By Jane Seidlitz

One hundred and fifty volunteers worked for months to prepare for the five days of teachings given by His Holiness in Bodhgaya, India, December 15-19 hosted by the Maitreya Project, the FPMT project to build a 500-foot statue of Lord Maitreya, the future Buddha.

There were about 25 of us traveling from Kopan Monastery in Nepal to Patna in India on what I had been told was a World War II Fokker Friendship propeller plane. Initially there was some trepidation. But we were on the first leg of our journey to Bodhgaya to attend His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s teachings on Shantideva’s Shikshasamuccaya and Bodhisattvacaryavatara, so I had to trust that the forty-two-seater would carry us safely to our destination. Plus I learned that we would be traveling with Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Geshe Lama Lhundup and the 6-year-old reincarnation of Cherok Lama, not to mention many Dharma brothers and sisters, and that the plane had passed Rinpoche’s mo inspection. We all squeezed in, and except for the noise of the propellers, the flight was happily unremarkable, even pleasant. As an added bonus, Cherok Lama picked South Asia Regional Coordinator Frances Howland’s name in the airline’s drawing for a free Neconair ticket!

We were preceded by four busloads of Kopan monks, nuns and Western students who had departed the previous day from the Kopan nunnery. They were somewhat less fortunate (but undoubtedly accumulated more merit by bearing hardships) as their bus drivers had inebriated themselves at one of the pit stops and they all had to spend the night parked by the side of the road while the drivers sobered up. Especially with the threat of dacoits (armed bandits) prowling the roads at night, this was not exactly a welcome change of plan. But these travelers too arrived safely, albeit a day later than anticipated, weary, but happy to have made it to Bodhgaya, the seat of the Buddha’s enlightenment, and still in time for His Holiness’ teachings.

The Tibetan name for Bodhgaya is Dorje Den, “Vajra Seat,” and I had brought Lama Yeshe’s 15-year-old Pekingese, Dorje Den, to his namesake for his last pilgrimage. When I asked Lama Zopa Rinpoche in Boston about bringing Dorje Den back to Asia in light of his advanced age and ailing health, Rinpoche replied, “there’s nothing better you can do for him than to bring him and carry him around the stupa.” Rinpoche said Dorje Den did not need to go to the teachings, as he used to advise in the past (probably because Dorje Den is now more or less deaf), but Dorje Den did visit Lama Yeshe’s reincarnation, Lama Tenzin Osel Rinpoche, for the first time since Lama Osel’s toddlerhood, and was blessed by numerous other holy beings, not to mention meeting old friends from his earlier days in Dharamsala and Kopan. And then, of course, circumambulating the stupa.

Bodhgaya’s Great Stupa is one of the holiest Buddhist sites and attracts hundreds of thousands of pilgrims every year. It marks the place where, 2,500 years ago, Shakyamuni Buddha sat in meditation and manifested enlightenment. Situated in a dusty little Indian village in Bihar, India’s poorest state, it rises up as a monument to the highest potential of sentient beings.

Bodhgaya itself is a place of contradictions. This most holy spot is said to sit above the most infernal hell realm. The many temples representing various Buddhist countries are like jewels dotting the landscape of this otherwise impoverished countryside. Bodhgaya’s poverty and suffering are impossible to ignore. Mangy starving dogs, people and animals with open wounds, lepers and crippled children are all part of the setting. And as Buddhist pilgrims come from around the world to pay their respects, small bands of beggars come out requesting spare change. Particularly during times of major events such as His Holiness’ giving teachings, the beggars line up along the path to the stupa, squatting together side by side with aluminum bowls or pieces of cloth to catch the offerings.

Several days into my stay, I bought 100 one-rupee coins to offer to the beggars. All peaceably lined up, I imagined they would remain that way as I deposited a rupee in each of their receptacles. But I was almost immediately mobbed by the women and children desperately grabbing me in the hope of getting one of the coins. To my surprise, a nearby police officer came to my aid wielding a billy club, which thankfully he used gently.

We had arrived in Bodhgaya two days before His Holiness’ teachings were scheduled to begin on December 15. Bodhgaya was astir as months of preparation were coming to fruition for the auspicious event. People were arriving each day. We were directed to the New Mahayana Guest House, the hub of operations, where we received our registration badges and teaching packets, and were sent off to our dwellings. I was amazed at how the organizers and many helpers had managed to set up such a smooth-running operation in Bodhgaya, this little Indian village not known for its amenities and sophistication. There were offices delegated for press, transportation, accommodation and all other areas related to the organizing of His Holiness’ teachings and the needs of the attendees. Ven. Marcel Bertels, the director of the Maitreya Project in India, the huge undertaking of the construction of a 500-foot statue of the future Buddha Maitreya, oversaw the event planning. Some of the staff had come weeks or even months in advance and I was deeply grateful to be one of the many beneficiaries of all their hard work and helpfulness (see page 46).

My last trip to Bodhgaya had been a twenty-four hour whirlwind merit-accumulating stay with Lama Zopa Rinpoche 10 years earlier. Prior to that, I joined the thousands of people attending the Kalachakra initiation with His Holiness in 1985. Bodhgaya has not changed much since those earlier days although many more makeshift shops line the road up to the stupa and traders’ wares now include such essentials as Nike gym bags. The outside walkway along the wall of the stupa groups has recently been paved with grey-and-rose-color stone, and with rickshaws now banned from the area, it makes for a much more relaxing and less dusty stroll through town. There are also a number of new upscale Indian restaurants, so choices for meals have expanded from the chickpeas and omelets I recall eating at roadside stands in years past.

Some of us stayed at Root Institute, which from its early days of quaint mud and straw huts has evolved into an amazing oasis of attractive buildings and gardens housing Buddhas, surrounded by small circumambulatory walkways. A large seated Maitreya statue dominates the welcoming courtyard opposite the beautiful glass-enclosed gompa.

We arrived at the center in the middle of the Christian/Buddhist Conference being held there at which His Holiness and Father Lawrence were the main participants (see May-June Mandala). His Holiness attended both the morning and afternoon sessions. It felt wonderful to see His Holiness and have him among us at Root Institute before the start of the teachings.

The teachings took place at the site where 14 years earlier His Holiness gave the Kalachakra initiation and where in January 1998 he taught Khunu Rinpoche’s The Precious Lamp in Praise of Bodhicitta and portions of several other texts. His Holiness and the other lamas sat on a stage from which spread a huge tent holding some 10,000 people, 500 of them Westerners and other Asians, all the rest Tibetan, including Sangha and lay people. Security was substantial, with armed Indian police outside the gates, and at times more evident than others, such as during the tea break when His Holiness’ bodyguards seemed especially vigilant, but the atmosphere for the most part was relaxed and joyful.

His Holiness taught both a morning and an afternoon session, totaling about five hours a day. On the first day, His Holiness began by humbly denying that he had any realizations; he did say, however, that the reason he is so “jolly” is completely due to whatever practice he has done. His Holiness did a masterful job of going back and forth between Shantideva’s Shikshasamuccaya (a text on the six perfections) and Shantideva’s more well-known text, Bodhisattvacaryavatara, or Bodhisattva’s Way of Life. His Holiness also referred to the “draft notes” of Jamyang Choje that Jamyang Choje took when Lama Tsongkhapa taught the Shikshasamuccaya at Radring in Tibet.

His Holiness also blessed us with teachings not directly related to the texts, interspersed at various times during the days. On the third day, for example, His Holiness spent about two hours giving a brilliant and rich overview of the entire teachings of the Buddha, beginning with the four noble truths right up to an explanation of the two kinds of clear light and enlightenment. When he got to the subject of bodhichitta, the altruistic attitude wishing to lead all sentient beings to enlightenment, His Holiness said, “When I think of bodhichitta, I feel very close to this mind, and I have great appreciation for it, but I’m not saying I have the realization.” On the fourth day, His Holiness began with a brilliant and logical explanation of the emptiness of the self, going on to explain how the mind does not originate from a physical cause and thus is not physical. He also discussed how the universe was created, refuting the theory that it arose from one “big bang.”

Later that day, His Holiness addressed in some detail why he has asked people to refrain from practicing the Shug Den protector, supporting his discussion with references to writings by the Fifth Dalai Lama, Pabongka Rinpoche and other lamas. His Holiness also explained his own reasoning behind what he said was a decision he had spent many years deliberating over before requesting that the practice be put aside.

When teaching on the bodhisattva vows His Holiness stated, “If someone asks you for something and you don’t give it, you break your bodhisattva vows.” He continued, “In any case, at the time of death, you have to separate from your possessions. So why not give it up? If you do this now, then at the time of death there will be less attachment and a more peaceful passing away.”

On the subject of the guru, His Holiness said, “the spiritual teacher is one who leads you away from a lazy life,” and that “not giving up one’s teacher is a precious jewel almost impossible to find.”

During the section of the Bodhisattvacaryavatara that addresses meditating on the dirtiness of the body as a way to lessen attachment, His Holiness elicited laughter from Tibetans and Westerners alike in reminding us that while we are disgusted by the waste we see in toilets, what we find so repulsive comes from our own bodies, and that the real toilets we carry around with us all the time!

His Holiness also mentioned that special status is given to women in the highest tantra. His Holiness said he thought this was Buddha’s way of dispelling the idea in society that women are inferior. He also pointed out that Buddhism talks about all mother sentient beings.

On the morning of the fifth day, His Holiness conferred the bodhisattva vows, helping us to set our motivation by talking about the two great aspirations – to benefit beings and to achieve enlightenment. He also talked about the kindness of mother sentient beings and the fact that they are the basis of our practice of morality and compassion. His Holiness’ incomparable kindness was clearly evident as he gave the bodhisattva vows, offering some of us the opportunity to renew and revive our vows while giving others the chance to take them for the first time.

His Holiness ended the teachings on the afternoon of the fifth day, not having completed the entire text, telling us that he hopes to finish the text next year in Bodhgaya. The following morning His Holiness gave a long-life initiation and we offered a puja for his long life.

In between the teachings there were other activities taking place. People had come from all over the world, among them many center directors and Sangha from the FPMT. Members of the International Mahayana Institute, the FPMT’s community of monks and nuns, had a meeting, as did the center directors. In addition, there was a meeting on the Maitreya Project, which Lama Zopa Rinpoche attended. Rinpoche was also interviewed at length for an Italian television program.

Meanwhile, most people tried to get to the stupa at least once a day to do some circumambulation. One Western couple was seen doing Chöd, the practice of symbolically offering one’s body to the spirits as a way to slay the ego, in a little enclave at the stupa; some Tibetan monk onlookers seemed to find this quite curious. Another draw of the stupa, which brings peals of laughter from both Western and Tibetan practitioners, is the Tara statue that is said to fulfill any wish one makes as long as one lands exactly in front of the statue after walking the approaching path with one’s eyes closed.

In addition to attending the teachings and engaging in meritorious activities at the stupa, Tibetans also took the opportunity to gather by holding a candlelight walk for peace in response to the news of the US bombing of Iraq. What seemed like thousands of monks, nuns and Tibetan lay people circumambulated every level of the stupa carrying candles and changing at the top of their lungs the prayer:

May the bodhichitta that has been

generated increase,

and may the bodhicitta

that has not yet been generated

arise now in my mind

and in the minds of sentient beings.

The chant filled the air around the stupa, and thousands of light offerings were made that night, taking up every available surface on every small stupa and wall in the stupa garden. In addition, a contingency from the FPMT center in Singapore and other FPMT students, led by Ven. George Churinoff, made 1,000 light offerings according to Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s extensive light offering instructions.

I was stuck and deeply inspired during my visit to Bodhgaya, after 10 years away, to see the extraordinary extent to which the dreams of both the lamas and the students were coming to fruition. I remember hearing about the Maitreya statue shortly after Lama Yeshe first mentioned it in 1982, and Rinpoche’s initial determination to begin work on it after Lama Yeshe passed away. I recall quietly thinking that it would be impossible to build something like that, especially in Bodhgaya. And now the site for the statue has been chosen, and sophisticated artistry and technology are in use in the construction of a large prototype of the statue. There are buildings on the Maitreya land housing the people working on the project, as well as offices in Singapore and Nepal and consultants in the US. Now, there is no doubt in my mind that it will eventually happen.

Similarly, I recalled when Root Institute was just an idea, and then became a site with thatched-roof mud huts (albeit very charming and homey ones). Now it is a complex of beautiful buildings and gardens with facilities for retreaters, pilgrims and conference participants. It also houses the Shakyamuni Buddha Community Health Care Center, a small hospital and hospice for Bodhgaya’s indigent and dying, another manifestation of Rinpoche’s inspired vision.

During this trip to Bodhgaya, I also visited the MAITRI Leprosy Center, the dream child of Adriana Ferranti, a disciple of Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche. I remember talking with her years ago in Nepal about her idea for a leprosy project, a wish she had harbored since she was a child. And here it was, land with trees – rare in Bodhgaya – some buildings completed and others in the works. MAITRI’s work is largely done by traveling to afflicted people in the surrounding villages; the current count of successfully treated leprosy cases is about 3,500. And again, as in January, His Holiness blessed MAITRI with his presence.

It was enormously inspiring to see what had been done, how ideas and plans, begun as seeds in the minds of our teachers and fellow Dharma brothers and sisters, had borne such rich and beneficial fruit. As Rinpoche once said to me after suggesting about six years of retreat for me to do, “if you don’t make plans for the life, the life gets wasted.” The trip to Bodhgaya, which included listening to His Holiness’ sublime teachings on every aspect of how to lead a meaningful life and witnessing the dedication and accomplishment of my teachers and fellow Dharma students, reinforced the meaning of Rinpoche’s earlier words. No matter what kind of plane I arrived on.