer, which is actually a little more like Japanese sake really. They ferment millet seeds and then steep them in boiling water and sip the resultant concoction through a bamboo straw. It has a similar flavor to sake but has a light amount of bubbles like alcoholic cider. Next is the thumpuk soup, momos and chop sewey with egg... some staples during our trip.... mmmmmm.... hot soup and noodles...The pink juice looking drink on the bottom row was rhodadendron wine (they have a lot of rhodadendrons in this time of year), which was really sweet and quite nice. Last but not least is the tea (I really loved the little hats they kept on the tea cups to keep the liquid warm). We had a lot butter tea --- which is tea steeped in boiling watered-down ghee (clarified butter) instead of milk. Sugar is very expensive in the mountains, and frankly, it's so cold there that they need the calories so why not use what is readily available? It is best to think of it as soup when you're drinking it because it is much more savory than the sugary sweet desert-like masala chai we were use to in north India.

But the life of their homes seems to be based around the kitchen wood-burning stove (The stove I have pictured is by far the largest one we saw; the smallest ones only having a pot directly on a wood burning fire).

The very large pot on the top of this stove was full of water that was being constantly heated all day long..... it was used for everything: tea, dish washing, bathing, food making.... such a smart system when you can't afford (or rather it seems wasteful) to have an electric water heater.... or central heating for that matter. Life in the mountains revolved around the stove because of food, warmth and company.

Yes, the company was great.