Pilgrimage in the Gompa – Eight Holy Places in One Day!
(IN-PERSON) Join us for a unique inner journey as we follow the Twelve Deeds of the Buddha by enacting a traditional pilgrimage, with prayers, offerings and sutras. Today is also First Wheeling-turning day, so the merits are greatly magnified! Pilgrimage is an essential practice in Buddhism, but many of us do not have the opportunity to travel. So on Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s advice, we accomplish this with a stress-free, home-pilgrimage right here in our own gompa!
We visit the eight great holy places of Buddhist pilgrimage, cycling through the 12 deeds of the Buddha. By visiting each of the mini-altars, making offerings and reciting sutras, we accumulate the same merit as if we were there in the actual places!
Discover the stories, pictures and events from the time of the Buddha, with archival photos, a sutra to match each place, and personal dedications from the group.
Eight Great Places of Buddhist Pilgrimage:
- Lumbini (birth)
- Bodhgaya (enlightenment)
- Sarnath (turning the wheel of Dharma)
- Rajgir (heart sutra!)
- Shravasti (monastic life)
- Sankashaya (Descent from Tushita)
- Nalanda (world’s first university)
- Kushinagar (passing into parinirvana)
This is a wonderful occasion to enjoy the company of fellow students, and practice in a leisurely manner, taking the essence of each destination. Pilgrimage is also a completion activity of the Discovering Buddhism course, and in this way we all have the opportunity to accomplish this with little difficulty!
Whether the pilgrim’s destination is the Potala in Bodhgaya or a Buddhist temple in Camp Hill, enlightenment is the goal. All the teachings of the Buddha aim to rescue beings from the ocean of suffering, and pilgrimage is a skilful means of bringing people to the feet of the Buddha. It is a way to accumulate merit and cultivate wisdom and awareness. Just seeing holy objects can awaken positive qualities of mind (it’s a little like divine advertising!)
“When the great, holy beings – buddhas, bodhisattvas and yogis – go on pilgrimage, they bless the place. And when ordinary people go there, they receive blessings from that place. So pilgrimage means to receive blessings from the holy places to inspire our mind to transform into the path.”
Lama Thubten Yeshe
Event Details
Donate to the Pilgrimage
Donations made to the sutras or on Buddhist Holy Days are especially powerful. Your contribution here will go towards offerings and holy objects.
Timetable
Today is a special Buddhist Holy Day, Buddha’s First Turning of the Wheel of Dharma, so any merit accumulated today is greatly magnified.
For this reason, even though it takes a full day to visit all eight places, you can join in at any time – come for the morning, drop in during the afternoon – whatever you can!
9.00 am – Motivation, Lumbini, Bodhgaya
11.00 am – Sarnath, Rajgir, Shravasti
1.30 pm – Sankashya, Nalanda
3.00 pm – Kushinagar, Dedications
What to Bring
- Your lunch!
- Snacks to offer and share
- Your spectacles (for reading the sutras)
