From Brahma to Buddha, Fall 2006

Primary Locations: Tibetan Communities & Culture of the Himalayas

Semester students watching the moon rise over the Himalayas in Ladakh

Ladakh

Few things could be lonelier than that landscape of storm-beaten rose-brush and rock, and yet I never felt alone. All round me, along the path, in the willow grove, by the stream, on and between the rocks, there were signs that others had passed the same way. Prayer flags shook out their yellow and red rags from the heart of a gully or from the tops of crags above me; stones arranged in half circles, in sacred letters…I came to the fork in the path and looked up. There, half a mile above me, was the monastery; there Go-Tsang was at last, high in its cradle of rock, with nothing but the wide, burning sky behind it.
--Andrew Harvey, “A Journey in Ladakh”

High on the Tibetan Plateau in India’s northern-most region is the former kingdom of Ladakh. Known as “Little Tibet”, Ladakh has been open to foreigners only since 1974. Prior to 1962, when the threat of Chinese invasion prompted the rapid construction of a road into the region, travel to Ladakh involved several weeks of difficult walking at high altitudes. Over the centuries, many teachers, nomads, traders, and pilgrims did make this journey over mountain passes, across vast plains and from one sparsely settled town to the next, most with ancient monasteries built into the cliffs above the villages. Because of the nearly impassable Himalayan ranges to the south and southwest, almost all of Ladakh’s cultural influences came from its neighbor in the other directions—Tibet. As you walk through some of the quiet side streets of Leh, Ladakh’s capital, it is easy to think that you’ve stepped back in time and are wandering through a traditional Tibetan town before the Chinese invasion. In fact, as many experienced travelers have noticed, Ladakh is one of the very few regions in the world where Tibetan Buddhism and all its cultural forms have flourished without interruption since introduced more than 1000 years ago. This continuity and endurance of a religious tradition and the people that support it, set in a landscape of austere and formidable beauty, help make Ladakh one of the world’s most magical destinations.

Nightly worship ceremony in Varanasi

Varanasi (Benares)

Banares is older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend, and looks twice as old of all of them put together. Mark Twain

Banaras is a magnificent city, rising from the western bank of the River Ganges, where the river takes a broad crescent sweep toward the north. There is little in the world to compare with the splendor of Banaras, seen from the river at dawn. The rays of the early-morning sun spread across the river and strike the high-banked face of this city, which Hindus call Kashi—the luminous, the City of Light. The temples and shrines, ashrams and pavilions that stretch along the river for over three miles are golden in the early morning. They rise majestic on the high riverbank and cast a deep reflection into the water of the Ganges. Long flights of stone steps, called ghats, reaching like roots into the river, bring thousands of worshippers down to the river to bathe at dawn. In the narrow lanes at the tops of these steps moves the unceasing earthly drama of life and death... But here, from the perspective of the river, there is a vision of transcendence and liberation…. Diana L. Eck, from Banaras, City of Light

In Varanasi (also known as Kashi or Banaras), our students have the opportunity to enjoy an intensely thriving city located above many of the most sacred ghats of the Ganges River. It is here where Hindu bathers such as Brahmins, sadhus or other yogis stir in the dawn's misty, incensed air to seek a ritual dip in the cherished Ganges. Varanasi is also a place where Jains, Muslims, Buddhists, Sikhs and other devoted worshippers have made their home and practiced their own forms of religion for centuries. It is amid this vivid, inspirational celebration of life and transformation that we immerse ourselves, live with families, and participate in service projects. In informal daily sessions, leaders in the community will also help us explore the history, religion, philosophy, arts, language, and politics that make Varanasi so vital. Here we will observe festive celebrations, as well as somber cremation ceremonies on the funeral pyres along the banks of the Ganges. Walking among the narrow cobblestone streets of the Old City, we can visit the most sacred Shiva temple in all of India. We will have the opportunity to watch traditional dances performed on the steps of a Hindu temple, attend a candlelight sitar and tabla concert and drink many cups of chai with inhabitants of this intriguing city.

Eleven kilometers away is the holy Buddhist city of Sarnath, where the Buddha delivered his first teaching after reaching enlightenment. A visitor to Sarnath can listen to Zen monastics chanting and drumming in the Japanese temple, hear monks offering Tibetan prayers and take a turn spinning prayer wheels at the Tibetan temple, and make visits to Chinese Buddhist and Thai Buddhist temples to witness examples of religious ritual and tradition from those cultures as well. Each of the Buddhist temples in Sarnath is constructed in the traditional style found in the host country that built the temple. Resident monks from all over Asia maintain temples in this holy city. Visiting other Buddhist pilgrimage sites in the region is possible on weekend excursions from Varanasi. Rajgir, where the Buddha gave sermons during the monsoon seasons and Nalanda, a center of Buddhist learning for over seven centuries and famed for its master teachers are both in this region. (In the seventh century, more than ten thousand Buddhist students and scholars conducted their studies in Nalanda.) We can also visit Vaishala and Kushinagar, where the Buddha gave his last sermon before passing into Nirvana.

Semester students enjoying a private audience with the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala

Dharamsala

From a modest monastery on the side of a hill, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the spiritual and political leader of the world’s Tibetan Buddhists, holds quiet court in the bustling town of Dharamsala. In this large village tucked inside the folds and valleys of the foothills of the Indian Himalayas, prayer wheels spin in the hands of the faithful while novice red-robed monks in training dart through the streets. Over the last 45 years, Tibetans have transformed this former British hill station into what is now known as “Little Lhasa.” Dharamsala is home to the Tibetan Government-in-Exile, as well as dozens of monasteries and important cultural organizations such as the Tibetan Library and Archives. With a vibrant mix of people conducting sacred daily rituals, bargaining in open markets and shops, and having lively discussions about the nature of emptiness or how best to reclaim Tibet from the Chinese, Dharamsala is an endlessly fascinating city. It is also where Tibetan traditions of medicine, astrology, law, religion, language, and the arts are preserved and nurtured. In short, Dharamsala is now the epicenter of the contemporary Tibetan world. During this portion of the program, we will request audiences with key religious leaders. In each of our past programs, students have received private audiences or attended public teachings with the Dalai Lama and have personally met the Karmapa, the young head of one of Tibetan Buddhism’s most important lineages, who escaped from Tibet in 2001. We also plan to attend an Introduction to Buddhism retreat at the Tushita Institute.

The Journey

We begin our program with a flight to New Delhi, the capital of India. After a few days of orientation in Delhi including exploring one of the most colorful markets in Asia, Chadni Chowk, India’s largest mosque, Jami Masjid, and the historic Red Fort of the old city, we will fly over the Himalayas onto the Tibetan Plateau and land in Leh, the capital of Ladakh. We will spend our first few days in Leh, acclimatizing to the altitude and getting oriented to the new region and culture. We will meet with local people working with NGOs on issues of sustainable development and cultural preservation and begin to develop our own understanding of the challenges Ladakh has been facing in recent decades. Here we will also start our Ladakhi language lessons, designed to be both practical and fun.

Next we will head to a traditional village within an hour of Leh where we will stay with Ladakhi families and continue our cultural orientation in a rural, traditional community. We will likely be helping with harvesting barley and other crops, milking cows and yaks, and learning and assisting with other components of daily life. Students will enjoy traditional meals with their families (usually breakfast and dinner), but will spend the bulk of each day with the group participating in visits, lectures, and discussions, to learn about culture, religion, politics, and environmental issues and a range of other topics.

We will also make excursions to a number of the nearby cultural sites and monasteries in the Leh Valley, exploring as far east as Hemis and as far west as Lamayuru. We will meet with the Thiksey Oracle, will visit the SECMOL school which is educating the next generation about sustainable agriculture, energy production, and media issues, and will help with other projects as requested by local organizations.

At the conclusion of this phase of the program we will make presentations about our ISPs to our group, enjoy a farewell gathering with our families, and then will travel even further into rural Ladakh. Here, we begin an 8-10 day trek which will take us over 17,000 foot passes to remote villages and unsettled areas populated by nomadic yak herding families living in traditional yurts. The trek brings us through some of the most beautiful parts of the Himalayas and may provide views of several of the tallest mountains in the world. Because of the isolation of the region, we will feel as though we are stepping back into time as we camp in fields along the trail or stay in small villages along our route.

The sacred Golden Temple at Amritsar

After the trek, we will fly from Leh to New Delhi. We will take the train north to the Punjab region of India where we will spend a couple days in Amritsar, staying with Sikh pilgrims at the sacred Golden Temple, doing volunteer service work in the kitchens with pilgrims there, visiting the Jallianwalabagh, (the Amritsar Massacre Site--view the movie "Gandhi" to learn more), while learning about the challenges this region has faced due to partition and the complicated demographics in the area. One evening we will go to the India/Pakistan border at Wagah and witness the flag-lowering ceremony where pomp and circumstance mix with nationalistic cheers to create a nightly atmosphere similar to a soccer championship match.

Next we will catch the morning commuter train to Pathenkot, and then connect to a local bus for the several hour ride to Dharamsala, the home of the "Tibetan Government-in-Exile. As guests of this community, we will live with contemporary Tibetan families, meet Tibetan doctors, teachers, and political prisoners, and learn something of these Himalayan people who have bravely persevered as refugees and maintained their cultural identity for the past 45 years in Exile. A weekend excursion to Tso Pema to visit an important pilgrimage center associated with Guru Rinpoche who brought Buddhism to Tibet in the 7th century will be another adventure during our time in Dharamsala. During this portion of the program, we will also request audiences with religious leaders including the Dalai Lama and the Karmapa, the young head of one of Tibetan Buddhism’s most important lineages, who escaped from Tibet in 2001. In Dharamsala we also hope to attend an Introduction to Buddhism retreat at the Tushita Meditation Centre.

In Dharamsala ISP options include studying Tibetan massage, learning Reiki or Yoga, receiving musical training, learning Tibetan Thangka painting, teaching English to newly arrived refugees, learning Tibetan or Indian cooking or volunteering at a children’s school. Conducting research with refugees or other segments of the population is another ISP option to pursue.

After concluding our stay among the foothills and mountains of northern India, we will travel south and east to the Indian plains. We will continue our journey in Varanasi where we will have two weeks to explore what is considered by many to be the earthly abode of Lord Shiva and the most sacred Hindu city in the world. Here we will have the opportunity to learn about life on the Ganges Plain: to live with Hindu families, to learn and practice conversational Hindi language, and meet with social and religious leaders in the community who will help us understand issues such as the caste system, Muslim/Hindu unity and stresses, traditional Ayuvedic medicine, Hindu art, and religious art and ritual from Hindu, Buddhist, and Islamic traditions. Here, we will view temple and mosque architecture, walk along the ghats to observe the intense activity along the riverbanks, and enjoy boat rides on the Ganges. On the banks of the river, students will witness a variety of religious practices where people perform daily rituals. In Varanasi, ISP opportunities include working with children at a Street Children’s Shelter and School, taking yoga or traditional dance instruction, receiving lessons in the classical music traditions, researching religious practice in the city, or studying intensive Hindi language.

Before leaving Varanasi, we will make a day trip to Sarnath, where the Buddha gave his first sermon on the Four Noble Truths. Then we will retrace his footsteps and travel to Bodh Gaya, where he is believed to have attained enlightenment by meditating under a bodhi tree 2,500 years ago. We will visit the Mahabodhi temple and several other temples and monasteries in Bodh Gaya. We then begin to make our way back to Delhi, but en route, stop in Agra to visit one of the world’s most famous architectural achievements: the Taj Mahal as well as the ancient city of Fatehpur Sikri.

The final days of the program will be coordinated with the students selecting the destination and determining the itinerary. Previous groups have chosen to end the semester with visits to the desert of Rajasthan or with an excursion to the holy Hindu cities of Rishikesh and Hardiwar near the mouth of the Ganges River.

Our program concludes with a couple of free days in New Delhi and a farewell banquet before we board the plane to return home to the United States.

We highly recommend reading previous Brahma to Buddha semester blogs to get a good feel for this program.