31 December 2019

Personally, I think pilgrimage is a very good thing to do. When we set out on a pilgrimage, we aim to accumulate merit with our body, speech and mind. Negativity will definitely be eliminated if we strive to purify each one of them, at the same time. Why? Because of the strength of the compassion and aspirations of all the buddhas and bodhisattvas. The power of this strength is the result of all the bodhisattvas’ activities, as vast as the ocean, which they performed to help and benefit sentient beings.

So, we’ve decided to leave for this pilgrimage.

Once in the past, I organized a full pilgrimage across India visiting all the sacred places associated with the Buddha, including Ajanta Ellora and so on. Later, I organized an even larger one, renting two buses from Delhi that took us on a pilgrimage lasting one month and nine days. We went to most Indian states visiting the sacred sites associated with the Buddha and the Secret Mantra tradition—there are often Hindu shrines in those places that are also worshipped by Buddhists. Then there was another occasion, I went on a middle length pilgrimage. So I’ve been on pilgrimage a few times, and I thought it might be a good idea to go again and to invite all the monks from our monastery to join also. You should know we’ve made a great effort to enable everyone to come. It's been quite expensive to arrange this time, costing around nine lakh rupees for the vehicles, hotels and food. Tomorrow morning we will leave at 7am.

The programme is as follows.

• 1/01/2020: Bodhgaya to Rajgir and all the surrounding places, such as Nalanda. Night in Rajgir.
• 2/01/2020: Morning tsok in Rajgir. Afternoon, travel to Vaishali. This is the place where the Buddha sat under a large tree in the Mango Grove donated by Amrapali, where a monkey offered honey to the Buddha, and where the Buddha taught the medical sutras which are among the most sacred texts in the Kangyur.
• 3/01/2020: Tsok at Khyentse Rinpoche’s kudung[1]8 stupas were built, one in each of the major sacred place of the Buddha, in fulfilment of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche’s wishes. They were consecrated in 2013 by Dilgo Khyentse Yangsi and Rabjam Rinpoche.. Then you can make offerings and offer all the lamps you are able to. Travel to Kushinagar.
• 4/01/2020: Kushinagar: tsok, circumambulations etc.
  Actually, we should go to Lumbini from there, but it’s too complicated with the crossing of the border.
• 5/01/2020: Shravasti, which is where the authentic teacher, the perfect buddha Shakyamuni, spent the most time—the Buddha lived 80 years and stayed in Shravasti 24 years. For this reason, Shravasti is the most sacred place for us Buddhists. When the great shravaka disciples of the Buddha such as his regent Kashyapa, Ananda, Maudgalyayana and Shariputra would teach the sutras, they would turn to face Shravasti and say, “I prostrate to the Buddha’s seat”, place their sanghati on the ground, and touch their forehand to the earth, as they prostrated in that direction. In Shravasti there is the famous ‘grove’ sponsored by Anathapindika and presented to the Buddha by King Prasenajit. You will see the three rooms in which the Buddha lived, as well as those of the more than eighty great shravaka disciples of the Buddha such as Shariputra, Maudgalyayana, Mahakashyapa and Ananda. Many important religious teachers appeared in this world, such as Jesus, Mahomet and several Hindu saints. But we cannot identify with precision where any of them actually lived, only the general area. But we can still show the room where our teacher Shakyamuni Buddha lived. When Gendun Chöpel went on pilgrimage to India, he was very impressed by this and found it quite remarkable. The Buddha is an exceptional person—a description of his qualities can go on for a long time when presented by people who have studied the sacred texts. There is so much to say about him. As it is said “the Buddha’s qualities are inconceivable.” My point is, Shravasti is the place where this extraordinary being lived. We will do a tsok in front of Khyentse Rinpoche’s stupa. And then we will visit Anathapindika’s grove and see the Buddha’s rooms and so on.
• 6/01/2020: Travel to Sarnath, the place where the Buddha turned the wheel of the dharma. I have arranged for us to stay two days there. One day we will offer tsok in front of Khyentse Rinpoche’s kudung. The other we will go on the Ganges in Varanasi. According to the brahmins, every impairment and impurity can be healed by drinking the water of the Ganges. Hindus say that all the negative karma accumulated during billions of kalpas is purified in this way. They say that if we dip in the Ganges seven times, all our past negativities and obscurations will be purified. Tourists come from all around the world to see the water of the Ganges, so we will do that too and take a boat on the river.
• 7/01/2020 Driving back to Delhi.

Generally speaking, while on pilgrimage, we should each try to keep as pure a mind as possible. You should try to arouse great compassion, thinking “In order to purify every single sentient being’s negative karma and obscuration, as well as my own negative karma and obscuration that I have been accumulating in samsara from beginningless time, I will accumulate further merit and wisdom and perfect these accumulations.” That’s from a dharma point of view.

We have spent a lot of money on organizing this pilgrimage. You are all monks from the same monastery and are like one family—in our monastery, we don’t have factions that don’t get along. You all live harmoniously together, which is excellent. These days it’s not like the old times; I see that younger monks help each other and that you all behave as brothers. This is really, really excellent. For example, all the monks who know how to make tormas don’t hesitate to help the chöpön when he has a lot to do. It’s the same with playing the shawm—everyone who knows how to blow the dungchen is there to help. So, you all live harmoniously together, and harmony is a wonderful thing, isn’t it? In fact, there is a core group of fifteen really good people—the others connect with them and are influenced by their positive ways. Therefore, you should keep that harmonious, respectful, loving mindset on this pilgrimage, and all be happy.

From my side, I’ve done my best to organize things as well as I can. Therefore, you should visit the pilgrimage places with a happy, joyful mind. Anyway, you have no reason to be unhappy. All you young ones from 14-15 to 35-36 years old, you may have some things that bother you, but whatever worry you might have, don’t think too much “I really need to do this” or “I really need to get that” – just relax, ok? Anyway, you have no reason to be unhappy—you are all well in body and mind. Think of it: other people in the world such as the Europeans and other foreigners, granted they don’t learn about the dharma but their whole life is work, work, work, and accumulating wealth and possessions. Then when they get old, they often have regrets and use their money to travel to see the world. They come to India and visit the places that we visit too—Bodhgaya, Varanasi, Agra and so on. This shows that these places are really worth seeing and are laden with history.

India preserves traces of more than 2,500 years of civilization, which is quite exceptional. Apart from Egypt and a few other countries, this is very rare. For example, in America there is only 300 years of history. In Europe there is Greece for example, but they all look back to India. Therefore, even if you only come as a tourist, that is fine too. But remember, we are not just mere tourists. We have faith in Shakyamuni Buddha, and we practice the three pitakas of the dharma that he taught. You are not just mere practitioners, but you have taken vows in his order and wear the robes of his monks.

The disciples of the Buddha who are able to visit the places associated with the Bhagavan are very fortunate—you can only but rejoice. As the Buddha said,

To the places where the Tathagata lived,
Abandoning attachment and grasping,
Like a lion free from fear,
I prostrate to these places.

Once someone asked Buddha Shakyamuni, “In the future, what should we do to remember the Buddha?” You need to go to Shakyamuni Buddha’s four places, the Bhagavan replied. They are:

1. The place where the completely enlightened buddha named Shakyamuni came to this world—his birthplace, Lumbini;
2. The Vajra Seat in the central country of Magadha where our teacher, the perfectly enlightened one, sat under the bodhi tree and reached complete enlightenment as a result of all the bodhisattva practices as vast as the ocean that he cultivated during three countless eons—in other words, the place of enlightenment where he reached liberation;
3. The place where, once he had reached awakening, he began to skilfully work for the welfare of sentient beings—the place of the turning of the wheel of the dharma, Deer Park or Rishipatana near Varanasi; and
4. In order to teach impermanence of the aggregates to those who grasp at permanence he displayed passing into parinirvana at Kushinagar—the place of the passing into parinirvana.

So on that occasion, the Buddha said that we must visit the four great places of the Teacher and make prayers there. As we go to these places, we need to make prayers. The aspirations we make there will be fulfilled thanks to the blessing of the Buddha, his compassion and his power.

Vaishali, Vulture Peak in Rajghir, and Shravasti are also sacred places of the Buddha.

Vulture Peak is associated with Mahayana. This is where Buddha turned the dharma wheel of the prajnaparamita. For Tibetans like us and Chinese people who also practice the prajnaparamita teachings, Vulture Peak is even more sacred than Sarnath. The Buddha spent seven years at Vulture Peak. It is also the place where King Prasenajit and others made offerings to the Buddha and requested him to turn the wheel of the dharma. Its extraordinary history is often mentioned in the sutras, which say that it is a place where all negativities and obscurations are liberated.

Nalanda is the main place from which the teachings of all four schools of Tibetan Buddhism originate. The great abbot Shantarakshita, Guru Rinpoche, Vimalamitra, Nagarjuna, the six ornaments and two supreme masters of India the Land of Aryas, all spent a long time there. Only the ruins of the monastery are left but there are still a lot of blessings.

Shravasti, Vulture Peak, Vaishali and Nalanda are not one of the so-called four great places of the Buddha, but they are also very important sacred places. So much so that we also speak of the eight great places of the buddha when adding Shravasti, Vulture Peak, Vaishali and Sankisa to the original four.

You are very fortunate to visit such places. Accumulate merit and eliminate obscurations, and cultivate joy, thinking of the wonderful opportunity that you have to visit these extraordinary places thanks to the power of your past aspirations and to present circumstances. Please follow this pilgrimage as joyfully as you can. A few days ago, I asked Ugyen Norbu and Konchok Tashi to fill the cars with food and drink—including bottles of Coca-Cola which you seem to find indispensable! So please eat and drink them and enjoy yourselves. Leave your worries behind, such as whether your father or your mother died recently, or any difficulty you think you might have, and go on this pilgrimage with a light heart.