Daughter of Wisdom

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As I was wakling towards the entrance of the Mahabodhi Temple, the place of Gautama Buddha’s attainment of nirvana (Enlightenment), in Bodh Gaya (बोधगया), in the Indian state of Bihar, I saw this Tibetan Buddhist nun who was sitting along the road.
She seemed to be tired probably because of a long journey in order to attempt the International Tipitaka Chanting Ceremony and she was resting there for a while.
A young Indian girl was helping her.
I could see that she is not an ordinary woman, I believe that she is highly educated as she is an elder nun and, as I could listen that she kept on repeating mantras, I felt that she was preserved in the sincere and dedicated practice of spiritual teachings which are the heart of Tibetan culture.

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The Greatest Good

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“Seek health, the greatest blessing; follow vertue.
Listen to people; read good books and learn.
Be truthful; break the chain of sad attachment.
These six paths lead to the greatest good”.
(Jatakas 84).

This Tibetan lady saw me taking a few pictures at the entrance of the Mahabodhi Temple, the place of Gautama Buddha’s attainment of nirvana (Enlightenment), in Bodh Gaya (बोधगया), in the Indian state of Bihar and she came to me smiling and asked me to take her portrait.
It was during the International Tipitaka Chanting Ceremony days.

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Attention is living

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“Attention is living; inattention is dying.
The attentive never stop; the inattentive are dead already”.
(Dhammapada 21)

This is one more portrait of a Tibetan monk met during the International Tipitaka Chanting Ceremony, under the Bodhi Tree which is behind the Mahabodhi Temple, the place of Gautama Buddha’s attainment of nirvana (Enlightenment), in Bodh Gaya (बोधगया), in the Indian state of Bihar.

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Words of Silence

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In Buddhism, the descriptions of silence and allowing the mind to become silent are implied as a feature of spiritual enlightenment.

I took this picture in Bodh Gaya (बोधगया), in the Indian state of Bihar, during the International Tipitaka Chanting Ceremony which will end the 10th of December .
This is the place of Gautama Buddha’s attainment of nirvana (Enlightenment).
However it seems that beneath the Bodhi tree silence is no longer the absence of speech, those Tibetan nuns were in the middle of a real conversation and several people were walking nearby while singing mantras.
Later as I was leaving the temple I heard ” The Sound Of Silence” by Simon And Garfunkel playing from a little music shop and I was smiling while remembering the words written on the blue board of this image.

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All That We Are

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“All that we are is the result of what we have thought.
The mind is everything.
What we think we become.”

(Prince Gautama Siddharta – The Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, 563-483 B.C.)

I often come on Sundays to Sarnath in order to enjoy shanti (peace) away from the noisy traffic of varanasi (Benaras).

Once I saw this Tibetan monk who was meditating in front of the Bodhi Tree which is a sacred place for the Buddhists as it originated from the sapling of the Sri Lankan Bodhi tree, which is also a branch of the original Bodhi tree (Bodh Gaya) under which the Buddha attained enlightenment in 528 BCE.

He was deep in thoughts and I don’t think that he noticed me.
I tought that his huge sunglasses could launch a trend…

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Almost reaching Nirvana

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One Sunday in Sarnath, a group of Tibetan monks ( two women and two men), were enjoying the sunset in front of the ruins of what was once emperor Ashoka’s palace, at a few meters away from the tree where Lord Buddha delivered his sermon to five disciples.

A moment of bliss…

This is an extract from Nirvana by Sri Aurobindo:
“Nirvana”
Only the illimitable Permanent
Is here. A Peace stupendous, featureless, still.
Replaces all, – what once was I, in It
A silent unnamed emptiness content
Either to fade in the Unknowable
Or thrill with the luminous seas of the Infinite.

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A Midnight Winter Dream had me in its Spell

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Woke up on a good day and the world was wonderful
A midnight winter dream had me in its spell.

I dreamt about two monks visiting Sarnath
They sat under a tree nearby Lord Buddha’s stuppa.

They told me of the Beauty hidden in our foreheads,
They told me of the ugliness we show instead.

And when we put a foot wrong do we learn from all the pain

After midnight we sat up half the night
And they began to tell me what it was all for

I woke up in the jungle they had gone I don’t know where
Don’t remember much at all but their words were echoing
A midnight winter dream and then wake again…

(Very much inspired by the lyrics from “Midnight Summer’s Dream” by THE STRANGLERS)
I took this picture on Chrismas eve last December, it was just before sunset in Sarnath near Benaras.

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