The Most Important Buddhist Sites

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As a student that is just beginning to learn and discover all that encompasses Buddhism, it is easy to get wrapped up in the facts and to never truly feel connected to the religion. I believe that the best way to fully understand something is to experience it first hand. Throughout this semester, I have learned the values, history, teachings, and practices of Buddhism but I have been lacking the opportunity to see and experience any of these things first hand. While there are many important Buddhist sites scattered throughout India and Nepal, I would choose four as amongst the most significant to arrange a tour to for myself and for my fellow classmates. This tour would allow us to view sites where Buddha himself lived and where Buddhism grew its roots. I would first arrange to visit Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha. The next stop of the tour would be Bodhgaya, which is the location of where the Buddha reached enlightenment underneath the Bodhi tree. The third holy site on the tour would be to Deer Park located in Sarnath, and the fourth stop on the tour would be to where the Buddha reached parinirvana in Kushinara. In the Parinibanna sutra, the Buddha declared these four spots to be holy locations of future pilgrimages. These four spots are significant to the Buddhist religion and its followers as well as being significant to me on a personal level.

Lumbini, located in Nepal, is the location of where the Buddha was born as Siddhartha Guatama. Maya Devi, the Buddha’s mother, was traveling to see her parents when she paused in the garden at Lumbini underneath a sal tree. She suddenly felt labor pains, grasped a drooping tree branch and gave birth to the Siddhartha Guatama who would grow to become t...

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... located in India and is where Buddha meditated underneath the Bodhi tree until he had found the truth and had become enlightened. Once the Buddha realized the suffering that was happening all around him, he went on a journey to discover a way to eliminate all suffering for mankind. After many failed attempts, Buddha sat down with the mindset that he was not going to move until he reached enlightenment. It is said that Buddha proclaimed, “Here on this seat my body may shrivel up, my skin, my bones, my flesh may dissolve, but my body will not move from this seat until I have attained Enlightenment...” (“Bodh Gaya Buddhism,” n.d.).

Works Cited

"Bodh Gaya Buddhism, Guide to Buddhism in Bodh Gaya,Buddhist Pilgrimage in Bodh Gaya India." Bodh Gaya Buddhism, Guide to Buddhism in Bodh Gaya,Buddhist Pilgrimage in Bodh Gaya India. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2013.

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