BUDDHA
Buddha
forms an integral part of the culture of Bihar. Patna has a ‘Buddha Smriti Park’. It is a complex which recounts the life and
times of Buddha. The park has a Stupa with Buddhist relics from Japan, Myanmar,
South Korea, Sri Lanka and Thailand, the Meditation unit and a picture-sculpture gallery.
It also has an amusing scenario: a statue of Buddha standing tall in the
backdrop of high-rise buildings and towers of Patna. Some see this ‘Buddha
amidst the buildings’ as irony or anachronism, but for me its reality of the
drift of human history.
Bodh
Gaya has a spiritual aura of its own. One really feels the serenity under the
pacifying shade of Bodhi Vriksha. It was this tree that saw genesis of a
philosophy. A philosophy that defied the thought that only the men of war
should write the history. This was beginning of that era of the human history which
witnessed the triumph of truth, peace and non-violence. It was here that a
ragged renouncer, a protestor enlightened himself with the truth, and spread
the light in the world.
These thoughts about Buddha stayed
with me throughout the journey. But it was towards the end of the journey that these
thought were fructified into a message. It was in Rashtrapati Bhawan, which is
adorned by a 5th century Buddha statue. That statue located at the highest
seat of the might and authority of the country has a deep message. A message
which teaches many valuable lessons for anyone in the cordons of power. It
teaches the readiness to denounce all the glory to serve people. It teaches the
middle path- a view between the extremes of eternalism and annihilationism. It teaches about sufferings and elimination of suffering. For
all the people in power, here’s one man who shaped the history sitting under a
tree, thinking!!
Photo courtesy: Frank Noble.
