Sankasya – ALL I NEED IS MY PASSPORT

Wanderers of India and the Governor of Bihar

Nov 122018

February 8, 2018

Leaving the city of Sankissa we passed these travelers. I do not know where they were going or where they came from but I found them fascinating and wanted to share these pictures.

When I first saw the little boy he was sound asleep hugging his duck, he woke when I stopped the car.

Women rarely show their faces, since she had no veil to pull over her face, she turned her head from em.

Women rarely show their faces, since she had no veil to pull over her face, she turned her head from me.

India has a gypsy population called Kalbelias, or Cobra Gypsies. While they are primarily in Rajasthan, and I am not saying these are Kalbellas, it is interesting to know of them.

The Kalbelia live a nomadic life and once belonged to the untouchable caste and shunned by mainstream society. Their main occupation has been catching snakes and trading snake venom. They are most known for their world-renowned dance Kalbelia. Traditionally, Kalbelia men carried cobras in cane baskets from door to door in villages while their women sang and danced and begged for alms. More recently, performing arts are a major source of income for them, and others are employed in agriculture. They are Hindu.

If you would like to know more about the Kabelia, here is a one-hour video about them and their lifestyle. The video, however, is so much more. There is much of everyday India and the life of rural Indians throughout.

Lucknow, India

We are once again guests of the Buddha Vihar Shanti Upvan of Lucknow. They were gracious hosts last year and you can read all about that here.

Lucknow is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the eleventh most populous city of India. Lucknow has always been known as a multicultural city flourishing as a North Indian cultural and artistic hub, and the seat of power of Nawabs in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Lucknow is also famous for its perfume, with a few makers still making it with real flowers soaking in vats for days. I had hoped to find one but was not able to, next year…

This year the temple did an amazing job of arranging the two-day festival. There were well over 500 lay people in attendance, and it was really quite lovely.

Every ceremony begins with a procession, this was lead by proud members of the Buddhist Vihar Shanti Upvan temple

Just a small indication of the size of the crowd

Faces I found interesting among the attendees:

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No ceremony is complete without a long drawn out closing ceremony with speech after speech after speech. This year was special as the Governor of Bihar was one of the speakers. Sadly I do not speak Hindi, so I have no idea what he said.

The Governor of Bihar Lalji Tandon

The small woman on the left is a Ghandi, she works at the Lotus Temple in Delhi promoting childrens education. The man with the mask is a Jain monk.

The small woman on the left is a Gandhi, she works at the Lotus Temple in Delhi promoting children’s education. The man with the mask is a Jain monk and the very small bald man is the head of our host temple.

A governor of India must:

be a citizen of India.
be at least 35 years of age.
not be a member of either the house of the parliament or house of the state legislature.
not hold any office of profit.

The governor, as well as the lieutenant governor, are appointed positions by the President of India and serve a term of 5 years.

They are executive heads of the states and the union territories respectively. There are 29 states and 7 union territories in India.

Some History of Sankissa

Sankasya

Nov 102018

Sankissa (also Sankasya)
November 6, 2018

I have mentioned earlier that we are traveling with Deepak Anand, a knowledgeable person about Xuanzang, and his travels in India.

Thanks to Deepak we took a walk through the village of Sankissa. Here is some information from his website: “Raghav Dixit shared with me how his uncle Shri Mukta Prasad Dixit and his elder brothers, Shri Devendra Nath Dixit and Chandrika Dixit made efforts to facilitate the preservation, conservation and promotion of the Buddhist heritage of Saṅkāsya.”

This is the family that you will see in some of the following photographs. You can read Deepaks entire post about Sankissa here

The monks walking and chanting through the village of Sankissa

We visited Sankissa (Sankasya) last year during a Hindi holiday, and you can read all about that here.

This year I decided to concentrate on the people of the village, so I will let the photos tell the story.

Sankissa is a very large potato growing area.

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The children were very interested in the monks as they chanted, and my camera as well.

We received a wonderful description of the area and were shown artifacts that the Dixit family, and other villagers, have found over the years.

The family showed us these, and many other, artifacts they have dug up. An archeological study of the area would reveal their age and significance, but sadly, that may never occur.

Deepak explaining the significance of the area to the monks

The younger son of the family took the microphone as we were leaving and explained how this visit will be talked about in the village for years to come. I knew that when I started to see the wonder in the eyes of the children. I will never know how it affects their desire for learning in the future, whether about the strange men in orange robes, Buddhism, or just the west, but I knew I was part of something magical that day.

Tea at Home

Sankasya

Nov 082018

Sankasya (or Sankissa)
November 5, 2018

One of our monks from the Mahabodhi Center in Bangalore is from Sankasya and his family invited us for tea. This is a major undertaking for a family, and it was truly an honor. We have 40 monks, and then another 7 of us that accompany the monks. We have an additional staff of 7 people that make sure we get where we are supposed to be, accompanied by our luggage and all other necessities. We are also traveling with a catering crew. However, it was just 47 of us that went for tea. As you can see by the modest home, serving tea to this large group was not an easy undertaking.

This is a mix of cow dung and the dregs of ground up sugar cane. You can cook a meal for 2 off of one of these patties.

I went on to the roof to get some better pictures and got a great look at the town.

The family is seated listening to the monks chant and give them blessings for their kindness

This is a small, but a very typical village in India. The family consists of two widowed sisters with their children. and one of the Mothers-in-law. I was told that their income is supplemented by two uncles, and that re-marriage is not a problem.

The family cow was there to provide milk for the Chai, and to do his part in making sure we were entertained.

The family cow was doing his part to make sure we were entertained.

The Bhante whose family we are visiting is standing on the right. The gentleman on the left is Tenzin. He is a member of the Mahabodhi Society of Ladoc. He is responsible for making sure all of the needs of the monks are met. He does it with grace, aplomb and kindness and is a true asset to our team.

The neighbors brought chairs and stayed to take in the scene.

As we left I was fascinated by the vendor’s fruit. It is an odd flavor, rather bland with just a touch of sweet.

It had been a very long day. The drive from Delhi to Sankissa was about 7 hours, (much less than I expected as new highway now makes the trip so much faster than just one year ago), and then we were beset with a flat tire. That took a mere 2 hours to change, leaving us all happy to reach our lodgings.

The next day the Bhante’s family came and brought food to supplement the lunch we serve. Serving food to monks’ earns merit, so it is an honor for Buddhists to serve food to monks. While this is not an earth-shattering story, it does show how delightful India can be, and how the family is still the heart of what makes India the country that it is.

Bhante’s sisters, a mother in law of one of his sisters and his grandmother on the far right.

The sister in white is part of a group of women that go out into the community and into the homes to help teach the women about Buddhism, that, however, is a story for another post.

Day two of Holy Days

Sankasya

Nov 102017

November 2017

Today was a repeat of yesterday. We started quietly, in the heavy fog, chanting under the tree. We broke for lunch and returned to find the holy day we experienced yesterday was taking place again today.

I am just going to share photos of the event, they say more than words.

*This time the band stopped when the police asked, as you can see by their body posture they were not very happy.
After the ceremony, we walked through the fields to visit another part of the Sankasya grounds. These grounds have been buried and forgotten for thousands of years, and archeologists have still not spent much time digging and working, so farms have sprouted up over most of the other buildings from Buddha’s time.
Sankasya is where Buddha spent most of his rainy day retreats which is why the area is so important to the Buddhist culture and on the pilgrimage trail. Buddhists still go on a retreat during the rainy season as walking and spreading the word of Dharma is pretty hard to do in the mud. The length of the rainy season depends on the length of the summer monsoon season in each country.
The story is also told that Queen Maya, The Buddha’s mother died seven days after the Buddha’s birth and was reborn in the heavenly realms. Since she had no opportunity to hear his teaching in this life, the Buddha manifested in the Heaven of the 33 Gods to preach the Dharma and ensure her progress on the path to enlightenment.

After teaching his mother for three months the Buddha descended from the Heaven of the 33 Gods on a celestial ladder down to Sankasya. He was accompanied by Brahma on a golden ladder to his right and Indra and his host of devas on a crystal ladder to his left. The ladders sank into the earth leaving only 7 rungs above the earth.

Chinese travelers from the 5th and 7th century recorded that ladders covered in jewels were still in place during their travels. However, since Ashoka found nothing, it is most likely these ladders were placed by believers during these times and replaced as needed.
This is one of the spots where archeologists know something exists but have yet to uncover, as you can see it has become a Hindi shrine.
Throughout India you will find dung gathered and pressed into patties for fuel, this woman was just bringing hers to the kitchen when I ran into her and her son.
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Despite the young men of the bands, the women of the area were content to sit and listen to the chanting, it was truly a wonderful blend of cultures.

This in Nandamala. He was from the Mandalay region of Burma. He is the only boy and has three sisters. His dad died when he was very young and his mother sold vegetables to make a living. He became a novice monk at 9 years old. His uncle started a monastery to do missionary work, and Nandamala is following in his footsteps. He is studying Pali and hopes to get a degree and then further his studies in English, he wants to be a teacher one day.

A Road Trip to Sankasya

Sankasya

Nov 092017

November 2017

So the road between Delhi and Sankasya consists of a 6-hour bus ride.

Ice cream on the road!

Bus rides through India are a patchwork quilt of an agricultural landscape dotted with villages of wonder.

But this time the bus trip was occupied by learning the lives of some of the monks.

Remember, English is not their first language, and in some cases they are proficient, and in others, they are trying their best. The weak link is honestly my tin ear, but I hope, over the next month or so to bring each and every one to you as best as I can.

Their personalities are starting to emerge, as well as their senses of humor and joie de vivre. It is a real thrill and honor to begin to get to know each of them.

THAW BI TA

Thaw Bi Ta is 34 years old. His parents are rice farmers and his monastery is the second largest in Burma with 1200 monks, but I am sorry, I do not know the name, that is where my ear is the fault of my lack of knowledge.

Thaw Bi Ta teaches Pali, and like most of the monks with us, he is furthering his studies in Bodh Gaya, in Thaw Bi Ta’s case, at the Magano University.

He did his undergraduate work in Buddhist Studies in a school in Sri Lanka, he is in Bodh Gaya to learn English.

The walk to the stupa in Sankasya to open the Tapitika Ceremony

The walk to the stupa in Sankasya to open the Tipitaka Ceremony

Day one was filled with chanting at the Sankasya Stupa. It is said that Buddha went up to the heavens to teach his mother the Dharma, as she died prior to his enlightenment. When he came down, he did so in Sankasya. There is so much more to the story, but if you want to learn that I will leave you to do so on your own.

The archeology geek in me was exceptionally excited to see the remains of the Ashoka Pillar.

The stupa is now just a very large mound of dirt, surrounded by a small park. The park itself sits well out in the countryside, making this pilgrimage site well off the beaten path, and rarely visited judging by what I saw.

Chanting in the shadow of the Sankasya Stupa

We are joined by monks from throughout India, including one that came all the way from Jaipur. These monks are considerably older, and many are illiterate, so they sit quietly and can’t really participate, but it is nice to see them all sitting and attempting to gain an understanding of what is going on. Remember the chanting is done in Pali, so it means nothing to you if you don’t know Pali. All people can follow along as we hand out books in the script of your language, and as you can see by the photo, they aren’t words you understand, but there is a delightful rhythm to the entire scene.

The Roman version of the Sutras

If you study your Buddhism you will know what the sutras say as they have been interpreted but they are chanted in Buddha’s language, which was Pali.

The Sankasya ceremony opened with a prayer at the top of the stupa

Descending down to begin the chanting

Bells at the top of the stupa

A Holy Day

India, Sankasya

Nov 092017

November 2017
Day two in Sankasya started out with a lovely morning of chanting. We always break for lunch and in Sankasya lunch has been at a Burmese monastery.

Woks, big pots, and moveable burners make for dinner for 500 on the road

Nadia, on the left, stays up late in the evening to make sure the meals are perfect

Nadia, on the right, stays up late in the evening to make sure the meals are perfect

We are traveling with a crew of Indians from Bodh Gaya, and that includes a cooking crew. However, to earn meta it is good to cook for monks and offer them food. This is where Nadia comes in. She has an amazing ability to put together a meal with a few ingredients one spoon and a giant wok, so we have been eating exceptionally well, and with a Thai bent rather than an Indian one.

Rice is the main staple, this is just one pot for just one meal

The afternoon of day two was such a magical India moment that even in my photos and my descriptions I am afraid it is one of those “you had to be there”.

There were many variations told of what the celebration was about, but the one that came to the forward most often was the young boy hair cutting ceremony. I was told that after the full moon young boys are shaven for religious purposes. I spent a lot of time trying to bring you more information, all for naught. There are many, many hair cutting rituals in the various religions of India so it could have been any number of them, or it is simply local to this village in Utter Pradesh.

The crowd gathers around the monks

It started very small, we returned from lunch and there was a man playing a horn and another on a tin drum with 5 or so women in sari’s moving and shaking.

It is always so nice when people don’t run away from the camera

*The monks slowly gathered in their respective places and began to chant. Now, chanting isn’t very loud. There is always a lead monk, and he has a microphone, but the chanting itself is only as loud as the number of monks.

Slowly that little group of people began to grow. There weren’t that many and it was delightful to see all these women in colorful saris with children in tow.

However, the group spontaneously simply became enormous, and the cacophony of voices from tens of dozen women and twice as many children began to truly take on epic proportions. However, it was fun, the gaiety contrasting with the solemnity made for true magic.

Chaotic would be an understated word for the next phase. A truck, loaded with amplifiers, stacked 5 high started playing Indian rock music. At that point, all I could do was roar with laughter. Of course, I was appalled at the rudeness, but when Tenzing, one of our English speaking crew asked them to quiet down, their response was, we celebrate our religion our way and you celebrate yours your way, and frankly, they had a point.

Notice the amplifiers on the back

With that, all you could do was appreciate the spontaneity and go with the flow. This is what makes India so magical.

A little side project that is going on, sponsored by Nyingma Institute is Peace Bells. There is one in Sankasya and members of the community Steve and Stephanie have been in Sankasya all week to gold leaf it.

Steve gold leafing

Steve grew up in California with an art background and became a member of the Nyingma family when he was 32. Stefanie is from Germany and came to the US as part of a different Buddhist group. They met at a joint event and later Steve found himself learning gold leafing from Stefanie. They married and now live in Germany. This was a week of volunteer work for them, and it was so much fun for me to have one morning to photograph them working and get to know them.

One of their workers, they could not say enough good things about his talents

Stefanie

At the end of the ceremonies in Sankasya, the monks gathered to bless the bell and then we all had the opportunity to ring it. The sound goes straight to your soul. I am not that kind of mushy person, but I admit I cried when I heard it.

Blessing the Bell

This is Tenzing, he is very special to me, and a all around great guy. He is a devout Buddhist, speaks English and is always there to help.

This is Stanzin, he is very special to me, and an all-around great guy. He is a devout Buddhist, speaks English and is always there to help.

I have always said how India is a place where art and beauty are foremost in daily life and this project shows just that.

Meet Yay Wa Ta:

Yay Wa Ta on the right with Thaw Bi Ta on the left – they are always together

The monk on the right is Yay Wa Ta. He and Thaw Bi Ta, whom you met in the last post, are always together, and their smiles always brighten my day. They are both from Burma.

Yay Wa Ta has 4 brothers and one sister. His father passed away when he was 12. He has 2 degrees, one of which is in Pali. He hopes to teach English one day, he speaks broken English at this point, but, no doubt, will accomplish his goal, especially with Thaw Bi Ta as a friend, because Thaw Bi Ta’s English is excellent.

A friendly face on my morning walk