Sarnath

We cycled from Varanasi to Sarnath. Only 15km, but a real trip into the tough side of India!
Firstly, on the way out town, the road goes under the train track. The road under the bridge is hardly wide enough for one bus to go through. When we arrive, the traffic is completely blocked. Two buses on each side wanted both to go through, each driver thinking that his confidence and speed would make the other one stop… by the time they realise one has to move backwards, twenty rickshaws and cars are surrounding them, playing the horn like crazy as if it was a magical instrument to invoke the gods of traffic. If the bus moves 5 cm forward to make some space to turn around, everybody else gets excited and moves 1m forward until the road is completely packed, not a cm to manoeuvre even for motorbikes.
We calmly decide to take a 10m path up to the tracks to leave this mess. As we go up a man shouts toward us : No! No!
We ask him why not, leaving him a chance to explain his sudden reaction. He is : Too steep, too steep!
We say thank you and completely ignore his advice as we have learned to do so in the last two months, cross the tracks and simply walk down on the other side of the bridge, happy to leave the Indians sort themselves out.

The road becomes a deep muddy path for a couple of kilometres where every vehicle wants to go first, overtaking us with splashes and sudden turns.

We then crossed the river in the north of Varanasi where all the dirty water is released to “preserve” the Ganga river. The banks of the river are huge piles of garbage and it is difficult to see the surface of the water under the thick layer of foam, condensate of chemicals and other waste.

We finally make it to the peaceful parks and temples of Sarnath. As soon as we arrive on the site, we are told where to pay, to park, to pee and so on, advice that we again happily ignore and instead have a nap where Buddha gave his first teaching of the Dharma ( path to enlightenment).

The prince Siddhartha Gothama was born with around him the certitude of his greatness, either as a king or as a teacher

After as luxurious childhood, in his twenties he encounters in the surrounding of his palace elderly people, ill people and dead people through which he realises that suffering is inherent to human existence.  After seeing a monk and asking what he was doing, he started his quest to understand the cause of this suffering.

For many years he becomes an ascetic, punishing his body to tame his mind but no answers come to him. As he is about to give up his quest, he is offered a bowl of rice  which marks the end of his ascetism and discover the middle way as path to enlightenment ( neither punishment nor self indulgence).

He was then 35 years old and taught his discovery for 45 years until his death. His first teaching was in Sarnath where these pictures have been taken.

He is portrayed here defeating a demon with his teachings, and the devotion towards his person questioned us quite a lot since he claimed being as common as any one of us. I suppose he can’t force people not to worship him if that is what they want, as long as his teachings remain the core of their practise.