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 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.
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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.