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Buddhism in India
Born under the Bodhi tree in Bihar, it lives on in Himalayan gompas and Tibetan quarters, and in the silence of a meditation hall.
People
The TeacherBuddha Shakyamuniबुद्ध · ཤཱཀྱ་ཐུབ་པ
EmperorAshokaदेवानांप्रिय अशोक
Guru RinpochePadmasambhavaཔདྨ་འབྱུང་གནས
Tenzin GyatsoThe 14th Dalai Lamaབསྟན་འཛིན་རྒྱ་མཚོ
NavayanaB. R. Ambedkarभीमराव रामजी आंबेडकर
BodhisattvaTaraतारा · སྒྲོལ་མSigns
The prayer wheel
A mantra is rolled up inside the cylinder; one clockwise turn counts as reading it. The row by the gate is spun in passing, a hand-held one travels with the pilgrim.
Prayer flags
Wind-horses in five colours, always in the same order: blue, white, red, green, yellow (sky, air, fire, water, earth). The wind reads them; old flags are replaced at Losar and burned, never thrown away.
The chorten
A stupa is a reliquary first; most are not entered. Walk around it clockwise; the thirteen rings of the spire are the steps to awakening.
The mudras
The statues speak with their hands: fingers touching the earth (awakening); fingers joined into a wheel at the chest (the first sermon); palms in the lap (meditation).
The mala
A string of 108 beads for counting mantras, worn on the wrist between prayers. Hindus, Sufis and Catholics count their prayers on beads too.
The robes
Maroon with yellow means Tibetan tradition; saffron and ochre mean Theravada, as in Sarnath. The colour follows local dyes and custom, though the traditions themselves do differ.
The khata
A white silk scarf offered to a teacher, a statue or a guest, with both hands and a slight bow. Given back, it is a blessing.
Butter lamps
Rows of small flames on the altar are offerings of light; beside them seven bowls of water and torma (cones of barley flour and butter, sculpture made of food).
Inside a gompa
1. The gate
Painted guardians of the four directions and the Wheel of Life in the claws of Yama meet you before the courtyard.
2. The prayer wheels
Spin them clockwise as you go; the whole monastery is walked the same way.
3. The courtyard
A tall flagpole in the middle; here monks debate and, on festival days, dance the masked cham.
4. The assembly hall
Columns wrapped in cloth, rows of cushions, thangkas on the walls. Morning prayers happen here; sit at the side, never between the monks and the altar.
5. The altar
Statues of the Buddha, Padmasambhava, Tara; butter lamps, seven bowls of water, torma. Photographs are usually not allowed here.
6. The chorten
The reliquary outside: walk around it clockwise before you leave.
How to behave
- Clockwise: the walk around and the wheels alike.
- Shoes off at the hall door, head uncovered, shoulders and knees covered.
- Never sit with your back to the altar or your feet towards a statue or a monk.
- Photographs inside: ask first; at the Global Pagoda in Mumbai none at all.
- Offerings go into the box, not to a monk's hand; a khata is given with both hands.
To experience
Free, in silence, 10:00–18:30; phones off
The stupa opens at nine; ask at the gate about the morning puja
Majnu-ka-Tilla in the evening: momos, monks, prayer flags
Chanting at six or seven, by season; the Bodhi tree outside is a descendant of the original
Festivals
Also: Losar, the Tibetan New Year in February or March, and Hemis Tsechu in Ladakh in June or July with masked cham dances.
Words
Mind precedes all states of mind: mind is their chief, they are made by mind.
Hatred is never stilled by hatred — only by its absence. This is the eternal law.
Do no harm, do good, purify your mind — this is the teaching of the Buddhas.
Four Noble Truths
There is suffering; it has a cause; it can end; there is a path.
The Eightfold Path
Right view, intention, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, concentration.
Anatta
No fixed, unchanging self, only a stream of moments. The Buddha is a teacher, not a god.
Books: The Tipitaka with the Dhammapada; the Mahayana sutras; the Tibetan Kangyur and Tengyur; Ambedkar's The Buddha and His Dhamma.
Other faiths of India
Sikhism in IndiaOne Creator, ten Gurus and a book honoured as a living teacher, and a free kitchen where everyone sits in one row.→
Christianity in IndiaA tradition that traces itself to the apostle Thomas: the Syrian Christians of Kerala, the baroque of Goa, Mary in a sari and a star lantern on every veranda in December.→
Islam in IndiaSufi dargahs and Thursday qawwali, Mughal mosques, and the lanes of the old city that stay awake all night in Ramadan.→
Jainism in IndiaNon-violence taken to its limit, twenty-four teachers told apart by the sign at their feet, marble carved like lace, and dinner before sunset.→
HinduismGods, symbols, the temple and key ideas→The street with a guided walk, people cards with places on the map and festivals with dates.
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