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Where were the earliest Buddhist pilgrimages?
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The most important places in Buddhism are located in the Indo-Gangetic Plain of southern Nepal and northern India. This is the area where Gautama Buddha was born, lived, and taught, and the main sites connected to his life are now important places of pilgrimage for both Buddhists and Hindus.
- Overview
- Ordination
- Bodhisattva vows
- Abhisheka
Within the first two centuries of the Buddha’s death, pilgrimage had already become an important component in the life of the Buddhist community. Throughout early Buddhist history there were at least four major pilgrimage centres—the place of the Buddha’s birth at Lumbini, the place of his enlightenment at Bodh Gaya, the Deer Park in Varanasi (Benares), where he supposedly preached his first sermon, and the village of Kushinara, which was recognized as the place of his parinibbana (final nirvana or final death).
During this period the place of the Buddha’s enlightenment at Bodh Gaya was the most important pilgrimage centre, and it remained so throughout much of Buddhist history. After the collapse of Buddhism in India, however, Bodh Gaya was taken over by Hindu groups and served as a Hindu shrine. In the late 20th century, Buddhist control was partially restored, and Bodh Gaya once again became the major Buddhist pilgrimage site.
During the post-Ashokan period, four other sites in northeastern India became preeminent pilgrimage sites. In addition to these eight primary sites in the Buddhist “homeland,” major pilgrimage centres have emerged in every region or country where Buddhism has been established. Many local temples have their own festivals associated with a relic enshrined there or an event in the life of a sacred figure. Some of these, such as the display of the tooth relic at Kandy, Sri Lanka, are occasions for great celebrations attracting many pilgrims. In many Buddhist countries famous mountains have become sacred sites that draw pilgrims from both near and far. In China, for example, four such mountain sites are especially important: Emei, Wutai, Putuo, and Jiuhua. Each is devoted to a different bodhisattva whose temples and monasteries are located on the mountainside. In many Buddhist regions there are pilgrimages that include stops at a whole series of sacred places. One of the most interesting of these is the Shikoku pilgrimage in Japan, which involves visits to 88 temples located along a route that extends for more than 700 miles (1,130 km).
Buddhist pilgrimages, like those in other religions, are undertaken for a wide range of reasons. For some Buddhists pilgrimage is a discipline that fosters spiritual development; for others it is the fulfillment of a vow made, for example, to facilitate recovery from an illness; and for others it is simply an occasion for travel and enjoyment. Whatever its motivations, pilgrimage remains one of the most important Buddhist practices.
Admission to the sangha involves two distinct acts: pabbajja (lower ordination), which consists of renunciation of secular life and acceptance of monastic life as a novice, and upasampada (higher ordination), official consecration as a monk. The evolution of the procedure is not entirely clear; in early times the two acts probably occurred at the same time. Subsequently, the Vinaya established that upasampada, or full acceptance into the monastic community, should not occur before the age of 20, which, if the pabbajja ceremony took place as early as age 8, would mean after 12 years of training. Ordination could not occur without the permission of the aspirant’s parents. The initial Pali formula was “Ehi bhikkhu,” “Come, O monk!”
The rite established in ancient Buddhism remains essentially the same in the Theravada tradition. To be accepted the postulant shaves his hair and beard and dons the yellow robes of the monk. He bows to the abbot or senior monk, to whom he makes his petition for admittance, and then seats himself with legs crossed and hands folded, pronouncing three times the formula of the Triple Refuge—“I take refuge in the Buddha, I take refuge in the dhamma, I take refuge in the sangha.” He repeats after the officiating monk the Ten Precepts and vows to observe them. Thereafter, in the presence of at least 10 monks (fewer in some cases), the postulant is questioned in detail by the abbot—as to the name of the master under whom he studied, whether he is free of faults and defects that would prevent his admission, and whether he has committed any infamous sins, is diseased, is mutilated, or is in debt. The abbot, when satisfied, thrice proposes acceptance of the petition; the chapter’s silence signifies consent. Nuns were once ordained in basically the same way, though the ordination of a nun required the presence of monks in order to be recognized as valid.
In Mahayana Buddhism new rituals were added to the ceremony of ordination prescribed by the Pali Vinaya. The declaration of the Triple Refuge is as central an assertion as ever, but special emphasis is placed on the candidate’s intention to achieve enlightenment and his undertaking of the vow to become a bodhisattva. Five monks are required for the...
The esoteric content of Vajrayana tradition requires a more complex consecration ceremony. Along with other ordination rites, preparatory study, and training in yoga, the Tantric neophyte receives abhisheka (Sanskrit: “sprinkling” of water). This initiation takes several forms, each of which has its own corresponding vidya (Sanskrit: “wisdom”), rit...
The four main holy sites of Buddhism refer to places associated with the most important events in the life of The Buddha: 1) Lumbini (southern Nepal), the place where The Buddha was born as Siddharta Gautma; 2) Bodh Gaya (160 miles from Varanasi, India) is where tradition says Buddha attainted spiritual enlightenment; 3) Sarnath (14 kilometers ...
Four main pilgrimage sites. Gautama Buddha is said to have identified four sites most worthy of pilgrimage for his followers, saying that they would produce a feeling of spiritual urgency. These are: [1] Bodh Gaya: (Bihar, India) is the site of the Bodhi tree, where the Buddha attained enlightenment; this is the most important place of pilgrimage.
Four Pilgrimage Sites of Buddhism. 1. Lumbini is situated at the foothill of the Himalayas in northern Nepal. This is the birthplace of Buddha. It was a custom that women would go to their parents?home to give birth. The Buddha’s mother queen Maya was on her way to her family home.
The earliest centres of Buddhist pilgrimages were the places associated with the life and Teachings of the great Master. These four places are Lumbini, Bodh Gaya, Sarnath and Kusinara. Lumbini, in what is now Nepal, is the birthplace of Gautama Buddha.
The four sacred sites are Lumbini where the Buddha was born, Bodh Gaya where the Buddha awakened to the unexcelled right self-awakening, Sarnath where the Buddha set rolling the unexcelled wheel of Dhamma, Kusinagara where the Buddha was totally unbound in the remainderless property of Unbinding.
