That day we went to Sarnath, where Lord Buddha first taught, and began what was to become a regular

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We met in Varanasi: a group of 18, mostly from the US and Australia, with one New Zealander and our Nepali guide, Amber Tamang – Amber and I had traveled together on pilgrimage several times before, once with a group in 2008 and once just with his family and a few friends. Ven. Chökyi rental cars in anchorage from Tsechen Ling Center and I had traveled together from San Francisco, and arrived a few days early at the Surya Hotel in order to recover a bit from jet lag. I had stayed at the Surya with Amber in early 2008, a wonderful old hotel with a lovely courtyard and dining room, and a charming, helpful staff.
Most of the pilgrims had not traveled inIndia or Nepal before, and some had not traveled outside of the US and Europe. Well, we had our first crash course in "life in India" when we took a bicycle rickshaw ride from our hotel, in Varanasi Cantonment, in the north side of the city, all the way across to the banks of the Ganges, "Ganga-ji" as she is respectfully called. It was so intense: our drivers laboring to pull two of us per rickshaw through the mad traffic of cars, motorbikes, bicycles, rickshaws, buses, trucks, cows, people…  and the most earsplitting rental cars in anchorage cacophony of sound, horns, music, rental cars in anchorage dogs, people shouting… I realized that you just had to let go completely, rental cars in anchorage in order to survive the experience – it was actually really good for us, as holding on to any semblance of control or reaction was sheer torture. We disembarked from our rickshaws doubled over with laughter… I likened the experience to "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride."
The next morning was much more peaceful, as we were able to take the bus almost all the way down to the Ganges and then walk the rest of the way, for our pre-dawn boat ride. We clambered aboard something that looked like a giant rowboat. Two of the pilgrims had brought the ashes of deceased relatives with them to offer to the Ganges, so after some discussion rental cars in anchorage with our guides, a Brahmin was hired, who clambered aboard with us, after first making a detour to buy some marigolds and other accoutrements for the requisite ritual. "Our Brahmin" had the most noble bearing, and the looks of a Bollywood movie star, and took his role very seriously, putting much effort into the pujas, chanting with a beautiful voice.
We had also all bought small "boats," leaves filled with flowers and candles, which we set alight and let drift away on the water. As the Brahmin chanted and the ashes were spread on the water (and some tears flowed) rental cars in anchorage I felt that our group had truly bonded, and it was the beginning rental cars in anchorage of the Magical Mystery Tour, a name given to the pilgrimage following that event.
That day we went to Sarnath, where Lord Buddha first taught, and began what was to become a regular practice of reciting prayers and doing meditations that Lama Zopa Rinpoche had recommended to be done at the various holy sites. Some extremely impish and clever local boys befriended us, and sold us cucumbers to feed to the deer (the place, after all, being called "Deer Park" and with still quite a large herd in the adjoining wildlife refuge). They had a way of calling the deer over to the fence of the enclosure that sounded rental cars in anchorage like nothing so much as Plácido Domingo warming up for La Traviata .
We also visited the Alice Project School, begun by my old friend Valentino Giacomin, and were incredibly impressed by the level of the education, the manners and deportment of the students, and the hospitality we were shown.
After a few days in Varanasi, we headed rental cars in anchorage to Bodhgaya, where the Magical Mystery Tour continued in earnest. Of course, there is little on this planet more magical than the energy of the Mahabodhi Temple and the Bodhi tree… and there was more to come. Everywhere we turned, it seemed, we ran into holy beings. One afternoon, we were planning to visit a few of the more beautiful temples. We started with Tergar Institute, Mingyur Rinpoche's monastery. When we arrived, we found red carpets rolled out – not thinking rental cars in anchorage much of it, we continued into the shrine room, admiring the amazing paintings and statues and decorations. On the way out, I noticed on of the mala sellers that I know from the area outside the Mahabodhi Temple: rental cars in anchorage "Rajesh, what are you doing here??!?" "I heard you were coming," he joked. I was still puzzled, until we came out to the road and saw two huge lines of monks, nuns, and lay devotees lined up with khatags… His Holiness Karmapa rental cars in anchorage was due to arrive any minute. Well, that was it for the rest of our temple tour, and Rajesh sent one of his assistants off on a motorbike to get khatags for us, as we had not come prepared for such an auspicious occasion.
As we stood waiting for His Holiness to arrive, the pilgrims were able to enjoy the typical Tibetan scene of waiting for a high lama: the lines of monks and nuns holding khatags, rental cars in anchorage the senior monks with traditional bowed and fringed hats and horns and holding a huge parasol, waiting to greet His Holiness with the most traditional pomp and ceremony. It was a delightful scene. rental cars in anchorage His Holiness finally arrived, and of course we only barely caught a glimpse of him through the windshield of the jeep as he drove slowly past, but it was still worth the wait, just for the experience.
Later that day, Amber ran into one of his old university professors (Amber has a Master's degree rental cars in anchorage in Nepalese and Buddhist history and culture from Tribhuvan University in Kathmandu). The professor was here teaching rental cars in anchorage Tibetan as a part of Antioch University's semester abroad, a program run by the American university. The program had invited Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche, a very highly respected Kagyu lama based in Kathmandu, to give Buddhist instruction to the students, and we were invited by Amber's professor rental cars in anchorage to attend the first lecture that night.
When we arrived at the Burmese Vihara, where the Antioch program rental cars in anchorage was being held, Amber's professor immediately took us upstairs to a locked shrine room to show us relics of the Buddha which had been offered to the monastery by a previous king of Burma many years ago. Afterwards, we attended Rinpoche's lecture, and all the pilgrims were captivated by his down-to-earth and accessible style. Ven. Chökyi, our friend Ven. Yarphel (formerly John Jackson of Vajrapani) and myself were the only monastics present, so after the lecture, Rinpoche came over to greet us and ask where we were from.
When I mentioned that I was leading a pilgrimage, Rinpoche asked "Will you be seeing Lama Zopa Rinpoche in Kopan? Please give him my greetings – we are old friends! We were at the Young Lama's Home School together." This was a program run in the early 60's for young reincarnate lamas in Dalhousie, in northern India.
I had told the pilgrims to bring their khatags in case there was a chance to offer them and receive a blessing from Rinpoche. rental cars in anchorage This chance came when Rinpoche paused to talk to some students outside. I introduced the group as the pilgrims from our tour, and Rinpoche said, "Do you have a minute? I want to give you something for the pilgrims!" We waited for about 10 minutes, and an attendant came down with a stack of one of Rinpoche's books, saying, "Sorry for the delay, Rinpoche wanted to sign them for you!" There was a collective "Ahhh!" of gratitude and appreciation from the pilgrims.
From Bodhgaya, we continued on to Vaishali, Kesariya, and Kushinagar, and at every place, enjoyed wonderful rental cars in anchorage food and hospitality. At Kushinagar, we had another chance to view Lord Buddha's relics, this time in a magnificent pagoda at the Thai monastery there, and had a lovely puja at the stupa marking the site of Lord Buddha's cremation as night fell, and hundreds of Sri Lankan pilgrims (who we kept running into at many of the places on our tour) lit candles all around the stupa. Another magical moment on the Magical Mystery Tour.
On from there to Sravasti, where we spent two days doing pujas in Prince Jeta's Grove, where Lord Buddha spent 25 rains retreats and taught so many sutras. There we also enjoyed a tour of a beautiful temple site built by a Thai laywoman who had dedicated herself to the Dharma after enjoying a career as a hairdresser! Her disciples were building a massive stupa, to be completed and consecrated next year, and the temple, built entirely of white marble imported from Rajasthan, was stunning.
And at all the pilgrimage places, I was struck rental cars in anchorage again, as I was the first time I did this pilgrimage in 2008, at how inspiring it was to actually be at the places where Lord Buddha meditated, taught, walked… On the first pilgrimage, the experience was so much more moving and inspiring than I even expected it to be, and this time I felt the same sense of awe and gratitude and inspiration. As several of the other pilgrims who practiced in the Tibetan tradition commented, "In our tradition, we focus so much on our gurus, and the lineage lamas, and don't really connect to Shakyamuni Buddha so much. It is wonderful to have the opportunity to really feel a connection to him, by hearing the stories and visiting the places where he taught."
After Sravasti we headed for the Nepalese border, along a back road that went through extremely small villages. Amber was a bit concerned that we wouldn't rental cars in anchorage be able to find any place suitable to eat, but he and the bus driver, Tiwari-ji, remembered a place… We turned off the main road and headed onto smaller and smaller dirt roads, and finally rental cars in anchorage a narrow track lined by trees… only to