Pilgrimage to Buddhist sites in
India & Nepal Jan- Feb 2023
This January and February, 21 people, mostly from Ipswich but also from sanghas in Colchester, Bury St Edmunds, and further afield will be traveling to India to walk in the footsteps of The Buddha.
You are warmly invited to share the experience through this page and/or the PolarSteps app
We hope to share some pictures and a few words every day via the PolarSteps app. You can link to the website by clicking the adjacent image, or to receive notifications on your phone, download the app and follow The Patient Pilgrims.
Mahaparinibbana Sutta
“There are four places, Ananda, that a pious person should visit and look upon with feelings of reverence. What are the four?
“‘Here the Tathagata was born!’ [Lumbini] This, Ananda, is a place that a pious person should visit and look upon with feelings of reverence.
“‘Here the Tathagata became fully enlightened in unsurpassed, supreme Enlightenment!’ [Bodhgaya] This, Ananda, is a place that a pious person should visit and look upon with feelings of reverence.
“‘Here the Tathagata set rolling the unexcelled Wheel of the Dhamma!’ [Sarnath] This, Ananda, is a place that a pious person should visit and look upon with feelings of reverence.
“‘Here the Tathagata passed away into the state of Nibbana in which no element of clinging remains!’ [Kushinagar] This, Ananda, is a place that a pious person should visit and look upon with feelings of reverence.
“These, Ananda, are the four places that a pious person should visit and look upon with feelings of reverence. And truly there will come to these places, Ananda, pious bhikkhus and bhikkhunis, laymen and laywomen, reflecting: ‘Here the Tathagata was born! Here the Tathagata became fully enlightened in unsurpassed, supreme Enlightenment! Here the Tathagata set rolling the unexcelled Wheel of the Dhamma! Here the Tathagata passed away into the state of Nibbana in which no element of clinging remains!’”
