Gaya is a city in the Indian state of Bihar one of the poorest states in India, yet so magical. The Mahabodhi Stupa the Center of it all a sacred spot for Buddhists and many people. People from all around the world come to do puja, circumambulate, meditate at the Mahabodhi Stupa. We all come for solace. A person gains merits in this life and future lives when such activity is done in a powerful spot.
As I stepped off my flight from Delhi to Gaya, I felt a surge of emotions and almost serene state of being. It’s as if I was told here you must come, arriving to the reality of this powerful place. Finding the sacred amongst it all – it’s real life all thrown in front of us, the sacred Mahabodhi stupa, temples, monasteries, beggars, the noise, the smell, the garbage and pollution yet so magical.
In Western countries everything is prim and proper all covered up in wrapping paper. In Bodhgaya it’s full display, everything is shown to us nothing is hidden. I believe this is India full display, at the same time so serene amongst the chaos.
The following was dictated by Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche, to Venerable Sarah Thresher at Root Institute, February 4, 2014:
“Bodhgaya is not only the place where the Buddha showed the holy deed of achieving enlightenment under the bodhi tree but also where all the great pandits such as Nagarjuna and Asanga practised and made so many prayers. Also, many great enlightened beings and yogis from Tibet, China, Nepal and other countries came here and made so many prayers to benefit us sentient beings so there would be unbelievable, unbelievable opportunity for us to purify negative karma and accumulate merit as quickly as possible.
That is why it is so important to come to Bodhgaya to practice; to circumambulate and make prayers under the tree. Even if you don’t know much Dharma, try to circumambulate as much as possible. It makes your life so special; there is unbelievable purification, and it collects so much merit to quickly be free from the oceans of samsaric suffering and achieve enlightenment.
[The Mahabodhi Stupa] is so precious that if you don’t get to circumambulate it for even one day, it’s worse than losing skies filled with wish-granting jewels or billions of dollars.”
When we come to a place such as Mahabodhi Temple we come into stillness, we experience the vastness and stillness all together.
It is like Mary Oliver’s Poem called: Today, the last line of the poem:
“Stillness. One of the doors into the temple.” This poem and line remind me of the Mahabodhi Stupa, the grandeur of it, it’s as if our inner compass is knocking letting us in into our very selves.
Date: January 1, 2025 ~ Mareika Muller
