Rude Awakenings - Forest Sangha Publications

^0 F I R S T M O O N 06smell greasy: plenty of soot everywhere, daubings of red paint, anemphasis on giving money and getting good luck. On the wide walkwayat the front of the temple, a Tibetan monk performed a puja forsome Tibetan visitors; the little flames of butter lamps trembled withthe slightest breeze. I envied them their devotion.The old ruins, the gompa and the vihara, lay in the centre of a grovethat ran north-south for a kilometre or more. Right by the ruins weresome little hillocks, grassed-over spoilage heaps from twentiethcenturyexcavations. To the south there was a new monument to worldpeace, just outside the Lumbini Development Project complex. Nothingmuch was happening there except a rather languid strike. Inside thebuildings it was dusty; a young assistant showed us the impressive plansand drawings. The paper was curling and developing brown patches.The way north was more uplifting: beyond the central area I couldsee a flame flickering at the head of a long, wide tree-lined avenue. Itwas the Flame of Eternal Peace, kept continually alight in its stone dish.It seemed more quiet and reflective up there away from the tour-partyzone. The avenue of trees lined a canal that proceeded north to the endof the site, passing by the recently completed shell of the Cultural Centre.The project, like many developments in poor countries, must havesprung up with enthusiasm but wilted as funds waned and leadershipgot dissipated.Our stay in Lumbini spread over six days. I spent most of my timemeditating and looking for a sense of wonder. The great Buddhistemperor Ashoka made a pilgrimage here and left an inscription, a verymatter-of-fact one compared to the edicts that occupy his other pillars.It just says that he visited the place and, “because the Lord was bornhere, the village of Lumbini is exempted from tax and is required to payonly one eighth of the produce.” Good news for somebody twenty-twocenturies ago, but such an announcement hardly sends a shiver of religiousawe through the marrow. The unadorned glossy pillar wasimpressive, I assure myself. They mined the stone from the Varanasi4 6