Bodhgaya, India

Sorry everyone, It's been a long time since i've updated this blog. Winter was really busy. I suppose it all started with the trip to Bodhgaya back in October. Well, at the last moment Rinpoche was not able to go. He had overworked himself and fell ill. In his stead Rinpoche sent Khenpo Jampa Donden. Catherine went as his translator and I went to escort one of our Boston College students.

The morning of our flight Rinpoche called our home and told me to take extra good care of Khenpo and to tell Khenpo that Rinpoche said I supposed to take extra good care of him. Rinpoche also asked me to make many prayers, including a prayer for President-elect Obama. So it turned out that I was also going to Bodhgaya as Khenpo's attendant and as a lama. It was actually really nice having the chance to spend some time with Khenpo because he's such a lovely person. So kind and so humble. We flew, along with several other students of Rinpoche’s, to Varanasi, were picked up by Kristen, a nice woman who was working for the Antioch Program, stayed in a nice hotel in town and the next day, because of protesting railway workers, we rented jeeps to Bodhgaya.

In Bodhgaya we stayed at the Burmese Vihar, as usual, and Khenpo taught the 30 or so American Antioch College students who were there for a semester abroad, learning about Buddhism. Khenpo taught for five days, covering the four thoughts that turn the mind from samsara (the rarity of this precious human body, impermanence, the sufferings of this world and the unfailing law of karma (cause and effect)) briefly and then diving into Madhyamika Philosophy. At one point he taught about the Lack or Emptiness of Self, and the students railed against him (in a playful way, if that is possible) expressing and propounding their views of the self. One student even claimed his self was multiple and undying. It was a blast. Khenpo never told anyone they were wrong, but instead just played devil’s advocate, showing the students the consequences of their claims. I think they really enjoyed the teachings, in part because Khenpo taught in a very unconventional way (by Tibetan standards) and let students just ask questions as they arose instead of making them wait for a time set aside specifically for Q&A. That way their doubts were dispelled immediately.

Bodhgaya has changed quite a bit. More buildings, more internet (there were none when i first started coming) and more money changers. But the Mahabodhi Temple is still the same. We all went there together to say prayers, light thousands of butter lamps, and Khenpo even gave refuge and bodhisattva vows (Rinpoche had forced him to. Without the Boss’s mandate, he never would have. Khenpo is way too humble). One highlight of the trip to the Mahabodhi Temple was seeing that the beautiful gold gilded statue that Rinpoche had offered the year before was now in a glass display case in front of the Bodhi Tree on what seemed like permanent display.

We even managed a day trip to Vulture Peak, where the Buddha taught the Heart Sutra, and to the ruins of the great Buddhist university of Nalanda, though neither Khenpo nor Catherine could come because of Antioch student interviews.

After the teachings concluded, we jeeped back to Varanasi and spent a day by the Ganges with all the sadhus. The whole scene down there has sadly gotten really touristy with Brahmin pujas (read "shows") under Broadway lights. I remember when it was just beggars, barbars, and boatmen. I guess times change.

The next day, we flew back to KTM.