Saravasti, India - 5pm
September 26, 2007at 8:33 AM
Just arrived here which is a place buddha is said to have performed many miracles. Sorry for delay in this post but technology hasn't been that available. Just spent last few days in nepal visiting lumbini which as birthplace of buddha. Beautiful spot with gardens all around and area is surrounded by temples erected by numerous foreign countries. Outside of temple numerous people are selling trinkets as is the case at every spot. But one table that struck me was a man was selling buddhist things as well as crucifixes. Its a telling sign of the universality of certain truths. I went to lumbini after traveling many small towns in india including bodhgaya which was the place of buddha's enlightenment. Fantastic temple. Got there at night as crescent moon rose over temple on breezy night. You could here sound of monks chanting in the temple. Beautiful. One thing I was unprepared for on this trip was the humanity one sees along the way. People just trying to live each day and feed their families and live right. People don't have days off in rural india. They work sunrise to sunset and barely make it through the day. But they are very happy with the limited things they have. On this spiritual pilgramage I have come to learn that one can't touch God unless one touches and is touched by human beings. That is the only way faith gets inside of us and in our hearts.
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11 Comments:
My previous travels to various underdeveloped countries demonstrated the same qualities of the people as you see in your travels. Their life was so simple as compared to ours in the U.S., but yet so content. Working each day was no huge hassle, but just a given of life. Our country was once like this.
By Anonymous, At September 26, 2007 8:53 AM
thank you for sharing your journey...when we stand like curious children before the beauty and humanity around us, we add truth to the world. greetings to you from austin, ma chara.
By tracy, At September 27, 2007 11:24 AM
The Greener Side digs your journey, digs the grace with which you are reaching out with gentle affection, truth and courage to add light to the world. We just sent out a note to our 8,000 myspace friends to check out LiveGentle.com...from our neighborhood to yours, my friend...paz.
By The Greener Side, At September 27, 2007 12:04 PM
sounds amazing pop. wish i could be there w/ you on your journey. but then i guess being alone on this trip has its own merit. it seems like it has been more fulfilling than you could've imagined. so enjoy, be merry and breathe in the world as it was when god made it. come back to us safe dad.
By daniel, At September 28, 2007 10:47 PM
I just read about your journey in the Washington Post amid the stories of IEDs and world turmoil. It was just the thing I needed. I wish you well. Our world is troubled but there is much good and beauty out there to behold. I see it daily in my second grade classroom where we are are always trying to temper our selfish impulses with kinder gestures.
By marypat, At September 30, 2007 10:52 AM
Readers of these blogs will enjoy the book A MEETING BY THE RIVER by Christopher Isherwood.
Mr. Dowd, please contact me to sit for portraits by Mr. Isherwood's life partner, Don Bachardy.
David Koslow
By koslow, At September 30, 2007 5:58 PM
I will pray for you safe trip. I would love to do what you have taken on. I hope you find the spiritual guidance to get through this journey.
I will also pray that when your journey is done and you come home to the US, we too will have some universality of certain truths.
That just rang a bell with me.
Be safe:)
By marinemomof3, At September 30, 2007 8:47 PM
Hello
I am originally from India, living now in the US. You have a very telling comment about people in rural India. You say "They work sunrise to sunset and barely make it through the day. But they are very happy with the limited things they have. "
If you go to the big cities such as Mumbai or Delhi as you probably have, you see what the pursuit of material pleasures and unbridled western capitalism has wrought. People are stressed, and no longer have that inner peace you seem to detect in the rural folk in India.
This satisfaction with one’s lot at a gross level and an inner peace at a subtler level, arises in my opinion out of the Hindu culture and the concept therein of karma coupled with not hankering after material wealth far exceeding one's basic needs. In short a repudiation of the "greed is good" philosophy that we espouse here in the west.
There is an effort by evangelical Christian leaders in the US such as Pat Robertson to mass convert Hindus to Christianity - Harvesting of souls they call it. There is a target of 100 Million conversions over the next decade or so. This will catastrophically alter the millennia old culture of India as has already been proven in the North Eastern States of Mizoram and Tripura where mass conversions have made Christianity the dominant religion.
While I am not opposed to anyone converting to another religion of their own volition out of a process of inquiry and (hopefully) self-evolution, these conversions are largely the result of material inducements and in many cases coercion. India's spirit and culture is largely born out of its majority Hindu religion that preaches tolerance and multiple ways to reach enlightenment or God as opposed to the single "my way" set forth by the Abrahamic religions of the middle-east of which Christianity is one. All the religions that originated in India of which Sanathana Dharma (what we know as Hinduism), Buddhism and Jainism are the most well known, have a basic tenet of tolerance (including of other religions) non-violent and do not seek to proselytize unlike Christianity and Islam. This is why (what is modern day) India is the only great civilization never to have invaded another civilization for territory or for proselytization.
India has suffered many invasions from the times of Alexander of Macedonia to the Persians to the hordes from modern day Afghanistan to the Mughals and the British, and has essentially retained its unique character and nature because of the unifying fabric that its Hindu background provides. I fear that the invasion that Pat Robertson and his ilk with their war of “soul harvesting” will do to India what the invasions of yore failed to achieve, i.e. to destroy it as a unified, gentle, peaceful, pluralistic, democratic, stable political and social entity.
I would invite you to discover these truths about the great religions of India and how large scale conversions from Hinduism would irreversibly and catastrophically alter the gentle, peaceful and tolerant nature of Indian society. This is what has made it possible for people such as you to go there of your own volition and embark on a voyage of self-discovery and finding that inner peace that we so lack in contemporary life.
By hsiyer, At October 1, 2007 12:18 PM
Hello
I am originally from India, living now in the US. You have a very telling comment about people in rural India. You say "They work sunrise to sunset and barely make it through the day. But they are very happy with the limited things they have. "
If you go to the big cities such as Mumbai or Delhi as you probably have, you see what the pursuit of material pleasures and unbridled western capitalism has wrought. People are stressed, and no longer have that inner peace you seem to detect in the rural folk in India.
This satisfaction with one’s lot at a gross level and an inner peace at a subtler level, arises in my opinion out of the Hindu culture and the concept therein of karma coupled with not hankering after material wealth far exceeding one's basic needs. In short a repudiation of the "greed is good" philosophy that we espouse here in the west.
There is an effort by evangelical Christian leaders in the US such as Pat Robertson to mass convert Hindus to Christianity - Harvesting of souls they call it. There is a target of 100 Million conversions over the next decade or so. This will catastrophically alter the millennia old culture of India as has already been proven in the North Eastern States of Mizoram and Tripura where mass conversions have made Christianity the dominant religion.
While I am not opposed to anyone converting to another religion of their own volition out of a process of inquiry and (hopefully) self-evolution, these conversions are largely the result of material inducements and in many cases coercion. India's spirit and culture is largely born out of its majority Hindu religion that preaches tolerance and multiple ways to reach enlightenment or God as opposed to the single "my way" set forth by the Abrahamic religions of the middle-east of which Christianity is one. All the religions that originated in India of which Sanathana Dharma (what we know as Hinduism), Buddhism and Jainism are the most well known, have a basic tenet of tolerance (including of other religions) non-violent and do not seek to proselytize unlike Christianity and Islam. This is why (what is modern day) India is the only great civilization never to have invaded another civilization for territory or for proselytization.
India has suffered many invasions from the times of Alexander of Macedonia to the Persians to the hordes from modern day Afghanistan to the Mughals and the British, and has essentially retained its unique character and nature because of the unifying fabric that its Hindu background provides. I fear that the invasion that Pat Robertson and his ilk with their war of “soul harvesting” will do to India what the invasions of yore failed to achieve, i.e. to destroy it as a unified, gentle, peaceful, pluralistic, democratic, stable political and social entity.
I would invite you to discover these truths about the great religions of India and how large scale conversions from Hinduism would irreversibly and catastrophically alter the gentle, peaceful and tolerant nature of Indian society. This is what has made it possible for people such as you to go there of your own volition and embark on a voyage of self-discovery and finding that inner peace that we so lack in contemporary life.
By hsiyer, At October 1, 2007 12:19 PM
dear friend, i heard about you by PAZ from THE GREENER SIDE. thank you for sharing these insights. in this musing, i especially appreciate the note about the lifestyle of these people..their appreciation for life. here, some people live in the same house and don't speak to each other for days. some have a car for every family member and waste so much..still cannot have enough to be considered of worth..to be validated. material riches do not fulfill a spirit starving for love and validation.my son visited urguay. he said'mama, you should see how hard it is for some of these people to live. they drive a donkey cart around and sort through other peoples garbage all day just to feed their families. but every morning they have a cup of tea together and talk with each other about things that matter.and laugh and cry together. they care about each other, mom.i want to go back there to live.'sometimes we're so busy struggling to provide what we think people want and fail to provide them with what they and we really need.we put our thoughts into all kinds of fancy words..when the one we're most afraid of would be enough..love.. god bless you for sharing your wisdom and positive experiences with others. peace and blessings. cc
By carolyn collins, At October 2, 2007 12:34 PM
I hope you have an amazing and fulfilling journey Matthew John. The way you have chosen to live your life and use your influence is inspirational. Take care and best wishes.
SS
By Anonymous, At October 8, 2007 8:56 PM
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