DavidFordJournal

Photos: David_photogallery_Sarnath

INDIA | Tuesday, 16 Feb 2016 | Photo Gallery

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Photos: David_photogallery_Kapilavastu/ Sravasti

INDIA | Tuesday, 16 Feb 2016 | Photo Gallery

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With the Buddha

INDIA | Saturday, 13 Feb 2016 | Views [425]

We are now in Lumbini, soon to depart Nepal for India once again and Kapilavastu, the home city of the Buddha. There is another Kapilavastu in Nepal, also claimed to be THE Kapilavastu but since we are not going there surely it cannot be?? Lumbini, ... Read more >

Tags: border crossings, parinirvana, pilgrimage

Photos: David_photogallery_Pilgrimage/Lumbini

INDIA | Saturday, 13 Feb 2016 | Photo Gallery

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Photos: David_photogallery_Vaishali/Kushinagar

INDIA | Saturday, 13 Feb 2016 | Photo Gallery

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Photos: David_photogallery_Pilgrimage/Nalanda

INDIA | Friday, 12 Feb 2016 | Photo Gallery

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Shantideva's Cell

INDIA | Friday, 12 Feb 2016 | Views [464]

An early rise saw us depart our lodge at Nalanda at a misty 7am, destination Vulture's Peak, the Griddhakuta Hill, where the Buddha delivered a number of tip top (official Buddhist term..) suttas, including the Lotus and Prajnaparimata. This was reached, ... Read more >

Tags: monastery come university, pilgrimage, suttas

Beneath the Bodhi Tree

INDIA | Friday, 12 Feb 2016 | Views [315]

I had agreed to meet Manidhamma beneath the Bodhi Tree at 8am and had gotten up a bit earlier to spend some time there alone. Not for the first time I found myself in an irritable mood which I tried to shake off by circumambulations and then sitting ... Read more >

Tags: pilgrimage

Photos: David_photogallery_Pilgrimage

INDIA | Wednesday, 10 Feb 2016 | Photo Gallery

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Rattled

INDIA | Sunday, 7 Feb 2016 | Views [437]

I was sitting in my room earlier today and reflecting on the last few days. The word 'rattled' came to my mind. Rattled as in fazed but also literally, as if something in my chest has been shaken loose and is bouncing around within the confines of my ... Read more >

Tags: beggars, enlightenment, peace, temples

Photos: David_photogallery_Bodhgaya

INDIA | Sunday, 7 Feb 2016 | Photo Gallery

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Photos: David_photogallery_Puri3

INDIA | Saturday, 6 Feb 2016 | Photo Gallery

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Bodh Gaya and the Guru's Comments

INDIA | Saturday, 6 Feb 2016 | Views [320]

I have now arrived in Bodh Gaya, for non Buddhists the scene of the Buddha's enlightenment and for Buddhists that and the most pivotal spot on the planet. I arrived after a 16 hour train journey from Puri, leaving around 9.45pm and arriving ... Read more >

A Spider's Web

INDIA | Wednesday, 3 Feb 2016 | Views [392]

A mellow bluesy number is playing at the Pink House. It's 6.30 pm and dark out. The Pink House has been a haven. A place to come for breakfast, read and relax in the shade of a thatched hut roof in the company of dogs, crows and, when I'm eating in ... Read more >

Tags: beach, hucksters, sickness, temples

Photos: David_photogallery_Konarck

INDIA | Monday, 1 Feb 2016 | Photo Gallery

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An Aside

INDIA | Saturday, 30 Jan 2016 | Views [253]

I'm trying to work out the logic behind the number of hits each of my blogs get. The most popular blogs are 'Bhanga Boys' and 'First Calcutta Test, Rest Day'. Of the others, 'Tashiding, a Step Too Far?' seems to be convincingly outpointing other blogs ... Read more >

Trevor Francis

INDIA | Saturday, 30 Jan 2016 | Views [361]

I woke up this morning in a foul mood. This may have had something to do with the two large bottles of extra strong Kingfisher beer and tooo many 'Charm' cigarettes that I had consumed with Trevor the night before. When I say 'may'.... ANYWAY, I have ... Read more >

Tags: alcoholic excess, hotels