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PILGRIMS ON THE PATH: REFLECTIONS ON BUDDHISM AND THE JOURNEY John Peacock Lecturer in Philosophy, Bolton Institute of Higher Education Ananda, there are four places the sight of which will arouse strong emotion in those with faith. Which four places? “Here the Tathagata was born”-this is the first. “Here the Tathagata attained enlightenment”- this is the second. “Here the Tathagata set in motion the Wheel of the Dharma”- this is the third. “Here the Tathagata attained final Nirvana without remainder”-this is the fourth. And the monk, the nun, the layman or the laywoman who has faith should visit these places. (Digha Nikaya 11:141) The pilgrim, across the world and throughout all ages, has been a constant figure in both religious life and literature. Those on the road to the holy sites and shrines of the various religions often confronted, and still confront, hardships and difficulties which were deemed to be an integral, and necessary, part of the journey. Moreover, the religious life itself was often conceived of in terms of roads, paths, and journeys. This more intimate journey was to be undertaken in the midst of the joys and frustrations of daily life and was also characterised by its arduousness. Both the interior and exterior journey demanded stamina and exertion. The figure of the pilgrim and the pilgrimage became a central motif for many of the world’s religions. Within these religions there could be perceived a dynamic interplay or tension between the metaphorical and literal conceptions of the journey. Taken in terms of Buddhism all this appears to be fairly unexceptional. The predominant motivating conception of Buddhism has always been that of the Buddha’s Way or Dharma. Buddhists since the time of the Buddha’s final Nirvana have been urged to follow this way and undertake the journey to enlightenment. This injunction was perceived, throughout the differing schools of Buddhism, as requiring a thorough examination and exploration of the Buddha’s teachings - for Buddhist monks of all traditions this represents a lifetime’s - or many lifetime’s - work. The individual’s examination and contemplation of the teachings is considered now, as then, to be both the path to self~development / selfunderstanding as well as liberation. Just as one would examine gold through burning, cutting, and rubbing, so should monks and scholars examine my words. Only thus should they be accepted; but not merely out of respect for me. (cited by Tsong kha pa in Drang nges legs bshad snying po, Collected works Vol pha,. p 482) In undertaking such a journey the Buddhist aspirant requires not only the physical and mental stamina of the literal journey but also the power of imagination to embark on a visionary journey which opens up entirely new vistas and horizons within what is conventionally perceived as familiar. As with all journeys this is, above all, a process of learning. Let us return to where we began. The Buddha, in the quotation cited above, enjoined his followers, “those with faith”, to travel to the sites associated with the main events in his life and teaching. Can such journeys and pilgrimages, in the Buddhist context, represent externally and graphically the inward journey undertaken by Buddhist practitioners? In what way can the external pilgrimage be seen to inform and balance the inwardness of the Buddhist aspirant’s journey to enlightenment? It is here I think we begin to observe the dynamic interplay of the literal and the metaphorical to which I adverted above. The pilgrim on the road to Bodhgaya or Sarnath is undertaking a journey within a journey. When aspirants journey to the four holy sites of Buddhism - Lumbini, Bodhgaya, Sarnath, and Kusinara - they do so in the knowledge that for thousands of years pilgrims from all the Buddhist lands have been making the journey to celebrate the life and inspiration of the Buddha. However, the path to be traversed is an individual one. No matter how many pilgrims, Arhats and Bodhisattvas have passed along the Way this way is never the same for any traveller. The Buddha, it is said, can show or direct but can never walk the path for the individual. It is from the individual alone that aspiration and effort must stem. This is not to say, however, that the Buddhist is wholly alone in his/her endeavour. The touchstone or ground for this journey into the depths of the unknown remains the three principle objects of refuge: the Buddha, his teaching and the community of practitioners. No matter how difficult the Way or path becomes these three objects provide at all times refuge and shelter for the Buddhist practitioner. The Buddha, Dharma, and the Sangha represent both a goal and a ground. These ‘Three Jewels’ represent for the individual practitioner a shift in concern and a fundamental reorientation of their lives around a telos of ‘enlightenment’ and away from the habitual facets of ‘everydayness’ perceived, and conceived of, in terms of desire and grasping; stimulus and response. Concern is now directed into the task of liberation and away from a life dominated by habitual and destructive patterns of existence. This habitual patterning is conceived of as a cyclical pattern of activity known as Samsara. Samsara is traditionally conceived of as the cycle of birth and rebirth. What keeps beings tied to the wheel of rebirth and in enslavement to habitual responsiveness is karma. Karma is a word which has found its way into Western languages but is much misunderstood. Karma, rendered simply, indicates action that brings about either wholesome states of being or further states of frustration and misery (duhkha). Entry into the arena of karmic activity occurs through a loss of intrinsic awareness (avidya, usually termed ‘ignorance’). Freedom and happiness is only to be found outside of the wheel of constant becoming fuelled by karmic activity. In terms of the metaphor of the journey, Samsara is a journey that takes us nowhere. Samsaric activity has the propensity of delivering us back to positions we have already found ourselves in; it is this sense of having been in exactly the same place before that we all seem to catch glimpses of from time to time in the ‘everydayness’ of Samsara. It was the well choreographed and ultimately predictable activity of Samsara that the Buddha renounced at the outset of his journey towards enlightenment. It is with renunciation that the journey begins. To turn away from Samsara requires a fundamental re-attunement that goes by the name of renunciation. Renunciation. All journeys begin with some form of renunciation, the Buddhist way is no exception. This journey (the Buddhist journey towards enlightenment) begins with the renunciation of an unsatisfactory ‘known’ and the movement towards the freedom of an ‘unknown’. The Buddha’s life exemplifies the life of renunciation, of what must be ‘given-up’, for the journey to be a journey ‘towards’ enlightenment rather than simply a repetition of the circumlocutary nature of Samsara. The Buddha’s journey begins historically with his birth/rebirth at Lumbini in what is now Nepal. According to the legend the Buddha’s journey began perhaps in the year 563 BCE, on the full moon of May. Although the Buddha was born at Lumbini he seems to have visited there on only one other occasion in his life. The birth of the Buddha is an awe-inspiring moment, representing not just the birth of a unique human being but an auspicious juncture and opportunity for human being in general. It is this intertwining of the birth of a particular human being and its implications for humanity in general that is celebrated at the birthplace of the Buddha. Just as the Buddha’s journey begins with his birth so the traveller/pilgrim on the path must be born ‘anew’ for the journey to become meaningful. For the journey to be exciting and meaningful prejudices and presuppositions have to be dropped: renounced. If this necessary renunciation does not take place then the journey becomes a mere confirmation of what was already anticipated. The Buddha’s own unique renunciation is represented by his withdrawal from the life offered to him by his Sakya heritage, notably the material and sensual pleasures of life in a ‘palace’, and his turning towards the existential problems of birth, old-age, sickness, and death. To engage fully with these questions required of the Buddha a renunciation of the familiar, and the known. The path the Buddha and the pilgrim on the Buddha’s Way encounter is fraught with difficulty and hardship; there appear to be no ‘easy’ answers to existential questions. The hardship and austerities that the Buddha endures through his initial act of renunciation, bring him finally, through yet another act of renunciation, this time of the ‘pain’ associated with the ascetic life, to the unique site known as Bodhgaya. Bodhgaya is both place and site. It is the site of the historical Buddha’s enlightenment and the place wherein the pilgrim celebrates the Buddha’s achievement and simultaneously affirms or re-affirms his or her own commitment to the path of Dharma leading to the cessation of suffering. Bodhgaya as both place and site reflects fully the ambiguous nature of the pilgrim’s journey conceived of in terms of both the inward and the outward. The Buddhist pilgrim who pauses for some time in Bodhgaya will undoubtedly perform ‘religious acts’ such as the circumambulation of the central stupa of the Mahabodhi temple. However, these acts whilst both physical and outward are also representative of the inward journey conceived of in terms of meditation, effort and devotion (faith). Bodhgaya has been a pilgrimage centre for Buddhists of all persuasions probably since the death of the Buddha. Much of the history of Bodhgaya is known from inscriptions and grafitti left by pilgrims who visited over a period of many centuries. The first shrine at Bodhgaya would have probably consisted of the Bodhi tree (the tree under which the Buddha attained enlightenment) with a stone slab at its base surrounded by a wooden fence. The building of the first substantial temple is attributed to the Emperor Ashoka. Whilst there is little or no evidence to support this claim it is highly probable that a devout Buddhist like Ashoka would have built a temple upon one of the most sacred sites of Buddhism. Many of the buildings to be seen in present-day Bodhgaya were, however, contributed by visiting pilgrims. These pilgrims, over many centuries, built lasting monuments to the expression of their own inward journey with the desire that their acts of devotion and renunciation should benefit all other beings. Bodhgaya remains, for all Buddhists a symbol for the task ahead and the attainment or completion of that task in the life of the Buddha. It is, therefore, both a symbol of inspiration and urgency: enlightenment, with its attendant cessation of suffering, can be achieved, the Buddha has shown this. However, one should strive for this goal now not leave it until some future time. The exigencies of human life are such that in its finitude there might not be any future time. The juncture we have reached so far in both our literal and metaphorical pilgrimage/journey is the affirmation of our separateness, our aloneness. The task of enlightenment and the overcoming of pain is our task and no one can undertake this task for us, not even the Buddha! The journey, as has been said above, is our journey in so far as it remains firmly in our hands as to its outcome. However, this journey is not undertaken alone. At all times on the path we find ourselves in situations in which we have to take cognizance of others. The new vistas and horizons that are opened up to us on our journeying are to be shared with others. Crucially, the insights gained cannot be for ourselves alone. The journey is a shared journey and our being with others is an ineluctable part of the process. After his enlightenment the Buddha exemplified this by offering teaching to five monks at Sarnath. These five monks had been companions of the Buddha during the period when the Buddha practiced the austerities of the wandering ascetic and had abandoned him when he had renounced these practices as a means to gaining enlightenment. It is in his teaching of the five monks at Sarnath that the Buddha shows his compassion and his recognition of the importance of the other. Sarnath is not simply the place where the Buddha delivers his first discourse (“Discourse Setting in Motion the Wheel of Dhamma”-Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta), it is the crucial recognition of the other as being the site for ethical action. The Buddha, above all, offered his teaching as a means by which others could overcome their suffering and pain. Buddhists who undertake the path outlined by the Buddha similarly seek to help others overcome the pain of Samsara. This perspective has become particularly identified with Mahayana Buddhism and the figure of the Bodhisattva. Here, at Sarnath, the gesture is one of compassion. Yet, this compassion is not to be confused with a shallow sentimentalism or a wallowing in the problems of others but is a compassion that flowers upon a stem of wisdom. The gesture of compassion enacted at Sarnath follows upon the enlightenment of Bodhgaya. Equally in the journey of the Buddhist practitioner compassion can only arise from wisdom. Compassion without the attendant wisdom is necessarily misguided and may have the effect of increasing rather than decreasing the pain of others. In the years following the Buddha’s final Nirvana Sarnath grew into a centre of Buddhist scholarship and art. Even today Sarnath continues to be a centre not only of pilgrimage but of Buddhist studies. At Sarnath we reflect upon the two-fold nature of the Buddha’s discourse: the teaching itself and the compassionate act of teaching others. Message and intention find a concordance at Samath that remains the leitmotif for the rest of the Buddha’s life. The Buddha’s life like the journey his followers embark upon is marked by finitude. The finitude of the Buddha’s life finds its culmination at the place known as Kusinara. It was here, at Kusinara, that the Buddha entered his final Nirvana. The pilgrimage or journey must end and the wanderers must finally rest like their teacher. However, the teaching itself remains inexhaustible and acts as a spur to practitioners to commence further journeys, further explorations of the Buddha’s teaching. At Kusinara the pilgrim will perhaps experience some of the sadness that the original followers of the Buddha experienced. The Buddha was a mortal and as a mortal he died. However, the teaching remained and remains crucial to each Buddhist’s journey. Ananda, you may think: ‘The Teacher’s instruction has ceased, now we have no teacher!’ But it should not be seen like this. Let the Dhamma and the discipline that I have taught and explained to you be your teacher after my passing. (Digha Nikaya 11:154).