India Pilgrimage & sangha offering

Wed 2-Jan-2019: The adventure has begun, time to say goodbye to Sydney, for now!

Thurs 3-Jan-2019: Total flight time of 18 hours, 3 hours transfer, 24 hours duration and touched down in New Delhi. The sight, the sound, the smell...incredible India!

Fri 4-Jan-2019: The first domestic flight to Bangalore and a 4 hours bus ride to Mysore. The Indian daily life continues to unfold.

Sat 5-Jan-2019: First stop, Sera Monastery. Rows and rows of over a 1,000 Tibetan monks in red robes chanting in unison...what a sight, and sound!

Sun 6-Jan-2019: A unique opportunity and the first for the temple group to have made offering to the nuns at the Namdroling Monastery. A truly privileged experience!

Mon 7 & Tues 8 - Jan-2019: A key responsibility successfully completed to our satisfaction (offering to over 4,000 monks and nuns of the 6,000 target, with the remainder scheduled to be made at Bodh Gaya), now time to do some sightseeing! First stop, one of the world oldest city, Varanasi. Then to the famous Ganges River and the first of the four Buddhist Holy Sites, Deer Park in Sarnath.

Weds 9 & Thurs 10 - Jan-2019: The holiest site for Buddhists: Mahabodhi Temple in Bodh Gaya, and the second of our four holy Buddhist sites. It was here that the Buddha attained enlightenment. Incredibly fascinating to see the huge amount of devotees from all branches of Buddhism gathered at one place to pay respect to the Buddha. A great opportunity to make the last offering to 2,000 monks to reach the 6,000 target.

Fri 11-Jan-2019: Nalanda University, one of the oldest University of the world and a destination for the famous Chinese Buddhist monk Xuanzang, who travelled, from China, by foot, to study and returned to spread Buddhism in China. Also visted Veluvana Bamboo Grove, first monastery given to the Buddha by King Bimbisāra.

Sat 12-Jan-2019: Early morning (5AM) walk to the Vulture Peak (Gadhrakuta Mountain) where the Buddha gave his teaching on the Heart Sutra and the Lotus Sutra

Sun 13-Jan-2019: An emotional visit to the Parinirvana Stupa where the Buddha died and entered Nirvana. It is also the third of our four holy Buddhist sites

Mon 14 & Tue 15 -Jan-2019: Crossed the Indian border to Nepal and got to see the bustling scene at the border market. Visited Lumbini to see the Maya Devi Temple where Queen Maya gave birth to Prince Siddartha, a birthplace of Buddhism and the last of the four holy Buddhist sites.

Wed 16-Jan-2019: Came back to India and visited the Jetavana Temple. It was the place where the Buddha gave the majority of his teachings, having passed at Jetavana nineteen out of 45 vassas, more than in any other monastery.

Thur 17-Jan-2019: Reached Lucknow, just a stopover on the way to Agra. For comparison, Lucknow is about 200 times smaller but with a population of over 5 times larger than Tasmania, woww!

Fri 18-Jan-2019: Visited Agra Fort and Taj Mahal before final destination to New Delhi. They are two of the world leading architectural and historical heritage masterpieces, and one of the world seven wonders. It was incredible to see the extend to which people go in building monuments to express their emotions!

Sat 19-Jan-2019: Reaching the final stop in India at New Delhi before flying to Taiwan, but not before visiting Gandhi Memorial, India Gate and the Lotus Temple.

Sun 20-Jan-2019 to Wed 23-Jan-2019: Final destination in Taiwan before going back to Sydney. More visits to awe-inspiring temples built in the Mahayana tradition with heavy influence from China. Last, but not least, shopping, shopping and more shopping for gifts, especially the well-known and absolutely delicious Taiwanese biscuits.

And that was the end of our journey to make offering and pay homage to the Buddha at the places where He was born, lived, taught and passed away, leaving an enduring legacy of teaching for a more compassionate world!