On April 7, PBS broadcast a two-hour documentary “Buddha” a journey through the life and times of the historical Buddha who lived in north eastern Indian two thousand five hundred years ago. The documentary is also an introduction to his teachings. One of the commentators extols the four sites of great importance for Buddhists and anyone interested in his teachings. The Buddha was born in Lumbini on the Nepal-India border, he found enlightenment at Bodh Gaya, gave his first teaching at Sarnath (near Varanasi) and died at Kushinigar.
Varanasi, River Ganges, India (© Janet Levine, 2007)
On a month-long journey to India and Nepal in 2007, I visited all four places and many others and can attest to the power of the Buddha’s presence, nowhere more powerfully (for me) than in Bodh Gaya in remote, desolate Bihar province.
At the same time as this PBS airing was receiving notice, I was teaching the timeless novel by Hermann Hesse “Siddartha” to two sections of high school juniors. In his novel Hesse follows the journey of a fictional Indian prince, Siddartha, and cleverly illumines for western readers some of Buddhism’s key teachings. I teach this book following on a unit on “Hamlet”, a precocious Western prince struggling with all the depression, anxiety and angst that causes so much suffering in the mind structures of the human condition as we understand it in the west. This Eastern prince searches for happiness, inner peace and enlightenment. He learns to trust his own inner teacher, the same voice inside himself that is heard throughout nature and governs the universal laws that keeps the earth on its axis and the great spiral of our cosmos swirling in limitless space. He teaches the “middle way” neither too tight nor too loose. These are eastern mind structures.
Throughout the “Siddartha” reading students kept an “ideas” journal; informal, personal responses to some of the ideas they are encountering for the first time. Reading these journals is rewarding. None more so than the student who wrote of understanding one’s destiny as being a path to greatness, of being arrogant enough to unleash that greatness into the world, of knowing that every human being is capable of finding that greatness inside oneself. Buddhism teaches that this greatness is called achieving buddhahood, reflecting into the world the radiant enlightenment the Buddha achieved under the bodhi tree at Bodh Gaya. Nelson Mandela famously quoted Marilyn Williamson
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
But the Buddha also taught that the greatness is not greatness at all but ordinariness, the ordinariness of a hot cup of tea on a frosty morning, washing the dishes, taking out the trash and seeing the moon rise. The ordinariness of the courage of getting out of bed every morning and doing what you do every day. The ordinariness of responding to a stranger’s smile. And most importantly the ordinariness of living in the present moment, of being aware to everyone and everything in every moment.
Fantastic post you’ve established here! The world broad web is filled with unsuitable authorship and I used to be grabbed by your clarity. Your determinations are exact and that i will directly subscribe for your rss feed stay a lot as date utilizing your up long term postings. Yes! I accept it, your publishing fashion is outstanding and i will now work harder on bettering mine.
The most influential page that I have read this month.
I am very thrilled you wrote this..
Vanessa
Great writing! I want to see a follow up on this topic…
Nestor
Great post! I wish you could follow up on this topic.
Davidoff 6000
Could be the GREATEST topic I have read this month 😀
It’s not that I wish to copy your website, but I really like the design. Could you tell me what template are you using? Or was it custom made?
Great post! May I want to see a follow up to this topic??
I like your way of writing! You should post more often…
Valuable info. Lucky me I found your site by accident, I bookmarked it.
This blog appears to recieve a great deal of visitors. How do you promote it? It offers a nice individual twist on things. I guess having something authentic or substantial to give info on is the most important factor.
I reckon something really special in this website …
I’d come to permit with you one this subject. Which is not something I typically do! I enjoy reading a post that will make people think. Also, thanks for allowing me to comment!
I also believe hence , perfectly indited post 😀
very fantastic details , thankyou for the post 😀
My cousin suggested this website and she was entirely proper hold up the amazing show results!
Simply wanna tell that this is very beneficial 😉
I think you mentioned some very interesting points , thanks for the article .
Thanks for helping out, good information .
Thanks a lot for the blog article.Thanks Again. Will read on…
Loving the info on this site, you have done outstanding job on the articles !
I’m not sure where you’re getting your info, but good topic. I needs to spend some time learning more or understanding more. Thanks for great info I was looking for this information for my mission.
My cousin recommended this blog and she was totally right keep up the fantastic work!
I’m often to blogging and i really admire your content. The article has actually peaks my interest. I’m going to bookmark your website and keep checking for brand spanking new information.
Really appreciate you sharing this blog article.Really thank you! Will read on…
Wow, amazing blog layout! How long have you been blogging for? you make blogging look easy
Thanks for another informative site. Where else could I get that type of information written in such an ideal way? I’ve a project that I am just now working on, and I have been on the look out for such information.
This is great! I think reading this, I loved every word. Seriously, keep posting the good information, bloggers like myself need it.
you will have a terrific weblog here! would you prefer to make some invite posts on my blog?
I appreciate you taking the time to publish this publish. It has been really beneficial to me certainly. Enjoy it.
Good thought. I like it. Thanks for posting
Deference to website author , some fantastic entropy …
Great job here. I definitely enjoyed what you had to say. Keep heading because you undoubtedly bring a new voice to this subject. Not many people would say what youve said and still make it interesting. Properly, at least Im interested. Cant wait to see extra of this from you.
I wanted to thank you for this great read!! I have you bookmarked to see fresh stuff you post.
Splendid, as a gentleman would say. Brilliant work on this writing. I sincerely adore it ;).
cool post . it is rank pretty high on google !
Took me time to learn all of the suggestions, but I really beloved the article. It proved to be Very useful to me and I’m optimistic to all the commenters here! It’s always good when you can’t solely be informed, but additionally entertained! I’m optimistic you had pleasurable penning this article.
Great post. I will be bookmarking and sharing it with my social networks.
Im impressed. I dont suppose Ive met anybody who is aware of as a lot about this topic as you do. Youre really properly informed and really intelligent. You wrote one thing that folks could perceive and made the subject intriguing for everyone. Really, nice blog youve obtained here.
Very efficiently written article. It will be useful to anyone who employess it, as well as me. Keep up the good work – can’r wait to read more posts.
Great job here. I definitely enjoyed what you had to say. Keep heading because you undoubtedly bring a new voice to this subject. Not many people would say what youve said and still make it interesting. Properly, at least Im interested. Cant wait to see extra of this from you.
I think you’ve produced many truly fascinating points. Not also lots of people would really mull it over the way you simply did.
Thank you for your article post.Thanks Again. Much obliged.
Couldn’t be written any better. Reading this post reminds me of my old room mate! He always kept talking about this. I will forward this article to him. Pretty sure he will have a good read. Thanks for sharing!
This is a interesting line of content, very nice article. Thanks for sharing this post, good way of bring this subject to discussion. Keep up the great work !
Can I just say what a reduction to seek out somebody who actually is aware of what theyre speaking about on the internet. You definitely know the right way to convey an issue to gentle and make it important. Extra folks have to learn this and understand this side of the story. I cant believe youre not more common since you positively have the gift.
That is a superb posting, I had been wondering whether I could use this write-up on my personal website, I will hyperlink it to your site though. If this is a problem remember to tell me and I will take it down at once
Thanks, I appreciate, this particular article is very worthile to read, We look forward to looking at more of your site.
Thank you, I had a hard time figuring out how get it right. I tried this and it works for me. Thanks again!
Aw, this was a very nice post. In concept I want to put in writing like this moreover – taking time and actual effort to make a very good article… but what can I say… I procrastinate alot and under no circumstances seem to get something done.