November 2017
Today was another road trip. We were to start at 5:00 as the monk’s last meal must be before noon, and we had a long drive to reach our lunch spot.
Nelson Chamma sits on the Board of Directors of LBDFI – Brazil. Here is is giving yoga lessons to the monks on one of our pitstops
This is actually their last meal of solid food, afternoon they are allowed liquids, so soup is always served to the monks about the time that we would normally have dinner.
Dining at Vihar Shanti Upvan
We didn’t actually hit the road until 6:00 and that was in the deep fog, so driving was slow.
The monks agreed that there were no watches during Buddha’s time and that there are special dispensations for travel, but we still did not reach our destination until around 1:00. There were some monks that adhered to the rules, and as I write this at 9:00 at night, they are really very hungry.
Our lunch spot was at a Buddhist temple in Lucknow. I have once again password protected this post as I wanted to discuss some things, and these people were our hosts, and graciously fed us all and then held a beautiful ceremony in their meditation hall in our honor.
The grounds of the Buddha Vihar Shanti Upvan
The temple is huge, as you can see by the photos, and yet I truly want to understand; why a temple of this size and grandeur, amongst the starving people of India? I have this same observation and complaint of the Catholic church when I travel to destitute areas, where starving people sit on the stairways begging, and I am at a complete loss to understand where the humanity is in either of these religions when I see things like this.
Group Photo
The Buddha Vihar Shanti Upvan complex is surrounded by a 10-foot wall and certainly, says to anyone that might be trying to find solace in Buddha, that unless they are wealthy, they really aren’t welcome here.
While funded by lay people the temple was pushed by Mayawati Prabhu Das, commonly known as Mayawati, an Indian politician who spent four separate terms as chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. She was also the push behind GBU.
There are some things in life I am probably never going to understand.
We were many miles from lunch to our final destination and I was able to give two lectures, one on Ashoka and one on Sravasti, our next stop. I was truly honored when the monks thanked me, and are starting to call me teacher.
A picture of the entire complex of Vihar Shanti Upvan
Behind us is an entire large bus of lay people and monks from the temple that hosted us that will be joining us in the chanting ceremonies at Sravasti.
The problem is there are already 2500 Tibetan monks in town for another event. We had made arrangements for our monks and ourselves to stay in a monastery, but the plans for our traveling companions fell through, so our crew was on the phone for hours, madly trying to make other arrangements. The head monk in Sravasti, or Rinpoche, did all the arranging, including some that will spend tonight in tents.
Nelson being honored at the Buddhist temple in Lucknow
The Tibetan program is over tomorrow so I will l move to a hotel, and hopefully, the accompanying lay people will find better accommodations than tents.
Steven, covered in honorary garlands
Our crew will have arrived ahead of us, and I understand that an entire crew of Thai people are in town just to help decorate the event with flowers.
It is truly amazing to watch this all unfold when you realize how far out in the country we are. We are only about 50 to 60 miles from Nepal.
This is Kavasara. He is still working on his English so I did not get much from him. He is from Burma and his Mother is from Thailand. She is 51, and he is here to do Buddhist studies.
Buddha found enlightenment under the Bodhi Tree, so Bodhi leaves are a sign of respect and honor and are given out in many ceremonies.