Travels with Two Buddhas: Parinirvana

  Walking in Buddha's Footsteps in Kushinigar, India
Thursday, December 14, 2006

In a plain room dominated by a reclining gilded Buddha, two Buddha statues and I sat quietly in the corner while a group of Thai monks and laypeople encircled the gilded Buddha and began to pray and sing. Some pressed gold leaf paper onto the Buddha, contributing a bit to Buddha's glow. After praying, they carefully placed a large saffron robe on the Buddha.

Reclining Buddha

This was the parinirvana temple marking the location where Buddha left this samsaric existence at the age of 80. Today, temples, a few small tourist hotels, and a town of 25,000 people--Kushinigar--surrounds the site. In town, I ate at the local food stalls on the sides of the asphalt road and at a small cafe. At the cafe, I looked at their menu.  The first thing they were serving was "Snakes."  Wait a minute...no, they meant "Snacks." 

Little and Big Buddhas

Buddha's Parinirvana

Back in 483 B.C.E. the area was a Sal Forest, in which Buddha gave his final discourse, the Mahaparinirvana Sutra. Buddha said: "... if  you perceive things truly, you will become free from attachment, separated from them, you will indeed be liberated. I have well crossed the watery waste of existence. I abide in bliss, having transcended suffering, therefore I am devoid of unending desire, I have eliminated attachment and gained Liberation. There is no old age, sickness or death for me, my life is forever without end. I proceed burning bright like a flame. You must not think that I shall cease to exist."

Assaji, High Priest of the Japan-Sri Lanka Temple

Next to the Parinirvana site, I stayed at the peaceful Japan-Sri Lanka Temple Guest House, where Assaji, a high priest from Sri Lanka, greeted me and provided me with a room. Assaji took great pride in his landscaping work and his guesthouse, which he designed himself. He showed me pictures from before he arrived. Before, the landscape was barren. Now, he had created a lush refuge complete with a place for weary folks to stay. He was soft-spoken and kind, taking pleasure in being exact with everything from the rooftop solar water heaters to measuring geometric plantings around the temple.

Japan-Sri Lanka Temple Interior

At night, I retired into my guest room and read Old Path White Clouds, a biography of the Buddha's life.  I also contemplated many things, including the two Buddha statues:
 
Traveling with two Buddha statues to the land of the Buddha creates some confusion--wasn't there just one Buddha?  What if I take a liking to one statue more than the other?  Aren't they all supposed to be equal.  Aren't we all supposed to be equal.  One of the Buddhas for example, has a blotchy face and a nick on his chest, and the other has a big nose, like me.  One of these statues would be for me, the other for my teacher.  Who would get which one?  Does it matter, depending on my motivation?  Despite the blotches, nicks and big nose, I figure they're both the same, equals, deep down inside. 

I should have bought a really dumpy Buddha just to drive home the point in my mind.
Down the road from the Japanese-Sri Lanka Temple was the Ramabhar Stupa, that may mark the location where Buddha was cremated. His relict remains were sent to his pilgrimage sites and enshrined in stupas, some perhaps within the Ramabhar. I encircled the brick stupa, which was in disrepair after thousands of years.

Kushinigar was my first destination in India, the land of the moustache and the nose ring. I crossed the border in Sonali, staying there for the night in the Baba Guesthouse. I ate a meal of street food and retired to my room. Soon, however, fireworks beckoned me to look outside--a wedding procession filled the street one story below. I walked into the street and watched.

Indian Wedding

Soon, however, I was invited into the ceremony and was dancing with all the relatives and congratulating the bride and groom, king and queen for the night. Drums and double reed Nagaswarams charmed everyone with their beats and melodies. Relatives threw Rupee bills during the dances as boys ran to find them amongst the dancing feet. Surrounding the dancers were men and women carrying fluorescent lights atop their heads--human flashlights with sore necks--marking the arrival of the wedding with lights. Welcome to India!

From Sonali, I took a couple of buses to Kushinagar, stopping in Gorakhpur along the way on a rainy and cloudy December day. The bus passed sugar cane fields, brick factories, farmers selling produce, small villages, and thousands upon thousands of people. Leaving Kushinagar two days later, I retraced these steps, this time on a warm and sunny day, heading for Varanasi.