This winter Jai Bhim International's Board member Maitriveer Nagarjuna was working tirelessly to take the Buddhist Dhamma on the road. He organized public talks, retreats and workshops all over north India, from late January until early March, which were led by Dhammachari Subhuti. See fotos and read about their traveling Dhamma on The Dhammachakra Buddhist Center's blog:
http://dhammachakra.livejournal.com/2463.html
Sadhu to all of our Buddhist Friends in North India for planting the seeds of a Dhamma Revolution!

this week is the "dhammakranti mahashivir", a large buddhist retreat in delhi, organized by our friends at the dhammachakra buddhist center. subhuti will be leading this retreat, and soon we will be posting updates from maitriveer nagarjuna and the delhi sangha.

in the meantime, our friend dharmashalin has posted news of subhuti's tour of india on the fwbo site this week:
http://www.fwbo-news.org/2009/01/news-from-india-dhamma-talks-and-tours.html .
i was on retreat with both subhuti and dharmashalin at the nnby conference in december. while there i learned so much more about dr. ambedkar, got a chance to practice meditation and the buddhist dhamma with the indian sangha, and most of all, deepen my friendships with the youth on retreat.

on this last visit to india i spent time in both central india and northern india. nagpur is the geographic center of india in the state of maharastra. it is dr. ambedkar's "diksha bhumi", the place where he converted to buddhism. there is a stupa there to mark this site, and nearby is the tbmsg's nagaloka center, as well as the dragon palace, a beautiful taiwanese buddhist temple. ambedkar's influence is strongly felt in nagpur, actually throughout the state of mahrastra, where the dalit buddhist community is very organized. the nagpur airport is named after dr. amedkaar and there are statues and other images of ambedkar throughout the city. in north india, by contrast, the dalit community is a minority, and dalit buddhists organize on their own, or in very small groups. buddhist ambedkarites are in north india within a hindu fundamentalist context, and there are many challenges to their work. for this reason i was very impressed by my committed buddhist friends who are in delhi, as well as in towns and villages across north india. i saw for myself how hard they are working to spread the dharma in this area, often with very little support.

in delhi i re-connected with my friends at the new dhammachakra buddhist center. it is a lovely sangha emerging there, organized by one order member, dh. maitriveer nagarjuna, near the jnu campus. the dhamma mitras are university students and recent university graduates, and local people from the community also attend their sangha events. i was delighted to witness the cooperation on display in this emerging sangha.

also in delhi i met with dhamma mitras who are creating a right livelihood business, encouraging one another to study foreign languages, such as german and korean, to build a tour company that offers ethical travel packages to westerners. their specialty is tours to sacred buddhist sites, and includes accurate buddhist history, opportunities for travelers to meditate and do puja with local buddhists, and discussions on dr. ambedkar and the revival of buddhism in modern india. i saw for myself how tough life is in delhi, for both local residents and for tourists! in my experience, tour operators there can be quite aggressive, and often rather dishonest. i am very eager to connect my western buddhist friends with these young buddhist entrepreneurs as an alternative, as a means of promoting ethical travel, and also a way to keep our money flowing through the local buddhist economy.

outside of delhi i visited some north indian villages, which i loved. modinagar is an hour away from delhi, and the local sangha there had a celebration on the grounds of a buddhist orphanage. it was a festive day with presentations of drama, poetry, speeches and song, praising dr. ambedkar and teaching the dharma. i was received warmly as their guest, and the garland they presented me was woven from marigolds grown right there in their own garden. i loved the warmth and generosity of the local people i met, and felt the buddhist spirit very much alive in their gathering. i was also very moved by the beautiful ragas people sang and played on traditional instruments.

another village, bharat pur, rajasthan, is the site of a magnificent bird sanctuary, one of the most renowned bird parks in the world. in bharat pur we met local buddhists in their homes, in preparation for subhuti's visit there. they fed us well and took us on a tour of the local school where subhuti would be speaking. that night we gathered with local villagers for a short dharma talk by nagarjuna, and a little presentation by me about jai bhim international. this small gathering was very powerful for me. i imagine us bringing our community english project to communities just like this one.

now nagarjuna and the dhammachakra buddhist center are busy preparing for a 4-day retreat with subhuti in delhi next week, and also arranging the details of the rest of his tour, in places like modinagar and bharat pur. it is exciting to think of the buddhist dharma returning to the north of india, and impressive and humbling to be practicing with people who are committing themselves so whole-heartedly to this work.


see fotos from our time in delhi on our website:
http://www.jaibhiminternational.org/delhi2008-2009
and from north india: http://www.jaibhiminternational.org/january2009northindia