The Eight Places of Buddhist Pilgrimage
Jeremy Russell |
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First published in 1981 by Mahayana Publications, Tushita
Mahayana Meditation Centre. This article first appeared in Teachings
from Tushita, Journal of Tushita Mahayana Meditation Centre.
Born and educated in England, Jeremy Russell’s interest
in Buddhism was initially sparked during his first visit
to Dharamsala in the early 70. He subsequently studied
at the Library of Tibetan Works & Archives for several
years. He has lived in Dharamsala with his family since
1981, dividing his time between working as an editor
for several offices of the Tibetan government-in-exile
and leading trekking groups into the nearby mountains.
He is editor of Chö-Yang, the Journal of Tibetan
Culture.
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Contents
- Introduction
- Lumbini—birthplace of
the Buddha
- Bodhgaya—site of Buddha's
enlightenment
- Sarnath—first turning
of the Wheel of Dharma
- Rajgir—second turning
of the Wheel of Dharma
- Shravasti—teachings
in the Jetavana Grove
- Sankashya—where Lord Buddha descended from Tushita
Heaven
- Nalanda—site of the great
monastic university
- Kushinagar—where Buddha
entered mahaparinirvana
- Conclusion and Books Consulted
Sankashya
Where the Blessed One descended from Tushita Heaven
"Four places are always determined in advance:
where the Buddhas shall attain Buddhahood;
where they shall begin to preach;
where they shall expound the law and refute heretics;
and where they shall descend from the Tushita Heaven after
having preached to their mothers.
Other places are chosen according to circumstances."
Fa Hien
 The
most westward and perhaps most obscure of the eight places of
pilgrimage is Sankashya, whose name may derive from a stupa
built there by Kashyapa Buddha's father and dedicated to his
son. This is the last of the four places common to the buddhas
of this world.
Some say that during his forty-first year Shakyamuni went
up from Shravasti to the Tushita Heaven and passed the rainy
season retreat teaching Abhidharma to his mother, Queen Mayadevi,
who had died seven days after Buddha's birth and been reborn
as a male god in Tushita. The same happens to the mothers
of all the buddhas, and they too later go to teach them, afterwards
descending to Sankashya.
Seven days before his descent the Buddha set aside his invisibility.
Anuruddha perceived him by his divine sight and urged Maudgalyayana
to go and greet him. The great disciple did so, telling the
Buddha that the Order longed to see him. This was the time
Prasenajit's statue was made. Shakyamuni replied that in seven
days he would return to the world. A great assembly of the
kings and people of the eight kingdoms gathered. As the Buddha
descended, a flight of gold stairs appeared, down which he
came. He was accompanied on the right by Brahma, who, holding
a white chowny, descended on a crystal staircase, while to
the left Indra came down a flight of silver stairs, holding
a jewelled umbrella. A great host of gods followed.
The Buddha bathed immediately after his descent, and later
a bathing house and stupa were built to mark the site. Stupas
were also raised at the spot where he cut his hair and nails,
and where he entered samadhi. The Chinese pilgrims describe
further stupas and a chankramana where Shakyamuni and the
previous buddhas had walked and sat in meditation.
The three flights of stairs disappeared into the ground,
but for seven steps of each, which remained above. When Ashoka
came here later he had men dig into the earth around the protrusions
in order to discover their depth. Although they reached the
level of water, they could not find the stairs' end. With
increased faith, Ashoka then built a temple over them with
a standing image of the Buddha above the middle flight. Behind
this temple he erected a great pillar surmounted by an elephant
capital. Because the tail and trunk had been destroyed, both
Chinese pilgrims mistook this for a lion.
Hsuan Chwang tells that the original stairs had existed
until a few centuries before his visit, when they disappeared.
Various kings built replicas of ornamented brick and stone,
with a temple containing images of Shakyamuni, Brahma and
Indra above them. These were within the walls of a monastery,
which he describes as excellently ornamented and having many
fine images. He further says that some hundreds of monks dwelt
there and that the community had lay followers. Two centuries
earlier Fa Hien found roughly 1,000 monks and nuns living
here pursuing their studies, some hinayana and some mahayana.
Both pilgrims tell stories of a white-eared dragon who lived
close to the monastery, caring for it and the surrounding
area. Fa Hien especially remarks on the abundant produce of
the land and the prosperity and happiness of the people.
Little seems to be known about Sankashya after the Chinese
accounts. In 1862 General Cunningham identified the spot as
being located outside an obscure village west of Farruhabad,
above Kanpur, on the Ganges. Not much of the ancient glory
of the place remains today. Within a deserted, fenced area
stands a large mound topped by the crumbling ruins of a Hindu
shrine, in which the former image has been replaced by a small
representation of the Buddha. The elephant capital of Ashoka's
pillar has been remounted on a ten-foot high pillar beneath
a stone canopy. Another small shrine nearby contains a statue
of Buddha. The surrounding grounds appear as if they might
contain the ruined foundations of former buildings, but if
any excavation has ever been done it is buried once more.
This is the only one of the eight places of pilgrimage where
today there is no temple, monastery or even a solitary monk.
Perhaps the wildness of the area is the cause. With or without
a dragon's aid, it may be hoped that this will change.
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