Final Reflections on Yatra to Northern India

* Now I've had time to review the trip, I think the highlight remains meditation time under the Bodhi tree in Bodhgaya.
* The lowest point was throwing up in the space between two carriages of the train.
* The happiest time was meeting fellow travellers, particularly those exploring Buddhism. Erin was my main travel buddy, since we sat next to either other on the train (actually, she was meant to sleep on the bunk above me) and the bus. Others included an incognito Catholic priest, a Zen student priest, a retired Westerner living in Thailand, and many others also from Taiwan (mainly Taipei and Kaohsiung).
* One unfulfilled wish is to see Lumbini in Nepal.
* I would have liked more meditation time also, but I now realise that even short distances in India take time to reach, particularly on country roads.
* I learned about the loss of Buddhism in India, particularly after the 11th century, and about the rediscovery and unearthing of many remains since the 19th century, thanks to mainly British and Burmese exploration and the ASI (Archaeological Survey of India). It is a sad loss for the country where the Buddha spent most of his life.
* I also learned that King Ashoka (crowned around 270 BCE) took seven of the original eight sets of relics of the Buddha and re-distributed them into 84,000 portions throughout his kingdom.

* I am grateful to the tour staff (especially Abhay Pandey, Vjiay Kumar and Mr Prateek) who looked after us and our security so well, to my wonderful travel companions (all of whom got on so well together), and to those who have been re-discovering the sites of Buddhism throughout India for our benefit today.
* I thoroughly recommend the Buddhist Circuit Special Train, also called the Maha Parinirvan Express, which is operated by IRCTC (the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation).

Yatra in India - Day 3: Rajgir and Nalanda

Monday 23rd January, 2012: (Tour Day 3)
Thankfully I did sleep quite well. After breakfast we checked out and left at 08:00 for the 85 km bus trip to Rajgir. Before leaving Bodhgaya we went past many Tibetan refugee spots set up to assist them survive in India. Due to poor road conditions, including railway crossings and single-lane bridges, the trip took 2 1/2 hours.
Rajgir is an amazing place. Rather than take the skyway, we took the many, many steps leading up to Vulture's Peak (Griddhkuta), which also includes some smaller caves and scenic views over the surrounding hills. The Peak was one place the Buddha meditated and delivered some of his famous sermons. Later we passed Bimbimsara's Jail (where the King was imprisoned and later killed at his son’s hand), the hill (Vaibhar Hill) where the first Buddhist Council was held (sometime between 543 and 483 BCE) shortly after Buddha’s death to compile the teachings, and walked through Venuvan (bamboo grove) where the first monastery was built, thus allowing the monks to settle in one place, and where the Buddha spent three rainy seasons delivering many important discourses. The original monastery is yet to be excavated due to a dispute, and only the pond remains of the earliest features.
We returned to the hotel for lunch and to freshen up. I noticed a nice statue downstairs.
Another 1 1/2 hours or so on the bus took us to the remains of Nalanda University. It was founded in the 4th century C.E. and thrived until the 12th century when it was ransacked by the invading Turks, who killed hundreds of students and teachers, torched the huge library (over 9 million volumes) and destroyed most of the buildings. It rests in a wonderful 35-acre park, and includes Sariputta's Stupa which is now a World Heritage Site. Nalanda was one of the world’s first residential universities, and there is now a new one not far away. The Buddha visited the area several times, and here Sâriputta uttered his “lion’s roar” of faith in the Buddha.
After refreshments at the same hotel we took a bone-jarring three hour bus ride back to Gaya train station. Around 22:00 we finally ate dinner, and just after midnight the train departed for Varanasi.

Yatra in India - Day 2: Bodhgaya

Sunday 22nd January, 2012: (Tour Day 2)
I had a rough first night on the train, with little sleep due to the almost constant rocking and some heavy breaking of the train. At least the breakfast was nice. Since we arrived 1 1/2 hours late at Gaya station, the tour leader took us straight to the hotel by bus where we checked into a nice room with bath, I washed my clothes, showered and had lunch.
We then took the short trip to Bodhgaya. The places visited were:

* the giant Japanese Buddha statue and temple

* the Bhutanese monastery

* the Tibetan temple

* Niranjana River (now mostly a dry river bed, which I crossed onto) in which the Buddha bathed

* the Sujata Stupa (apparently the spot of Sujata’s home – the girl who fed the Bodhisattva rice pudding before his Awakening) and

* the Kusha Grass Temple (where an old buffalo herder offered Siddhartha a bundle of grass to use as a cushion before his enlightenment)

By far the biggest highlight was the Mahâ Bodhi Temple (the place where Siddhartha reached enlightenment) which includes an Ashokan pillar, the Mucalinda Lake (recalling where it is said a giant cobra sheltered the Buddha from the first rains some six weeks after becoming enlightened), and the Bodhi tree or “ficus religiosa” (a descendent of the original brought back from Sri Lanka). The temple was built around the 4th century CE. It was very busy, with many monks chanting, hundreds of people showing devotion by circling the grounds three times clockwise, and lots of hawkers outside. For me, being able to sit under the Bodhi tree and meditate undisturbed for almost 30 minutes was truly superb - among the best moments of the entire journey, in fact. Of course, the Buddha, after achieving enlightenment, spent one week standing nearby simply gazing at the tree out of gratitude, so I couldn’t match that.
In the evening we had dinner back at the hotel and an overnight stay. I did my best to dry my washing (sat them on the bed under a ceiling fan) and to have a decent night's sleep.

Visit to Bodhgaya

Sunday 22nd January, 2012: 
We took a short trip to Bodhgaya.

By far the biggest highlight was the Mahâ Bodhi Temple (the place where Siddhartha reached enlightenment) which includes an Ashokan pillar, the Mucalinda Lake (recalling where it is said a giant cobra sheltered the Buddha from the first rains some six weeks after becoming enlightened), and the Bodhi tree or “ficus religiosa” (a descendent of the original brought back from Sri Lanka). The temple was built around the 4th century CE. It was very busy, with many monks chanting, hundreds of people showing devotion by circling the grounds three times clockwise, and lots of hawkers outside. For me, being able to sit under the Bodhi tree and meditate undisturbed for almost 30 minutes was truly superb - among the best moments of the entire journey, in fact. Of course, the Buddha, after achieving enlightenment, spent one week standing nearby simply gazing at the tree out of gratitude, so I couldn’t match that.