Safe and sound - sort of

Arrived on schedule Thursday.  Westerners are concerned with getting sick in India; I solved this problem by getting sick on the way: perhaps not dysentery but the symptoms were in that direction.  Spent Friday in bed and am well enough now and hooked up with the retreat. Nothing like meditation and dharma instruction to help with perspective. India is a bit of a shock. The poverty and  squalor is overwhelming, the noise a little overbearing and the driving is totally insane.  The hour-long drive from Varanasi to Sarnath would qualify as a ride at a theme park in America. But, walking this small town, it is easy to get a smile from people.  Yet, it is also a spiritual tourist and pilgrimage destination so has all the usual trappings  of street-side vendors and beggars.  Still, my perspective changes...

I have been following the teachings of the Buddha for 4 years, studying with Shaila Catherine at Insight Meditation South Bay. Being between jobs, I have the opportunity to make a pilgrimage to Asia and visit locations significant to Buddhists. My preparations are almost ready. I just need to get an air ticket, finish my taxes, do a little shopping and pack. I should be off in 4 or 5 days.

Mostly, my agenda is open. There are four key prilgrimage sites for Buddhists: Lumbini (Buddha's birth place) in Nepal, and, in India, Bodh Gaya (place of the Buddha's enlightenment), Sarnath (place of the Buddha's first teaching), and Kushinagar (where the Buddha passed). My first stop will be the Dharma Gathering in Sarnath with Christopher Titmuss. From there I will surely visit Bodh Gaya and probably Kushinagar. Since visa restrictions prohibit leaving India for less than two months, a short trip to Lumbini is unlikely.

There are a number of countries significant to Buddhists. My focus is Theravada Buddhism, so Sri Lanka, Burma and Thailand are of particular interest. I expect to spend at least a month or two in India, and after that, I will just see what unfolds.