Following in the Buddha’s Footsteps
Stefan Mang
Several months ago we introduced you to the Nekhor project (click here to read the previous blog entry). The primary mission of Nekhor, which means "pilgrimage" Tibetan (literally, "circling the sacred"), is to connect today’s practitioners with the sacred sites of the great Buddhist masters of the past. With this goal in mind, we are delighted to share with you our latest addition to the Nekhor app and website: the Eight Great Sacred Sites of the Buddha.
For Buddhists there is none superior to Buddha Shakyamuni. Luckily for us, Buddha Shakyamuni, or Siddhartha, did not achieve buddhahood through practicing in an unimaginable pure land beyond the reach of our ordinary human experience. He was born, lived, and died right here on Earth. During his time here, he practiced and taught on the same soil we all share. This means we have the opportunity to experience first-hand the blessings of the Buddha, through actually going to the places that marked Siddhartha’s path to the supreme realisation that liberates from all suffering. On top of attaining this realisation himself, the Buddha taught this liberating path to others, at sites accessible to this date; nevertheless, it is still up to us to take the journey.
Following in the footsteps of Buddha Shakyamuni, we invite you to embark on a journey through the eight most important places related to the life of the Buddha:
1. Lumbini, where the Buddha was born.
2. Bodh Gaya, where the Buddha awakened.
3. Sarnath, where the unsurpassed wheel of the Dharma was turned by the Buddha.
4. Kushinagar, where the Buddha attained complete nirvana.
5. Vaishali, where the Buddha was offered honey by a monkey.
6. Rajagriha, where the Buddha tamed a raging elephant.
7. Shravasti, where the Buddha displayed the Twin Miracle.
8. Samkashya, where the Buddha descended from the Heaven of the Thirty-Three.
Beginning with Buddha Shakyamuni, from whom all streams of Buddhism in our modern age have flowed, and Guru Padmasambhava, the forefather of Tibetan Buddhism, the intrepid spiritual seeker can now journey through South Asia and explore the physical landscape that is the literal foundation of the Dharma using our website and the new Nekhor mobile app.
🔎To find the app, just search “Nekhor” in your device’s app store (available in both the Apple and Google App stores), and download it to your phone or tablet. May it become a trusted companion to your journey!
As Nekhor develops, we aspire to include even more sacred sites associated with such authentic masters. For more information on the Nekhor project, please visit our website at nekhor.org.
Stefan Mang, a Rigpa student since 2004, studied Buddhist philosophy and literary Tibetan in 2010 at Rigpa Shedra East in Nepal. From 2011 until 2018 he studied at the Rangjung Yeshe Institute in Kathmandu, where he completed his BA and MA degrees. He works with Rigpa Translations, Lhasey Lotsawa Translations, their Nekhor project and 84000.
☟SCROLL to the bottom of the page to share your comments.
