The Tipitaka Chanting Ceremony in Bodh Gaya

Burmese Buddhists in the inaugural parade for the 20th International Tipitaka Chanting Ceremony in Bodh Gaya

We are all hardwired differently and our experiences shape us. People choose their belief systems in accordance with what resonates best with them. Some choose a religion with a single all-powerful god who prescribes the political hierarchy to be followed and what behavior is acceptable and what is not. Some choose a religion with many gods who teach the upside of virtue and who prescribe rituals for elevating the consciousness. Some belief systems do not include gods or avatars at all, though generally their founders are held in high esteem. Even not choosing a particular dogma is a choice. Whatever the choice, it appears necessary for mental balance to have some construct explaining the universe and our sense of reality.  

The founders of these theosophies and philosophies generally purport that the genesis of their belief system was attained through divine guidance. There is no good reason to doubt this. If you doubt the authenticity of its founders or leaders, find another belief system. Or craft your own. There is a growing sentiment in the zeitgeist that you create your own reality. If you choose to go with the flow, do exercise caution when considering a religion that purports to be the exclusive valid religion with the one and only god. That is where the divine message has been perverted. If it is not coming from a place of love, it can hardly be called divine. 

Buddhism began with an Indian prince, Prince Siddhartha. He lived a pampered life until one day in his twenties he slipped out of his gated community to see the world outside. Naturally, he was struck dumb seeing the pain and suffering all about. Possessing a caring nature, he vowed not to rest until he could figure out how to deal with all of this pain and suffering in the world. And so he set out on his journey to reconcile the irreconcilable, wandering and fasting and meditating. At last, as he was sitting under the bodhi tree here in Bodh Gaya, he felt the answer come to him. He followed this up with several weeks of continued meditation until he had an entire system of mental and physical discipline worked out, wherein people could escape suffering. This involved working toward spiritual purity, dissolving the illusions presented by the present reality and dissolving the boundaries between the material world and the ethereal timeless worlds. 

Chanting is a mechanism capable of transporting one into another consciousness. Oral storytelling is a way of preserving knowledge. At the Tipitaka Festival, monks and nuns from all over the world come together for a period of ten days to chant Buddhist scriptures on different subjects like love and compassion in the original Pali language. Twenty thousand have gathered here on the temple grounds surrounding the bodhi tree where Prince Siddhartha, now better known as the Buddha, had his first glimmer of enlightenment. Many here have set up delightful shrines in their personal space amidst the gorgeous flowers, the brilliant lotus lamps, the luminous golden Buddhist sculptures circling the temple and the stories of heroes engraved in the stonework of the 2500 year old temple. The grounds are spacious with huge old trees providing shade. There are three levels of walkways where one can perambulate around the temple amidst the chanters, the orange and gold marigolds, the lotus blossoms, and the monks and nuns wearing distinctive robes designating their particular sect,  all lovingly reading the dharma.  It is peaceful and beautiful.

I didn’t see anyone else taking it all in that way, but that was my m.o. since I don’t read Pali, and I wanted to get in there and feel the love. It worked well. Tonight I’ll read some of the suttas they are probably chanting, like the loving kindness discourse of the Metta Sutta: ‘Just as a mother would protect her child with her life, so one should cultivate a boundless heart toward all living beings.’ And I’ll go back tomorrow. I like being surrounded by gentle people and while obviously not everyone there is holy, most of them have one up on me in matters like cultivating boundless love, and I like it when they share their smiles with me.

These are offerings for sale by vendors outside the temple. Purple lotuses are also very popular. One takes them to the alter or places them somewhere meaningful on the way or simply hands them to the puja in charge as he knows where they could be used best. For example, it might be getting close to the time to bathe and change the murti’s and as fresh garland around his neck or petals at his feet might be the perfect touch. I couldn’t find a good picture of the temple and grounds that I could legally insert, but if you’re interested there are some out there for viewing. It’s the Mahabodhi Temple in Bodh Gaya, Bihar, India. Electronics aren’t allowed in the complex and it’s probably obvious from my posts that I don’t carry a separate camera. The temple is old, stone, very tall and pyramid-shaped. The grounds are extensive and laid out in a way that affords many lovely secluded spaces for contemplation. It looks particularly festive during this ceremony as everything is bedecked with flowers. That includes hundreds and hundreds of statues and carvings, walls, arbors, you name it, it is smothered with gorgeous, fragrant flowers. Inside the temple, the Buddha murti glows golden and the air sparkles. I’ve come to believe that both artists (think Michaelangelo’s David) and collective belief can charge not only an ambience, but even solid matter with energy.