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suggested that I go on pilgrimage as a practice every boy who gave him Kusa grass. Thay asked me to gather
year and invite people to join me so that they, too, can the village children of Sujata’s village so he could tell
meet the Buddha and walk in his footsteps. them the story of their own ancestors. In Kushinagar, he
and Sister Chan Khong shaved my head, and in Lumbini,
The whole journey was done as a practice retreat, they offered me a robe, encouraging me to take on the
walking everywhere in the footsteps of the Buddha. We path of a monastic.
were experiencing the same ecological environment
as the Buddha would have, sitting in the shade of trees Of course, traveling with a teacher is always
the Buddha would have sat under, feeling the breeze, inspirational, as we learn so much in every moment.
listening to the birds, feeling the earth the Buddha had
walked on, walking through villages, and stopping at The Buddha is in the present, even though he walked
village markets, as the Buddha would have. Thay helped 2600 years ago. If we are mindful, we can transform our
us realize that we were walking with the Buddha. feet into Buddha’s feet and our eyes into Buddha’s eyes.
That is how I saw Thay manifesting, showing us the
Sitting in the caves the Buddha would have sat in. path in his being and practice. I have felt so fortunate
Wading across rivers, watching the sunset that the since then to walk in the footsteps of the Buddha and
Buddha would have watched. In some ways, the Thay and invite people from across the world to do
landscape of Buddha’s land has not changed much the same. I have also had the good fortune to co-lead
in these 2,600 years, so we can experience what he journeys with other great teachers and learn from
experienced. We also met people like the young Sujata them, thereby continuing the practice suggested by the
of 13 who offered him rice and milk kheer or the Buffalo Buddha and making it my own. EH

Vipassanā in Modern Life

By Piyush Kulshreshtha

Benny: Meditation is common in meditation techniques in India have The difference between the
India but is Vipassanā meditation existed since ancient times. other meditation techniques
unique to the Buddha’s teaching? and vipassanā is that in

Vipassanā Technique, or Insight other meditation techniques,
It is true that meditation is common Meditation is definitely unique to concentration of mind or stillness of
in India. All meditation techniques the Teachings of Lord Buddha. But the mind causes a variety of mental
aim to bring to the practitioner its effect is universal in nature. defilements to settle down, just like
peace and happiness, as the primary Whoever practices it, will benefit mud settles down in still water. The
goal. The difference is the technique from it. The chief approach in impurities settle down and purity
of meditation. Before Lord Buddha vipassanā meditation is to use is there at the surface level, but
discovered Vipassanā Meditation the concentrated mind as a tool one should note that the impurities
technique, he himself practiced to penetrate through the veil of remain at the bottom. In vipassanā,
eight other levels of meditation apparent truth, observe the ultimate on the other hand, one dredges out
and then during his 6-years of nature of all mental and material the mental impurities, uproots the
austere practices, many more phenomena and use that insight to defilements and eventually attains a
methods, which were essentially uproot the defilements completely permanent state of purity of mind.
ways to concentrate the mind. So, and attain liberation.