Tuesday, August 15 Indian Independence Day, Bodhgaya

It’s India’s Independence day, India is 59 years old today. It is celebrated in Delhi by a speech by the prime minister from the ramparts of the Red Fort (this year addressing Pakistan and nuclear policy). It’s basically an arms race that is wasting money in both countries that could be used instead to facilitate development. People fly kites and set off fireworks in Delhi. There had been speculation of terrorist attacks this week, especially in Delhi. But I was not in Delhi; I was in the state of Bihar. Bihar is considered a center of banditry and violence because of the extreme poverty. I reached Gaya (smack-dab in the center of the state) around 3 am, so I waited in the station until the sun rose. I talked to an Indian engineering student. Then I went out and caught a shared auto rickshaw with a Thai Buddhist monk lady. The road was full of potholes and it took forever to reach Bodhgaya, the most important pilgrimage site in the world for Buddhists. I found a cheap hotel for 60 Rs because I wasn’t staying overnight. In the morning, I talked to a couple of Buddhist monks from Thailand. I was invited for breakfast and to go to one of the guys, Kay’s, place. We sat in the monastery outside on the deck of his room. He served coffee and apple juice and we talked for a good two hours. He explained to me everything about Buddhism. Basically his thoughts were as follows: A person has no control over his birth or external factors, so he should endure it with a “let it be” attitude. You should not act overly happy, sad, angry, or emotional. If something is making you unhappy, get rid of it in your life. Life is full of happiness, but also inevitably, suffering. The only way to be freed from suffering is to gain nirvana, and cease to exist. Only by doing meditation and controlling one’s mind can you attain enlightenment. Enlightenment means controlling your mind to do whatever, and it can tell you what other people will do next. If you attain this level of control, you can see things in a new way. Buddhism works in conjunction with any other religion; it’s a philosophy and way of life, but it has no gods or saviors, so the believer is free to choose who they worship. Buddhism seems hard to understand at first, but he explained it in a way that made sense. Kay is studying here and is sponsored by his mother and disciples. After a while I left. The courtyard of the Sri Lankan monastery was filled with uniformed kids holding Indian flags and singing a song entitled, “I love my India”. Then everyone moved over to City Hall and listened to a speech by the mayor in Hindi, which I obviously didn’t understand. He raised the cotton flag on the pole, which at its base was showered in flower petals and had an India map drawn out of dyes. Then servants came out bringing food; sweets, masala crackers, and gulab jamun. Everyone was served, the men first, boys second, women third, and untouchables last. When eating, everyone stuck around and was talking, like a Spanish class party with food. A bird pooped on my shoulder. After the festivities, I walked over to the World Heritage Mahabodhi Temple. It was built by Ashoka (the 6^th century Buddhist Indian leader) to mark the Bodhi Tree. Under the Bodhi Tree at this exact spot was the location in which the Buddha meditated and reached enlightenment. The outside had a lake with a Buddha statue, many domed stupas with figures cut into them, bells, and banyan trees. The Bodhi Tree itself sits at the back of the temple and is adorned with a golden fence with prayer flags, Swarovski crystals, and flowers as offerings. The original tree was cut down by Ashoka’s wife, who thought Buddhism was taking too much time away from her husband. Luckily, their daughter brought a sapling to Sri Lanka, from which another cutting was planted here in Bodhgaya. When walking down into the temple, there is a large golden statue of the Buddha. Many Buddhist monks sat inside chanting and meditating, while Indian tourists were loud and took pictures. Monks from around the world all came to the temple to visit and meditate at the holy site. After seeing the temple, I walked down the road, shopping for little wooden Buddha carvings (which I bought for 50 Rs each). There was an abandoned Hindu temple, vines and tree trunks engulfing the rotting stone buildings. Countries with large Buddhist populations all have buildings to represent themselves here, much like Epcot Center, with Buddhist temples and monasteries from all over Asia lining the road. The Chinese temple was big and red, with a wall of Buddha statues everywhere. The Tibetan monastery was intricately decorated with embroidered tapestries, golden wall paintings, altars to the Dalai Lama, and mantra wheels. The Thai monastery is a brightly colored wat, with pointed glass and gold roofs and gables. Walking along was the enormous Japanese Indosan Nipponji Temple. It had a tall pagoda and spotlessly manicured gardens surrounded by statues and lanterns. Adjacent to this was the Japanese Great Buddha Statue, which was enormous and beautiful in contrast with the sky and clouds, which made it look like the Buddha was moving forward. Afterwards, I walked down the path and watched construction workers (women carrying concrete on their heads) building the Mongolian monastery. I talked to the Mongolian monks who were helping to build it. They were huge guys and seemed to know a lot about America. The monastery was going to take three years to build, and the land was given to them by the Indian and Mongolian governments. I got to talking with a man Vijay who owned a hotel across the street. We sat outside his hotel facing rural villages with cows, buffalos, chickens, and farm workers who lay idle at this awkward time in the harvest season. Vijay spoke good English, so we were able to talk about a lot. Turns out he is from a milkman caste and his marriage was arranged, but his son is studying in Delhi and married a Japanese woman. He seems really progressive, explaining that Bihar is not as bad as they say, and no diseases really plague the area. He doesn’t see AIDS or overpopulation as a problem for India because people only have one marriage partner with virtually no divorce, and birth control is widely available and affordable at pharmacies. His other four kids live with him in the bottom floor of the hotel. He also has a Plaster of Paris Buddha statue enterprise run out of the back of his hotel. Also, he owns an enormous water buffalo named Lakshmi whom they feed roti. In this agricultural town, they grow wheat in winter and rice in summer, eat fish from the rice paddies, and take care of female milk cows while the males are used for work. Vijay’s dad is 80 years old, and is fascinating to watch. He wears white cloth and looks emaciated, his skin is like leather, and has glasses that make his eyes look insectile. Vijay’s 16-year old son took me on the back of his motorcycle to a stupa across the river past the town market and lush green rice paddies. I was invited to their house for dinner. I watched his daughters cook chapatis. The flour is prepared, and little dough balls are formed, and then rolled into flat circles and placed on the black pan on the kerosene stove. They are flipped and then taken off the pan, and put directly over the flame, where they puff up, after which they are put in the serving plate. Breakfasts in the household consist of rice and dal, and dinners always include vegetables and chapatis. This is because these are light foods, unlike puri, which can give you gas. I stayed over at his house late into the night until I had to catch my train. I took a shared rickshaw with Japanese tourists, who constitute 95% of Vijay’s hotel business. Today was a really good day, I seeing Independence Day celebrations, the sacred Bodhi Tree, and being the guest for an Indian family’s dinner. I caught the high-speed electrified Rajdhani Express, but the wrong one, so I had to run and jump off as the train was moving. Despite the high-speed factor and the nice sheets and free breakfast, it still took 12 hours to get back to Delhi. Luckily even though it was Independence Day and there had been threats, no terrorist acts were committed.