Letter from Venerable Shangpa Rinpoche
Dear Friends and Devotees of the Dharma,
I wish to share with you some explanation about the coming pilgrimage to the holy land of The Lord Buddha.
According to the Dharma, the Buddha appearing in the universe is rare chance. It is even rarer for the Buddha to teach the Dharma. We are in this fortunate time where the Buddha not only appeared but also gave teachings that suits people of various mentalities.
Since the Buddha gave teachings, countless people have applied his teachings and gained realizations. To this very day, many good practitioners are still doing well. Due to degeneration impact, it is hard to find a favourable condition to inspire and engage to the right path of practice. Therefore one way is to explore the life of the Buddha and places where the Buddha did his great activities. This is a way to inspire and develop the inner devotion towards the Dharma.
The Buddha said “After I enter into parinirvana, the devotees will visit and recollect the four places of mine, namely where I was born, where I became enlightened, where I first turned the wheel of Dharma and finally where I enter into parinirvana. Those who visit, who do circumambulation, who do prostration, I want to tell you that whoever come with faith will accumulate merits and may they experience the joy of upper realms.”
In various Sutras and Tantras, the Buddha mentioned the greatness of visiting the holy land of the Buddha. It is also said that the four major holy sites of the Buddha are for all past, present Shakyamuni Buddha and future Buddhas who have yet to arrive. All the Buddhas will perform similar great acts and therefore the land is blessed for all Buddhas to come. In the Tantra it also mentioned that our body channel, wind and bindu correspond with outer world. Thus, holy places play an important part in balancing our outer and inner energies. They positively affect our inner body to invoke clarity and peaceful mind. That’s why many great practitioners practice at certain special places and gain realization.
In today’s fast moving world, we are rushing and competing with each other on material gains, status etc and we hardly have time to achieve truly peaceful mind and spiritual development. We simply do not have time for anything. Everything is fast moving, fast food, instant 3-in-1 beverages, instant noodles, quick meals where we gobble down the food during breaks etc. We adopt such forms of life so much that even in dharma practice, we are also looking for fast and short methods to enlightenment. Training mind does not work with this way. It is taming, peace making and wisdom gaining to realize the truth. It needs many favourable conditions and commitment and follow up to achieve it.
Exploration of the holy places of the Buddha is a great start to plant the enlightened seed and to nurture it with devotion through understanding the great qualities of the Buddha. Therefore, I plan this holy land tour to benefit many pilgrims and myself with similar mentalities like me. In addition, because our Lamas who are currently in retreat will complete their 3 years 3 months seclusion in Sarangkot Pokhara, I have timed the pilgrimage so that they may come along as well. It is common tradition after a retreat that they should visit holy places to experience the great blessings from the Buddha and Bodhisattvas. It is my sincere wish to bring them to visit the Buddha’s holy land to pay homage and to give thanks. This can be a great imprint on their spiritual lives.
I have visited the four holy sites many times. With today’s modern road and transport, it is easily accessible. In the past, there were several holy places that could not be covered due the lack of time and off the beaten track. Places such as Shravasti, Sankasya and Vaishali are not often visted yet they are landmarks of great importance of the Buddha. Besides Kapilvastu, the Buddha had lived in Shravasti for 29 years, one of the longest period of time that he had spent. According to historian records and dharma scriptures, the Buddha spent around 20 summer retreats in Shravasti.
Sankasya is the furthest destination amongst the Buddha’s holy places. It is an important site where the Buddha asceneded to the 33 realms of God for 3 months to liberate his mother’s rebirth as well as to benefit many gods. Finally he decended from heaven to earth at very same this place. The celestial gods placed a divine stairways from the heavens to earth for the Buddha to magnificently decend back to the human world. This auspicious event was witnessed by thousands of people including devotees and Sangha.
Vaishali is another important place of Buddha, here Buddha give his third teachings or turned the third wheel of Dharma. It is also the place when later part of Buddha on the way to kushinagar he visit there and accepted invitation of Amrapali’s meal. This is the place where Buddha mentioned that tathagata can live aions of time if requested but due to the mara’s force Anada did not hear and did not requested so quickly Mara requested Buddha to enter into parinirvana. From there Buddha accepted their request and he promised after three month he will enter into parinirvana. From here he move to Kushinagar then entered parinirana.
Kesaria is the place when Siddhartha came out from the palace and then here he cut his hair. This place seems have a ruined stupa that from early Buddha Kashyapa so Siddhartha cut his hair in front of the stupa. From there he wore the monks robe and seek spiritual path.
I don’t need to share much about other holy places here because they are very well-known. During our trip, I will elaborate in as great detail as possible based on my knowledge of history and Dharma.
Since all these places are blessed by the Buddha, our prayers and development of positive thoughts can be very powerful in these wonderful sites as compared to ordinary places. Hence, we intend to perform prayers, make lamp offerings and meritorious activities when visiting the holy grounds. This journey may be very different from normal sightseeing tours that you may be familiar with where comfort and attractions primarily sought after. Many of the holy places today are left with ruins and there may not be suitable places for us to sit and meditate. The hotels and food may also be simple. Some parts of the road journey are of great distance. With all these factors, this pilgrimage is more a form of spitirual practice rather then your average travel tours. There you can practice simplicity, patience, generosity as well as wisdom to analyse the truth.
Our assistants are trying their best to plan with our appointed travel agency to make it as comfortable as possible. The travel agents are working hard to fulfil all our requirements for the pilgrimage. Nonetheless, there may be some discomfort as facilities are limited in these places. We have to understand all these factors and allow the true spiritual journey to unfold in our hearts as we journey through these holy sites.
The tour related enquiry and booking can be done through our assistants by [email protected]
Best wishes,
Shangpa Rinpoche
I wish to share with you some explanation about the coming pilgrimage to the holy land of The Lord Buddha.
According to the Dharma, the Buddha appearing in the universe is rare chance. It is even rarer for the Buddha to teach the Dharma. We are in this fortunate time where the Buddha not only appeared but also gave teachings that suits people of various mentalities.
Since the Buddha gave teachings, countless people have applied his teachings and gained realizations. To this very day, many good practitioners are still doing well. Due to degeneration impact, it is hard to find a favourable condition to inspire and engage to the right path of practice. Therefore one way is to explore the life of the Buddha and places where the Buddha did his great activities. This is a way to inspire and develop the inner devotion towards the Dharma.
The Buddha said “After I enter into parinirvana, the devotees will visit and recollect the four places of mine, namely where I was born, where I became enlightened, where I first turned the wheel of Dharma and finally where I enter into parinirvana. Those who visit, who do circumambulation, who do prostration, I want to tell you that whoever come with faith will accumulate merits and may they experience the joy of upper realms.”
In various Sutras and Tantras, the Buddha mentioned the greatness of visiting the holy land of the Buddha. It is also said that the four major holy sites of the Buddha are for all past, present Shakyamuni Buddha and future Buddhas who have yet to arrive. All the Buddhas will perform similar great acts and therefore the land is blessed for all Buddhas to come. In the Tantra it also mentioned that our body channel, wind and bindu correspond with outer world. Thus, holy places play an important part in balancing our outer and inner energies. They positively affect our inner body to invoke clarity and peaceful mind. That’s why many great practitioners practice at certain special places and gain realization.
In today’s fast moving world, we are rushing and competing with each other on material gains, status etc and we hardly have time to achieve truly peaceful mind and spiritual development. We simply do not have time for anything. Everything is fast moving, fast food, instant 3-in-1 beverages, instant noodles, quick meals where we gobble down the food during breaks etc. We adopt such forms of life so much that even in dharma practice, we are also looking for fast and short methods to enlightenment. Training mind does not work with this way. It is taming, peace making and wisdom gaining to realize the truth. It needs many favourable conditions and commitment and follow up to achieve it.
Exploration of the holy places of the Buddha is a great start to plant the enlightened seed and to nurture it with devotion through understanding the great qualities of the Buddha. Therefore, I plan this holy land tour to benefit many pilgrims and myself with similar mentalities like me. In addition, because our Lamas who are currently in retreat will complete their 3 years 3 months seclusion in Sarangkot Pokhara, I have timed the pilgrimage so that they may come along as well. It is common tradition after a retreat that they should visit holy places to experience the great blessings from the Buddha and Bodhisattvas. It is my sincere wish to bring them to visit the Buddha’s holy land to pay homage and to give thanks. This can be a great imprint on their spiritual lives.
I have visited the four holy sites many times. With today’s modern road and transport, it is easily accessible. In the past, there were several holy places that could not be covered due the lack of time and off the beaten track. Places such as Shravasti, Sankasya and Vaishali are not often visted yet they are landmarks of great importance of the Buddha. Besides Kapilvastu, the Buddha had lived in Shravasti for 29 years, one of the longest period of time that he had spent. According to historian records and dharma scriptures, the Buddha spent around 20 summer retreats in Shravasti.
Sankasya is the furthest destination amongst the Buddha’s holy places. It is an important site where the Buddha asceneded to the 33 realms of God for 3 months to liberate his mother’s rebirth as well as to benefit many gods. Finally he decended from heaven to earth at very same this place. The celestial gods placed a divine stairways from the heavens to earth for the Buddha to magnificently decend back to the human world. This auspicious event was witnessed by thousands of people including devotees and Sangha.
Vaishali is another important place of Buddha, here Buddha give his third teachings or turned the third wheel of Dharma. It is also the place when later part of Buddha on the way to kushinagar he visit there and accepted invitation of Amrapali’s meal. This is the place where Buddha mentioned that tathagata can live aions of time if requested but due to the mara’s force Anada did not hear and did not requested so quickly Mara requested Buddha to enter into parinirvana. From there Buddha accepted their request and he promised after three month he will enter into parinirvana. From here he move to Kushinagar then entered parinirana.
Kesaria is the place when Siddhartha came out from the palace and then here he cut his hair. This place seems have a ruined stupa that from early Buddha Kashyapa so Siddhartha cut his hair in front of the stupa. From there he wore the monks robe and seek spiritual path.
I don’t need to share much about other holy places here because they are very well-known. During our trip, I will elaborate in as great detail as possible based on my knowledge of history and Dharma.
Since all these places are blessed by the Buddha, our prayers and development of positive thoughts can be very powerful in these wonderful sites as compared to ordinary places. Hence, we intend to perform prayers, make lamp offerings and meritorious activities when visiting the holy grounds. This journey may be very different from normal sightseeing tours that you may be familiar with where comfort and attractions primarily sought after. Many of the holy places today are left with ruins and there may not be suitable places for us to sit and meditate. The hotels and food may also be simple. Some parts of the road journey are of great distance. With all these factors, this pilgrimage is more a form of spitirual practice rather then your average travel tours. There you can practice simplicity, patience, generosity as well as wisdom to analyse the truth.
Our assistants are trying their best to plan with our appointed travel agency to make it as comfortable as possible. The travel agents are working hard to fulfil all our requirements for the pilgrimage. Nonetheless, there may be some discomfort as facilities are limited in these places. We have to understand all these factors and allow the true spiritual journey to unfold in our hearts as we journey through these holy sites.
The tour related enquiry and booking can be done through our assistants by [email protected]
Best wishes,
Shangpa Rinpoche