Wake up call was
at 4:30am and breakfast was at 5:00am. By 6am we left the hotel for Vultures' Peak.
Vultures' Peak
On the way to Vultures’ Peak, Chanh Hue requested to do
three steps one bow from the foot to the top of the hill. We chanted, took
refuge to Triple Gems, observed the five precepts and made our own vow for the
hair cutting ceremony. We meditated until a large group of Sri Lankan Buddhist
arrived. Fong and I bought some postcards. In a set of postcards, I found a
booklet of taboo postcards. I told Fong these were the most horrible stone
carvings I had ever seen. I destroyed the booklet when we got back to the
hotel.
On the way down, we visited Sariputra's Cave and Ananda’s
cave. In front of the Ananda, Thay TC said the large stone at the front
entrance was the stone which Devadatta used to harm Buddha. Thay TH bought me a
bag of Amla fruits. They tasted so nice. I missed all these tastes.
Thay TC also said
that when Buddha had looked down the rice fields from the top of Vultures Peak,
he took that as an inspiration when he designed the monk robes.
Monk’s robe
According to the Pali
tradition, six kinds of cloth are allowed for making the upper and outer robes:
plant fibres, cotton, silk, animal hair (e.g. wool, but not human), hemp, and a
mixture of some or all of them. The Buddha recommended that the robe design
should be cut in the pattern of the Magadha padi-fields.
Thay TC also talked about Prince
Ajatasatru’s story – King Bimbisara’s son. From Prince
Ajatasatru, we may learn how to repent on cause and effect; need to
create new good karmas to help our old bad karmas; need to know our own faults;
and take refuge to Triple Gems and observe five precepts.
We also visited the Bimbisara Jail where Prince Ajatasatru imprisoned his father; Jivakarama hospital
where Jivaka worked. He was the physician of Buddha’s time.
Nalanda University
Xuan Zang Memorial
We got back to our hotel for lunch. After lunch we visited
the Nalanda University and Xuan Zang’s memorial. It was my second time visiting
Xuan Zang Memorial and it was still very emotional. I had strong feelings about
this place. Xuan Zang is a monk who I admire very much. I thank him for all he
has done for Buddhism; I thank him for his beautiful translation in the Heart
Sutra; I thank him for setting a role model in courage, perseverance and
determination for others to follow; I admire him for his courage, perseverance
and determination; I admire his fearlessness; I admire him for all he had done
in Buddhism. How could someone deny his great work in Zen/Thien/Chan? I paid my
total respect and gratitude in front of the most Venerable Xuan Zang with my
wholehearted; I vow to have his courage, perseverance and determination on my
Dharma path.
We travelled from Rajgir to Bodhgaya. The bus trip shouldn’t
take too long; however, we took more than three hours to wait for the road to
clear as there was a car accident. There was one person killed and we waited
from 3pm till 6:17 pm in the middle of the road. We checked into our hotel, had
dinner and rested.
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