Morning call was at 6 am but we woke up at 5:30am. We had
breakfast at 6:30am. I wondered what could be happen today. After breakfast we
had a team meeting to summarise our India trip. Thay TH sat there alone to let
people comment on him. This reminded me of the communist. They put Thay TH on
the table. I felt sorry that I led him into this situation. When it came to my
turn to speak up, I thanked him for his support throughout the trip. Thay TH
apologised for whatever he had caused the group unhappy or over spending. He
listened attentively to our comments. On his face, there wasn’t any unhappy facial
expression even though some of the comments were harsh or blamed him for being
guilty. My heart bled. I began to wonder what was the
meaning of pilgrimage. To me pilgrimage is in our heart, how we treat others,
how we reflect in our mind, how to pilgrimage in our mind, pilgrimage is the
transformation of our mind as well as our body to evolve into loving-kindness
and compassion beings.
Today I had learnt a big lesson from Thay TH, that is- toleration
and acceptance. I had seen a live Maitreya Buddha who was sitting in front of
us. I have much to learn from him.
After the meeting, we went to the India National Museum
again to pay respect to Buddha’s relics. This time my emotion was even
stronger. I sobbed for what Buddha had predicted (The Surangama Sutra) the end state
of the Dharma period had become reality. I sobbed for the teacher that I
thought he would be the one, but he disappointed me. When my eye caught onto
Thay TH’s serene face, I could still see hope in Buddhism.
We had lunch at the Ashok Country Resort for a buffet lunch.
After lunch we proceeded to the airport. Thay TH sent us off. I wished him good
health and happiness on the Dharma path.
Fong said let’s leave the negative things in India and we
shall move on.
Thank you for posting your pilgrimage tour diary. It helps me a great deal to know the places as sometimes they are not quite the same as in the itinary. At times, I felt lost. I did not experience strong feeling in most places. Perhaps most places look the same to me. I am happy as now I have been to Lumbini, Bodhgaya, Varanasi and Kushinagar.
ReplyDeleteI am also grateful for Thay TH's patience and blessing that I have not experience before. The other important thing that I have learnt is tolerance. However tolerance can be seen in two different ways: able to tolerate, mindful of other's view and let go; tolerate in the mean time but not let go in our mind.
ReplyDelete佛法二字的表面看來，是否指示我們應該勤於拂去麈垢，洗滌心靈嗎?
ReplyDeleteI need to practice more about compassion and tolerance. I am grateful and respect how Thay HC shows a good example to us.
You are absolutely correct.
DeleteMy experience of tolerance compares to Thay HC's is 小巫見大巫，Perhaps able to learn to accept is my next step to progress.
ReplyDeleteThanks again for sharing!
Same here........
DeleteOh, some how I type Thay HC instead of Thay TH. My apology.
ReplyDelete