An Insightful Travel Experience – Nepal
Before I started my own travels, I had been reading the articles found on https://www.hillmanwonders.com. I was fascinated by the insights Howard Hillman put into words about his passion for travelling and at the same time creating interesting and helpful tips for other would-be travellers.
I wish I could travel as much as he accomplished and could document not only the famous places but also the weird and wonderful sites that I would encounter on my journeys. His website became my benchmark that I would gladly cross out the relevant places as soon as I was back from travelling. Given the ways and means, I would definitely visit all of the “100 places to visit before you die” provided that those places are still in existence, safe and are allowed to be visited. One of the places Hillman mentioned on the list is the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal. It is also a perfect country to travel to have a glimpse of the Himalayas even if you don’t intend to reach the summit of Mount Everest. It was few years ago that I then traveled to Nepal as it’s quite convenient to reach coming from Dubai, besides we Filipinos don’t need to have a pre-approved visa.
It’s in Nepal that Siddhartha Gautama was born into the Royal Family in Lumbini, in 563 BC. Siddhartha Gautama, also known as Gautama Buddha, or simply “Buddha”, “The Awakened One”, “The Enlightened One”, was the founder and leader of one of the world’s major religions to about 300 million people around the world – “Buddhism”.
The basic tenets of Buddhist teachings are straightforward, practical and address themselves to all people irrespective of race, nationality, caste, sexuality, or gender. It teaches practical methods which enable people to realize and use in order to transform their experience, to be fully responsible with their lives. According to Buddhism, the temptations of the world are the source of all suffering, and must be resisted. The basic tenets of Buddhism can be summed up by the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path.
What are the beliefs of Buddhism? Here’s an excerpt from the book Who Made God?: And Answers to Over 100 Other Tough Questions of Faith by Ravi Zacharias and Norman Geisler.
- The Buddha (“the enlightened one”) was born as Siddhartha Gautama in Lumbini (in present-day Nepal) in a princely family of the Sakya clan. The date of his birth is variously placed between 624 B.C. and 448 B.C. The commonly accepted date is 560 B.C. He lived a protected life, as his father did not want his sensitive son to be exposed to the harsh realities of human existence. Legend has it that during surreptitious visits to the outside world, he came across, on consecutive days, a sick man, an old man, and a dead man being carried to the crematorium.
- Having concluded that life was nothing but suffering resulting in sickness, aging, and death, Siddhartha renounced his life as a householder (with a young wife and a baby boy) at the age of twenty-nine and began to wander through the plains of Eastern India in search of the truth. He is said to have received enlightenment at the age of thirty-six on the night of a full moon in the month of May. This happened in Gaya in what is now the Bihar State of India. During a similar full-moon night in the following July, he delivered his first discourse near the Hindu holy city of Varanasi, introducing the world to the Four Noble Truths. His death at the age of eighty is referred to by his followers as Parinibbāna (Pali) or Parinirvana (Sanskrit) or final release.
Here are some famous quotes of Siddhartha Gautama, or “Buddha”:
> Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.
> The mind is everything. What you think you become.
> We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think.
> When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves.
> Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.
> You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.
> Your purpose in life is to find your purpose and give your whole heart and soul to it.
> Happy is he who has overcome his ego.
Looking at the monks who are distinctively recognizable everywhere in their maroon robes and shaved heads (though mostly in South East Asia it’s orange or saffron color robes that they’re wearing) reminded me of the movie The Cup wondering if these monks too have their personal ultimate personal wishes, if given a chance, other than pursuing Monkhood. The robes monks are wearing, dating back centuries, are meant to symbolize simplicity and detachment of materialism, while a shaved head is a symbol of renunciation of worldly passion and esteem.
On reflection, I think maybe we could all learn something from Buddhism to live a more stress free and happy life.
You may also visit my previous blog about Nepal on below link.
