With rays of sunshine drifting carelessly in the air, flowers blooming in fragrant abundance, the dazzling display set before our eyes is one of wonder and beauty to behold.
Surrounding the tree, the tree under which the Buddha himself attained Enlightenment, are golden streams of garland flowers, covering the entirety of the wall like a draped blanket of sweetly perfumed petals shining in the sunlight. It is a wall of pure gold, the light igniting them in a burst of warmth and luminance that is simply breathtaking. Crimson red roses seated in wreaths of green, an ocean of yellow and golden flowers that seem to smoothly echo out into space. They are soft to the touch, and sweet to the senses, like I have stumbled upon a long ago forgotten pathway leading to a secret garden. Beneath the tree there is incredible love in the air, prayers floating through the mist and fog like poetry, lifting gently away as the afternoon sets in with the warm sun dancing off the pillars of the great temple. As devotees pass by they place their heads on the stone which marks the sacred spot, their faces deep in concentration and devotion for this spot is like the direct link to the Buddha’s enlightened mind itself. Inside the Temple is housed the most incredible statue of Buddha, draped in golden robes and looking outwards with an astonishingly powerful gaze that is both awake yet deeply serene and compassionate. An overwhelming sensation of devotion swells up in me while gazing at it, and once again as I step into the sunlight once more, passing through the veils of colored petals and swaying flowers outside, to the great stone covered in gold leaf from years of passersby and visitors. This spot, this very spot is beyond powerful, a testament to the Dharma’s great power and a statement of peace and tranquility unlike anywhere else in the world. In Bodh Gaya there is a wall of pure gold, and if you gaze long enough upon it you can actually feel your heart start to glow.
Posted For: The Kagyu Monlam
