This week we visited Deer Park, the site of Buddha’s first sermon. Buddha started life as the Prince Siddhartha. To protect his son from pain, Siddhartha’s father kept him in the palace where he never saw any suffering.  One day, Siddhartha slipped out of the Palace unchecked and wandered the streets. What he saw disturbed him deeply–sorrow, illness, loss, poverty, and death.  He returned home, renounced the crown, left his family, wife, and child and went in search of answers to the questions about the meaning of life that troubled him. Eventually Buddha did find answers to his questions.  They became the philosophy we now know at Buddhism.  Before Buddhism could reach millions around the world, though, Buddha needed to teach his philosophy to others. He started at Deer Park with a sermon he delivered to 5 of his former colleagues on seeking enlightenment.  They became his first 5 disciples. 

We visited Deer Park in a light drizzle. It’s a peaceful place of simple gardens, and old ruins, but no deer. I’m attracted to what I am learning about Buddhism. I was raised Presbyterian but one of the beauties of Pilgrimage is that you are exposed to so many ways of thinking about spirituality.  When I get home, I want to begin exploring Buddhist philosophy more. Maybe 1 more convert was just won over in Deer Park.

Tags: Bob Wright, Buddhism, Judith Wright, pilgrimage, Sacred Travel, spirituality, the wright leadership institute

This entry was posted on Monday, January 4th, 2010 at 2:25 pm and is filed under Leading a Great Life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.