Bodh Gaya: The Seat of Enlightenment | A Documentary Film on Buddhism & Awakening by MSN Karthik

Enlightenment, I would say, is non-dual awareness. You're an open kind of nerve, almost. And you're completely awake. And with that awareness and that awakeness, you don't recognize a self or an other. There's only the union of the two. Enlightenment is something that's beyond everything, beyond everything. It's called nirvayana. Today I came here to conduct a puja, a puja regarding world peace. This time, our Dzongkha Institute organized this world peace prayer every two years at this time. And this time we are doing this prayer for ten days. Buddhism for me is not just necessarily a philosophy, but a way of being, a way of interacting with your environment and your environment interacting with you in a very gross and subtle way. But also, for it not to just kind of float by, there should be moments of realization through whether you're sitting in Bodh Gaya or you're sitting in your living room watching TV every once in a while, having an epiphany, or something like this. But as long as you are kind of moving in a forward direction on a path, I think that's kind of the more important situation. Someone who has recognized the nature of mind and has established himself in this nature of mind has achieved enlightenment according to Buddha's teachings. So there is different practice according to school, different method, and different tools, you can say, no? Hindus have certain tools, Christian tools, Muslim tools, just tools. And enlightenment is the goal. You know that in Buddhism Buddha is the hero. I can say hero. We Buddhists consider Buddha is a man of Buddhism. So he got enlightened from here, in this place, and this is one of the most important places for Buddhists. Like the Muslims want to go to Mecca, I think the Buddhists want to go to Bodh Gaya, and maybe the Christians or the Jews want to go to Jerusalem, something like that. This is the place in Bodh Gaya where 2,600 years before, Prince Siddhartha, he did meditation here under the Bodhi tree, and here he got the enlightenment here, and he became Buddha here. But he was born in Nepal in the Lumbini forest, and his father, King Suddhodana Maharaj, he was the king of Kapilavastu. The Buddha, being an ordinary individual, saw a problem with the world in his adolescence. Before that, he was kind of very sheltered, didn't know about any of the types of suffering until he went outside for the first time and experienced it. He was born as a prince, and he was living without knowing about the old people, about death, about illness. He wanted to kind of find a path that would remove that for everybody, that they didn't have to experience that kind of suffering again and again and again. And he recognized the deep suffering that it was because he had been, maybe because he was so sheltered, and it was a huge shock value for him to see anybody elderly or sick or dying or dead. So, for him, I think that was, you know, the first stone in the water to make all the ripples. So, since he's traveling from Nepal, Lumbini, I mean, Buddha's birthplace to place, at the age of 29, he went to find truth. And he came around, he traveled all around the forest. I mean, during the period of Buddha Shakyamuni, here, I mean, these places were covered with forest. So, he traveled, and he sat down there, you know, around six years, and he found the truth. And this truth is so enlightening. Maybe enlightened. Bajrashan. So, you see this big temple, sir? This temple name is Mahabodhi Temple. And total height of this temple, 180 feet and 52 meters. This temple 30 feet made by King Ashoka in 300 BC, 2300 years before. In the 12th century, the Bhaktiarkhiriji came here. He came here after burning Nalanda University. And he broke in the temple upper part, 30 feet, and he also break the Buddha statue here. And from this temple gate level, he covered this temple in the mud. So, the Mahabodhi Temple was 600 years under the mud. After that, in 1876, Alexander Cunningham came here. Lord Cunningham, the British archaeologist. He excavated this place, and he repaired the Mahabodhi Temple in 1883. Destroyed many times. For just, not really political reason, it's for just narrow-minded reason. But this place is everything for Buddhism. Mahabodhi Temple Actually, my favorite place in the world, in this life, is the Bodh Gaya. I like most everything in the Bodh Gaya. Like Mahabodhi, the magical statue, Buddha statue. It's incomparable statue. Nowhere you can find like this Buddha statue in this world. It's magical. Even you just go inside, look at the hand. Even you don't have the faith, you just can feel something. The blessing, you can touch the blessing inside. Even you, no matter what kind of believer you are, follower you are, you just come here, sit under the Buddha tree. The atmosphere is very different. Even you don't do, don't chant anything. Just sit under the Buddha tree. You don't want to go outside of this temple. Like that kind of feeling, atmosphere, you will get here. Before Buddha and Buddha time, many philosophies, many ideas, many teachings. But the Buddha teaches how to complete happiness. So he shows many ways. Monks life, real monks life is very difficult. If you want to become monk, you practice many steps. He practiced quite hardly. He had to practice a lot. Even for himself, it has been quite hard path and long path. Even if he was already an exceptional being. My family was actually Irish Catholic. But having met my teacher very young in life, I did go to Catholic school and things like this. But even then I was taking children's books for Buddhism to Catholic school and things like this. So even from then on it was quite well known that I was probably going to be a Buddhist rather than a Catholic. Actually coming into contact with it on like a PBS special or a public television channel in the US. Where they had a series on the Buddha. And that kind of inspired me to want to go to the library and read some of the books that they had in the children's section. And eventually go into the adult section as time went on. But even at 16 I wanted to be a monk. And I had to make a promise to my mom that I would live a lay person's life first. For the most part I think it was better for it. Because you get a job, you experience that kind of suffering. You fall in love, you get your heart broken and things like this. I mean reading in books and the most you can do is live vicariously through that character's feelings. You'll never be able to empathize unless you actually experience it yourself. You know that actually in our country most of the people follow Buddhism since it's from our parents. So I can say that I became a Buddhist because of my parents. Once upon a time I was Buddhist. But lately I'm learning Buddhist philosophy and lately I've become truly Buddhist now. Buddhism means everything for me. So actually you know Buddhism is already kind of part of our life. Part of our goal. But Buddhism is already my path, my aim. But basically everything for me. Buddhism changed my lifestyle a lot. So before I was one of the most egoistic persons. Ego, jealousy, some kind of crazy also. So by learning such things it changed my world I think. Monk life is very good I can say. Why monk life is very good means that each and every person, each and every human being needs happiness. So in monks we don't have any tension about our parents I can say, about our marriage, about our girlfriend. We don't have any tension about this. Being a monk is very free. Happy minded, open minded mind. If people study and practice Buddhism they can learn how to meditate. And they can learn how to practice ethical discipline and morality and patience. And they can develop good qualities. And they can learn how to have loving kindness and compassion to each other. And they can learn how to be honest. And they can learn how to benefit beings and help other beings and not to harm. I think meditation will help actually in your many things. Not only help you mentally stable but also it helps your health, physical health as well. And meditation also helps you to basically to help you to maintain your focus if you do it properly and correctly. At least 3000-4000 people come and go in a day. This is India's biggest statue. This is famous as 80 feet statue. It is called the great Buddha statue. Who made this statue? It was made by Japanese government. I am 18th November 1989. This opening I am Dalai Lama. This statue was made because Buddha lived for 80 years. That's why this statue is 80 feet tall. It is international. It is famous in world heritage. It is made for peace. It is like any pilgrimage place, any Tirtha. You call this Indian, no? In any Tirtha you feel that thousands, millions of people have come here. So it is grown with a lot of energy, no? And the merit of people, the practice of people. So it pushes you to do your best. So it is very inspiring. What do you think should be the role of Buddhism in today's chaotic world? Maybe a bit of a lighthouse. It doesn't necessarily have any direct interaction. It just casts a light on the world that everybody sees. Not necessarily to see it in the way that they do it. But to remove any kind of ignorance with the world that surrounds them. And it tends to remain there for most people's lives. Either through limited experience of never leaving a hometown or their own country. But just being awake and interacting with your environment. Being very open to it. Not necessarily closing yourself off or avoiding even awkward or embarrassing situations. You see the whole world is chaotic. World leaders, politicians, and important figures. They need to learn Buddhism. Talking about caring for others, understanding others. Putting your foot in others' shoes. To understand others. Not only one nation, but the whole world. So then the Buddhist message, which says the main solution is insightful and compassion and loving-kindness. I think this will help not only one particular place or one particular religion. It will help the whole world. You know in Buddhism there are many different traditions. So how can we harmoniously gather here and chant together. Even if they don't care what the nosy others make. Just focus on practice. We don't disturb others. Respect each other. Fully respect each other. So this is an example of how the whole world can live together. It can be taken as a model in Bodhgaya. Bodhgaya is the most, or the holiest place in the world according to Buddhism. Because the Buddha was enlightened under this bodhichitta, behind this pagoda. So it's where he was fully enlightened. We believe this Buddha, not only this present Buddha, but thousands of Buddhas will be enlightened in this place. And even in Buddhism we believe that at the end of the world, Bodhgaya will remind. So that's why we call it the Vajra seat. So it's an indestructible place. Buddha didn't say that you have to follow my religion. Even if you have attained the rank of God, God doesn't say that you have to follow my religion. Whatever I have told you, or whatever karma I have done, you have to follow that karma. The essence of every religion is here. Any religion. All living beings, whether they are trees or not, have to show mercy.