The Spirit of Travel

 

06.03.2022 THE SPIRIT OF TRAVEL The new July 2022 issue of Lion’s Roar magazine celebrates the spirit of travel: how it both broadens our minds and opens our hearts. “Travel is a meditation because we must constantly inquire: Where am I? What is this?” writes Anita Feng in “Waking Up to the World,” in which she tells the story of traveling from Seattle to Ethiopia for her daughter’s wedding. “The jolt of foreignness can spur awakening — flooding us with change, that mark of existence we often don’t notice in our daily lives. The truth is, we’re always traveling, always in flux. We just don’t realize it most of the time.” For many, it’s been some time since we’ve experienced the awakening experience of travel — thanks to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. If you’re not ready to explore a new destination just yet, the pages of this issue will allow you to journey abroad from wherever you are, soaking in the sights, lessons, and memories of travels from the wonderful contributors within. Below are three of those pieces. May they help bring the spirit of exploration to your weekend. —Lilly Greenblatt, Digital Editor, Lion’s Roar

Waking Up to the World Travel broadens the mind and opens the heart. Here are three personal stories of transformational travel in Thailand, Ethiopia, and Yemen. Our daughter, Tasha, was a Peace Corp volunteer in Tigray, Ethiopia, and she fell in love with Goitom, a bright, big-hearted young man from that village. We, her family, were on our way to celebrate their wedding. The expected guest list from the groom’s side was about 1,500. From the bride’s side? Three. We arrived and the celebrations began. Wonderful and chaotic, delicious and bewildering, the party lasted for the better part of a week. Granted, there were a few challenges. It was the dry season, and there was no running water (except for two hours one day, when we all scrambled to take brief, cold showers). Electricity was intermittent, and an incompetent wedding photographer hijacked events with equipment that didn’t work.

Walking In the Footsteps of the Buddha When we visit the very places where the Buddha lived and taught, we discover deeper meaning in his teachings. Shantum Seth takes us on a sacred pilgrimage. As he lay on his deathbed, the Buddha comforted his distraught disciple Ananda by telling him there were four places that those with faith in the buddhadharma should visit. These four were the pleasure garden in Lumbini, where he’d been born; under the tree by the Niranjana River in Bodhgaya, where he’d awakened; in the Deer Park in Sarnath, where he’d first taught; and in the sal forest of Kushinagar where he would breathe his last. This was the Buddha’s way of saying that he could always be found wherever he’d walked and taught. So over the past 2,600 years, millions of pilgrims have renewed and deepened their practice by visiting the four sites the Buddha listed.

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Enlightenment Things to see, do, and enjoy in three American Buddhist hotspots. In the green oasis of the Foster Botanical Garden, tucked away at the edge of downtown Honolulu, stands a large bo tree. Not only does this stately tree offer a welcome respite from the bustle of the city, it’s a reminder of how the seeds of the dharma were planted and cultivated in Hawaii. The Foster Botanical Garden bo tree is descended from the tree in India under which Shakyamuni Buddha attained enlightenment. Given to Native Hawaiian philanthropist Mary Robinson Foster by Anagarika Dharmapala in 1913, it’s a living memorial to their lifelong spiritual friendship and incredible work nurturing Buddhism in Sri Lanka and India, including restoring the sacred Mahabodhi Temple in Bodhgaya.

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