By Manuwant Choudhary
Bodh Gaya - The world comes to Bodh Gaya every winters...and so if the world did end as predicted I'd be in good company...in the midst of holiness and beautiful people...and not hiding under some bunker in Nevada desert surviving on stale bread and ration - with wierdos.
Lord Buddha is actually an amazing story...a prince - Siddarth. - out on a chariot tour sees four sights....an old man, a sick man, a corpse and then a holy man...he is so disturbed by it all that he leaves his kingdom to go in search of truth.
It is after many wanderings that under the Bodhi tree at Bodh Gaya..he receives enlightenment....the four truths.
That there is suffering in this world.
The cause of all suffering is desire.
To overcome suffering one has to overcome desire.
And the way to overcome desire is to follow the eight-fold path.
This is essentially a moral code...and even if you are not religious...you can relate to it completely.
Of course, Buddha has been completely lost in the land of enlightenment....
But the world recognises him....
And I was in VIP company...wiith Yingluk Shinawatra Prime Minister of Thailand and also the Cambodian Prime Minister visiting.
Except China's communists, I think all dictators love to come to pray here.
I wonder what Buddha tells them.
But I don't care about Prime Ministers....I wanted to meet a beautiful friend...who is doing great work in re-introducing Buddhism to the land of its birth - India.
Its not the government of India or even the Bihar government...but Lord Buddha who is responsible for bringing development here...imagine Bihar has an international airport and it was a pleasure to see a Thai airways flight on the runway with cyclists stopping by to watch the take-off !
But I did not meet my beautiful friend... thankfully the world did not come to an end...(to be continued)
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