Welcome to the Land of Enlightenment

With my head hanging out the side of the rickshaw, I saw a wide, tree-lined road, acres and acres of rice paddies, and no one coming the opposite direction. I breathed. It smelled like green plants and rain. Hello, Bodh Gaya. No wonder Buddha attained enlightenment here.

I've just finished a week in Varanasi, possibly one of the darker sides of my experience so far, and am enjoying the serenity of the country setting and sacred space here. Varanasi, with its tangled alleys, filthy river, and aggressive touts, was difficult to appreciate. I chanced to find a friend in a clothing shop who liked discussing politics and another at the city's main ghat who used a very powerful Shiva mantra to bless my family and told me to come sit at his step anytime, but aside from that it was difficult to connect with people. (A ghat is a spot on the Ganges River with steps down to the water.) The smell of smoke from the cremation ghat next to our hotel still clings to my clothes, but that and a few bead necklaces are the only physical reminders left of that rather haunting venture.

In contrast, in Bodh Gaya Liann, Jill, and I walked to the Bodhi tree and had a long conversation with a brown-robed monk from Cambodia and his mother. The principles of Buddhism I am learning here have a beautiful simplicity, and the peace I feel around people who live lives of devotion and sacrifice fills me with optimism. There is something to be said for physical control, mental concentration, quiet speaking, and gentleness.