What place does pilgrimage have in Buddhist practice?

[Queequeg]

Pilgrimage has arguably had a prominent place in Buddhist practice, particularly lay practice, from very early on. In Japanese Buddhism with which I am most familiar, it is a significant practice even today, and it seems important in other places around Asia, too. In the West it does not seem to figure into practice much... Perhaps because we don't have significant places to visit, yet.

How do you view pilgrimage practice? Is pilgrimage part of your practice?

[Malcolm]

Pilgrimage has arguably had a prominent place in Buddhist practice, particularly lay practice, from very early on. In Japanese Buddhism with which I am most familiar, it is a significant practice even today, and it seems important in other places around Asia, too. In the West it does not seem to figure into practice much... Perhaps because we don't have significant places to visit, yet.

How do you view pilgrimage practice? Is pilgrimage part of your practice?

The Buddha enjoined all followers to visit the four main sites: Lumbini, Bodhgaya, Sarnath (Deer park), and Kushinagara where he passed away.

I would opine that pilgrimage is very important to all Buddhists. We should all make an effort to visit these four crucial places.

[conebeckham]

Pilgrimage is absolutely part of my practice. In addition to the locations Malcolm mentioned (I am at 2 outta 4 at the present time), there are a host of other locales worth visiting, if one is a Vajrayana practitioner.

Also, and this is somewhat tangential, I find great inspiration in spending time in environments where Buddhism has been practiced widely as part of general culture for a long time. I've not been to Tibet, but heartily recommend any Western Vajrayana practitioner make the effort to visit Bhutan, Nepal, and Sikkim. You can thank me later.

[Nyedrag Yeshe]

Yes, and I also believe that pilgrimage creates a sort of Devotional mindset that is overall very positive to one's practice and confidence in Dharma. Besides creating a connection with the virtuous activities of Buddhas and past time masters!

[Thomas Amundsen]

Yes, and I also believe that pilgrimage creates a sort of Devotional mindset that is overall very positive to one's practice and confidence in Dharma. Besides creating a connection with the virtuous activities of Buddhas and past time masters!

[Thomas Amundsen]

Pilgrimage hasn't been a big part of my practice, although I do consider it to be important. I definitely want to visit those four famous sites that Malcolm mentioned which the Buddha encouraged his followers to visit, among others (Paro Taktsang). So far, the only pilgrimages I've done are to stupas and large statues in North America and a few touristy temples in China.

[Fortyeightvows]

stupas and large statues in North America

like where?

[Thomas Amundsen]

stupas and large statues in North America

like where?

Namdrol Pemay Gatshal stupa garden at Pema Osel Ling in Watsonville, California (near Santa Cruz). The 35 foot Vajrasattva statue and others at the Tashi Choling Mandala Garden near Ashland, Oregon. And the Garden of One Thousand Buddhas in Arlee, Montana.

[Fortyeightvows]

Namdrol Pemay Gatshal stupa garden at Pema Osel Ling in Watsonville, CA (near Santa Cruz). The 35 foot Vajrasattva statue and others at the Tashi Choling Mandala Garden. And the Garden of One Thousand Buddhas in Arlee, Montana.

I'm impressed they were able to raise the funds to build all that! It's great you've been there, it's really amazing!

[KristenM]

Pilgrimage hasn't been a big part of my practice, although I do consider it to be important. I definitely want to visit those four famous sites that Malcolm mentioned which the Buddha encouraged his followers to visit, among others (Paro Taktsang). So far, the only pilgrimages I've done are to stupas and large statues in North America and a few touristy temples in China.

Me too. And so when is the Dharmawheel Buddhist pilgrimage tour happening? I'd love to help organize it, or jump on the bandwagon with a good one already arranged.

[DNS]

If you can afford it, I highly recommend it. It should be on every Buddhist's bucket list (that can afford it). I went in 2006 and loved it.

It's kind of expensive for Americans since it's literally like going to the exact opposite side of the globe. I found a direct flight from Los Angeles to London and then another direct flight from London to New Delhi, so that it would only be 2 very long flights (otherwise it would have been about 4 flights and lots of layover time).

Loved that sign at the airport in New Delhi: Your karma brought you here

[Malcolm]

stupas and large statues in North America

like where?

Namdrol Pemay Gatshal stupa garden at Pema Osel Ling in Watsonville, California (near Santa Cruz). The 35 foot Vajrasattva statue and others at the Tashi Choling Mandala Garden near Ashland, Oregon. And the Garden of One Thousand Buddhas in Arlee, Montana.

You need to do Khandroling and Mahasiiddha. There is a very beautiful Peace Pagoda quite near us as well.

[tingdzin]

like where ?

Shambhala Mountain Center in northern Colorado, has a world-class statue of Cakrasamvara.

[Johnny Dangerous]

I cannot go out of the country due to funds and time, but I am attempting to make my second trip to The Garden of 1000 Buddhas in Missoula Montana, which is a wonderful place. Other than that I try to visit Dharma centers, and hunt down stupas to circumambulate every time I travel. Beyond the obvious benefits of practice it exposes me to a wide variety of Dharma folks and it is one way to get a Buddhist education of sorts, in terms of understanding the general tone and approach of students in various schools. I concentrate mostly on Tibetan traditions since that is where I practice, but I have a couple Zen places I am somewhat interested in seeing too.

I wish I could do pilgrimages in India, but at the moment these are out of my reach.

One of my favorite experiences was finding a stupa in this is in this little junky town called Carnuel New Mexico at the foot of the Sandia mountains. There was a chained up pitbull eyeing us as we did our thing, it didn't look like much but something about the experience affected me deeply. This stupa used to be on federal land near ancient petroglyphs and was removed, eventually getting dubbed "the lost stupa of Albuquerque", then some Nyingma dude put it in his front yard in this little, scrubby, very quintessentially New Mexican town. It was great.

[Fortyeightvows]

like where ?

Shambhala Mountain Center in northern Colorado, has a world-class statue of Cakrasamvara.

I have been in there and seen that statue.

[Johnny Dangerous]

Here's an old thread of mine when I visited the Garden of 100 Buddhas for the first time, to leave a Dharma friends tsa-tsa.

https://www.dharmawheel.net/viewtopic.p ... as#p321668

[Queequeg]

It would be great to compile a list of pilgrimage sites in N. America and Europe. On occasion I've mapped out Buddhist temple/centers in NYC for a walking circuit but never actually did it. I've also thought of setting up a pilgrimage hiking trail someplace like the Catskills. It would involve setting up small, unobtrusive shrines. I don't know how that might be received by others in a public place so maybe not a good idea.

[Sentient Light]

When I was a kid, we'd fly out to California and do tours of the monasteries out there, most of them Vietnamese and some of them Chinese. Many of these monasteries are quite large, extravagant, and beautiful.

The 72-foot tall statue of Avalokitesvrara in Sugar Land, Texas is a sight to behold, and really unlike anything else you can find in North America. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuong_Phat_Quan_Am

[conebeckham]

I think someone did a blog concerned with a North American Stupa pilgrimage. There are a number of great places to see in North America--and more all the time.

[DNS]

The 72-foot tall statue of Avalokitesvrara in Sugar Land, Texas is a sight to behold, and really unlike anything else you can find in North America. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuong_Phat_Quan_Am

Interesting that you mention that statue in Sugar Land, Texas. In my earlier post I mentioned how the U.S. is about exactly the other side of the globe from India, so decided to look up the exact spot which is exactly the other side of the globe and it turns out to be not too far from Sugar Land, Texas.

Sugar Land Texas is:
Coordinates: 29°35′58″N 95°36′51″W

And Maha Bodhi Temple, India is:
coordinates: 24.6959° N, 84.9911° E

85 degrees East (MBT) + 95 degrees West (Sugar Land) = 180 degrees

And then the coordinates north of the equator are also very similar.

The exact spot appears to be some spot just East of Brownsville, Texas in the Gulf of Mexico.