Much has changed on our planet since the time the Buddha walked here. Yet, when we visit these sites sacred to the Buddhist tradition, we can imagine ourselves in those ancient times. The more we know about the Buddha and his teachings, the more fully we can open our hearts to the vibrant energy of enlightenment alive at these places of pilgrimage. And, the more the traveler knows about these sacred sites, the more readily the heart will open to their blessings. When we gather at sacred sites to invoke and honor through prayer, meditation, and offerings, we clear the way for compassion and enlightened awareness to manifest in our world. This volume seeks to locate each site, chronicle historical events associated with it, describe the features that a pilgrim would find there, and indicate how the site figured in the transmission of the Dharma. Through citings from the scriptures, journals of early pilgrims, and archaeological reports it conveys the physical reality of the Buddha in place and time, and the continued significance of these holy places. Focusing first on the Eight Great Places of Pilgrimage, the contents then guide us throughout the South Asian sub-continent: the Heartland of the Dharma with its major universities, the Central Valleys, Western India, the Far Northwest, the South, and the Eastern Kingdom. Viewed with the mind of a tourist, the holy places of the Buddha can be interesting, even fascinating, but for the serious student their significance operates at a deeper level. For those who cultivate an attitude of respect and appreciation, pilgrimage can be a powerful and richly rewarding practice. Seeing the extent of the Buddhist civilization that once existed, and how completely it has vanished, is a potent reminder of impermanence. And an invitation to protect and preserve the wisdom of Dharma for the future.
Tarthang Tulku Rinpoche is a traditionally trained teacher and author in the Nyingma lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. Born in 1935 in Golok, eastern Tibet, Rinpoche studied with many of the greatest Tibetan Buddhist masters of the twentieth century. After leaving Tibet to exile in India, Tarthang Tulku taught from 1962 to 1968 at Sanskrit University in Varanasi where he also established one of the first printing presses to print sacred Tibetan texts. In 1968 Rinpoche became the first lama of the Nyingma lineage to establish residence in the United States and immediately began creating a mandala of organizations to actualize his long-range vision of preserving the ancient teachings of the Buddha and transmitting them to the modern world. He is the author of more than two dozen books, including Gesture of Balance; Time, Space, and Knowledge-A New Vision of Reality; Kum Nye Tibetan Yoga; Skillful Means, Revelations of Mind, and Caring, and has supervised the publication of many important Buddhist texts.
