Happy Birthday, Dear Buddha! - Lumbini

Posting WAY post-factum:

Lumbini, Nepal [Siddhartha's birthplace], May 10, 2011

Written – May 12, 2011

I got a Barbie-acidic-pink ticket to Lumbini from Pokhara.....in retrospect, it would have been easier to just fly to Dharamsala. But then I would not have this magical experience I'm about to share.

The bus didn't go there. About 5/6^th of the way there, the “Lumbini folks,” i.e., me + two Dutch girls who changed route half-way through the trip, got transplanted onto another bus. Well, that bus was heading for Sonauli, and not Lumbini at all. Fortunately, we recognized this early enough and hopped on a bus back....that only had space for us on a roof. I've never ridden on a roof of a bus before. At first, I got mildly miffed....but that passed in a few seconds after I spread myself comfortably over the backpack-covered roof and got the amazing unobstructed view of the Siddhartha land....AND a suntan [to renew the stuff that was already peeling off from the trek].

I mean, it was just the 3 of us – the “Lumbini folks” - and the backpacks up there!

When we got to the little town an hour later, I quickly found out that all the guesthouses of any desirability were booked. That was a first in my journey. There is always space for me! There I was – with my big yellow backpack and a big hand bag [all my newly-acquired warm trekking stuff – gotta send that off somewhere. It's too much!] in a 35 C heat with my tongue hanging out over my shoulder and drenched in swet [sounds yummy, doesn't it ;O)?]....wandering the main street of Siddhartha's birthplace....and not having a welcome place to plant myself for the night.

Just about when I made it to the farthest guesthouse that proceeded to turn me down, I broke down and just sat there and sweated for a couple minutes. The Nepalese boys running the place took pity on me and brought me a bottle of water for free [an untold wonder here – and an unspoken comment on my pitiful condition at that moment]. I couldn't move any farther, it seemed. Having spent a while in the cool mountains, I was unaccustomed to wandering around laden with bags in this kind of a heat.

I surrendered and began to wander off to the highway. Just then a sweet voice has approached me. “You know, you can stay at the Monastery and it's SOOOO nice there!” My immediate response [imagine that – with my love for quietude and nature....] was: “IS IT FAR?” The sweet voice belonging to a graceful German journeyer Elizabeth said: “ummmm....actually, it is....but let me help you. I'll take your bags. Then we can get a rickshaw on the highway.” And she did just that....I was in a state of surrender and stunned disbelief as blood flowed back into my brain, released from the weight.

The sun was just setting over the groves and ponds that surrounded about 20 monasteries included within the main Lumbini territory! A peaceful scene indeed....as we rocked to the rhythm of the rickshaw's sway. I could not believe my luck, while a part of me kept whispering: “ you know, that's exactly why the guesthouses were full – so that you could come stay at this place of peace! It's Buddha's personal invitation :O))” Elizabeth remarked pensively: “you know, today is Buddha's birthday.....” So, of course, I sang to the trees and the sun: “Happy B-day, Dear Buddha!”

Then it turned out that the monastery not only let journeyers like myself stay there, but fed them delicious veggie food....and in the evening there was chanting in the main temple, 

where a thousand candles were lit and reflected in the marble floors to the call of the gong. Korean chants are genuinely melodic.....their somewhat melancholy nature reminded me of the heart-touching Gregorian choral that never fails to get under my skin. The grey, concrete newness of the scarcely decorated temple with its immense ceilings allowed the sound to carry and resonate in a special way.

How about that magic?