Buddha, the king of the kings
while preaching his followers once said, ‘You cannot travel the path until you
have become the path itself.’ This quote has depth to it, inspiring the
followers to follow the desired path with the great dedication and involvement.
It’s the commitment to embrace the path to the existence that motivates us to
achieve the spiritual awakening.
This also sums up the importance
of journey in the life of every individual. A journey is an enriched way to
learn more about life and evolve as a better individual. Every day we live on
this earth is a journey in its own way waiting to realize the purpose of life.
We spend each day here in a hope to reunite with the divine power that guides
us and gain the ultimate knowledge.
Pilgrimages act as a mediator in
realizing the goals of spiritual life and guiding pilgrims and travellers to
understand the basic meaning and motives of existence. Often referred to as a
long journey, a pilgrimage is carried out in search of great spiritual and
moral significance. In most of the world’s faiths and religions, such a journey
is seen with great regard and is considered as an act of spiritual devotion and
surrender.
More than travel, this journey
becomes an ultimate mission in the life of every religious follower to emerge
out of it with a fresh inspiration and spiritual renewal. To realize this
crucial purpose of life, every Christian or Jewish devotee turns towards
Jerusalem, Muslims make Hajj to Mecca, Hindus visit the pious city of Varanasi
and Buddhists take refuge to the Buddhist pilgrimage.
Suggested by the Buddha himself,
this sacred journey brings his life on a path or journey. Just like his quote,
he travelled his journey from a prince to a saint who renounced his materialistic
life in search of the ultimate truth. He practically searched the knowledge
from various sages for six years, but dissatisfied of all, he started searching
the truth on his own.
And once a human mind is set on
an ardent mission, nothing can turn it back. Same happened with the meditating
prince who pierced the shell of ignorance with his continuous meditation for 50
days and attained the blissful enlightenment under the shade of Bodhi Tree in
Gaya. This is now known as one of the four Buddhist pilgrimage sites called
Bodhgaya.
From here, Buddha travelled to
Mulgandhakuti Vihara or Deer Park in Kashi / Varanasi where he gave his first
sermon of Middle Path and four truths of life. This event set off his life as
the spiritual master, inspiring and illuminating the world with his practical
knowledge and insights. Since then, he travelled extensively throughout the
different sites in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, preaching sermons and enlightening
ignorant souls with his knowledge.
But all great things come to an
end. Same happened with the lord who after eating the last meal at Vaishali
announced his Mahaparinirvana. His followers wept in gloom and the lord donated
his begging bowl to them. He asked Ananda to continue the journey to
Kushinagara where Tathagata gave his last teaching, Mahaparinirvana Sutta.
In this teaching, he asked the
followers to continue the Buddhist-pilgrimage to the four sites of faith and
seek the inspiration from his journey. These sites were closely related to the
important events of lord Buddha’s life. They are:
1. The Buddha's birth place
(Lumbini)
2. The site of Buddha’s
enlightenment (Bodh Gaya)
3. The site of Buddha first
sermon and initiation of Buddhism by turning the Wheel of the Dharma or Truth
(Sarnath)
4. The place where the Buddha
attained parinibbana, or final liberation (Kusinagara).
The abovementioned sites comprise
the revered Buddhist Pilgrimage.
Even in modern times, every year millions of devotees begin the pious Buddhist
pilgrimage to seek inspiration from the lord. And, they become successful too,
by learning more about the Buddha and understanding the sentient way to self
realization.
This blog is an attempt to sum up
the teachings of the Buddha and bring the awareness in the Buddhist world.
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