India & Nepal Pilgrimage: In the Footsteps of the Buddha
February 9, 2025 @ 8:00 am – February 22, 2025 @ 5:00 pm PST
Deer Park Peepal Pilgrimage
In the Footsteps of the Buddha
A pilgrimage led by Monastics of Deer Park & Dharmacharya Shantum Seth
February 9 – February 22, 2025
“The trip for many of us was in the truest sense a spiritual journey, and an opportunity to look deeply at ourselves, and our journey so far in life.”
– Brother Phap dUNG
Shakyamuni Buddha discovered the truth of overcoming suffering and bringing happiness to the individual, family and society.
Before he died, the Buddha suggested that it would be of great benefit to those who are interested in his teachings to make a pilgrimage to the places associated with his life.
We invite you to make this pilgrimage with us, walking in the footsteps of the Buddha across India and Nepal.
THE JOURNEY
This 14-day journey will begin at noon in Delhi, India on Thursday, February 9, 2025.
In Delhi, we will visit the place where Mahatma Gandhi, the father of India, lived and died. This is a wonderful place to begin the pilgrimage as Gandhiji reminds us of the Buddha in our time. He personified a unique way of living, spirituality and politics where it became a practice of applied ethics.
The next day, we will fly to Varanasi. In Varanasi, the ‘City of Light’ we will visit the banks of the Ganges River where the Hindu faithful come to wash away their bad karma. We shall visit the Deer Park in Sarnath where the Buddha met his first five disciples and offered his teachings on the Four Noble Truths, the Eight-Fold Path and Non-Self, thereby ‘turning the wheel of the Dharma’, that continues to turn, 2,600 years later.
Thereafter we shall continue in our own private coach to Bodh Gaya where Siddhartha Gautama awakened to become the Buddha. We shall visit the Mahabodhi Temple, sit under the Bodhi Tree and visit the seven sites he visited after his enlightenment. We shall also walk across the countryside to the caves where the Buddha practiced austerities and to the village of Sujata, the young girl who offered him rice and milk when he was starving to death.
We shall journey on to Rajgir, the capital of the Magadha kingdom at the time of the Buddha. We will visit Jethian, where the Buddha met with King Bimbisara, walk to the Bamboo Grove, the first land donated to the sangha, climb to his favorite meditation place, Vulture Peak and walk to the Saptaparni Caves, where the first Buddhist council was held, via the Hot Springs that he bathed at. We shall visit Nalanda the site of the famous university from the 5th to 12th centuries CE where a lot of Mahayana teachings were developed, including being the source of the Manifestation school lineage of the Order of Inter-being.
We then travel across the Ganges to Vaishali, where the first nuns were ordained, and the Buddha spent his last rain retreat.
Next, we move to Kushinagar, where the Buddha passed away, and visit the stupas and temples to mark the spots of his last teachings, death and cremation. En-route, we pass Kesariya, where there was the largest stupa in the world and where it is thought the Buddha delivered the Kalama sutra.
– BROTHER PHAP DUNG
“Each site became sacred through the depth of our looking. Whether the Bodhi Tree is real depends on our true presence in the moment. We used the practices that the Buddha taught, to stop and to truly be present and in contact with our body, feelings, and emotions. We had many opportunities to sit quietly at the sites, follow our breathing, and contemplate the life and meaning of our Root Teacher.”
We will then cross the border into Nepal to Lumbini, where the Buddha was born, then back across the border to the palace at Kapilavastu, where Siddhartha the Prince spent the first 29 years of his life.
We continue to Sravasti, where the Buddha spent 24 of his rain retreats. We shall visit the famous Jeta Grove where the Buddha offered many teachings, including the Anapanasati Sutra, on the Full Awareness of Breathing, and the old city where he converted the dreaded terrorist, Angulimala to the path of peacefulness. These places are very moving and allow us to experience what the Buddha did and internalize his teachings.
We will go to Lucknow, the modern-day capital of the state of Uttar Pradesh. The next morning, Saturday February 22, 2025, we will fly back to Delhi, when the pilgrimage ends.
You should book your departure flight on the evening/night of February 22, 2025.
Some who want can opt for extension journeys to the Taj Mahal and the Ajanta/Ellora caves.
*Peepal is the tree under which the Buddha awakened.
DAILY SCHEDULE & SPECIAL EXCURSIONS
Our retreat schedule will include daily sitting and walking meditation, often starting with a morning meditation at one of the Buddhist sites.
This will be followed by breakfast at the hotel, after which we’ll visit one of the Buddhist sites listed in the itinerary. Shantum will offer a detailed talk on that site in the context of the Buddha’s life and teachings, and what was happening in the area many centuries ago, while also making it relevant to our times.
Pilgrims will have some time at the site to walk around, after which we will have lunch. We’ll rest after lunch, after which we may visit another site associated with the Buddha or go to a village, school, home and meet with interesting people etc.
We return to the hotel by evening in time for dinner. The monastics will lead us in many of the practices.
On the days we travel, the itinerary will vary slightly, and there will be some flexibility depending on the size, needs, and interest of the group.
COSTS & REGISTRATION
Each pilgrim must complete the registration form below in full. Each registration requires a non-refundable deposit of US$500 per pilgrim—see payment options below. The remainder of the cost of the pilgrimage is due by December 1, 2024.
FULL PAYMENT IS DUE DECEMBER 1, 2024.
View the costs here.
The tour price includes: airport transfers and escort services in New Delhi, teaching and guide services, local flights and transportation during the pilgrimage, monument entrance fees, all meals (vegetarian), bottled water and lodging arrangements for the duration of the pilgrimage. All registration fees are payable in U.S. dollars, Euros or the equivalent in another currency.
Please note that the cost does not cover: International airfare to and from New Delhi, visas and other international arrangements, any extra days spent in India beyond the dates of the pilgrimage, excess baggage fees on the flights, laundry and medical and other insurance coverage, tips and anything not included in what the ‘price includes’.. It is advisable that participants purchase Travel Insurance.
Sponsorship: For every 6 people who sign up for the pilgrimage, one monastic is sponsored free on the pilgrimage. You are also welcome to independently sponsor a monastic to come on the pilgrimage.
For further information & registration please contact info@buddhapath.com. We kindly ask you to NOT reach out to the Deer Park registration office, as all registration will go through the Buddha Path.
ABOUT YOUR TEACHERS
The pilgrimage will be led by the monastics of Deer Park and Dharmacharya Shantum Seth.
Dharmacharya Shantum Seth is an ordained teacher who was ‘Transmitted the Lamp’ by Thich Nhat Hanh in 2001. He is the foremost expert on sites associated with the Buddha and has been leading pilgrimages since 1988. He worked with the United Nations on volunteering, peace, and social development for more than 15 years, and has been a Senior Advisor to the World Bank and the Government of India on pilgrimage tourism. He has co-authored books such as Walking with the Buddha, Volunteers against Conflict and been a consultant for films like BBC-Discovery’s Life of the Buddha and BBC-PBS’s The Story of India.
Brother Chân Pháp Dung was ordained on February 4th 1998 as a member of the “Apple” family at Plum Village France. He received full bhikshu ordination on December 18th 2001, and received the Lamp Transmission from Thầy and became a Dharma Teacher in 2004. He is the former abbot of Deer Park Monastery in California from 2001 to 2010.
He was born in Vietnam in 1969, came to the US when he was nine years old. He received a professional BA in Architecture from the University of Southern California, and worked as an architect/designer for four years before becoming a monk. He enjoys
playing, learning and sharing mindfulness with children of all ages. Br. Pháp Dung helped to establish Deer Park Monastery and other US centres, creating meditation programs and retreats for children, teens, families, and young adults, as well as planning its halls and infrastructures. He has led mindfulness retreats in North and South America, China, Hong Kong, India, Bhutan and Germany. He is most inspired by meditation as a method of examining and cultivating the mind, of the individual and of the collective; and by community building as a method to heal and develop society.
Additional Monastics from Deer Park Monastery will be announced later. For every 6 people who sign up for the pilgrimage, one monastic is sponsored free on the pilgrimage. You are also welcome to independently sponsor a monastic to come on the pilgrimage.
OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION
Extended information about the journey sites and places to visit
Important to-dos after registration
Travel facts & cancellation policy
Questions?
We encourage you to read all of the materials linked above and throughout this page, as we answer most of your questions within these documents. However if you have additional questions, please reach out to info@buddhapath.com.
