The Temple of the King

Bodh Gaya, India, 450BCE

It was the year of the fox.

Vihaan and Avyaan were making the annual pilgrimage to the Mahabodhi Temple. Once a year, they hiked to the mountain top, where the temple stood for centuries. It was called the Temple of the King. Noone knew exactly why. The locals told stories that the temple was built in ancient times by a local clan chief, who fancied calling himself king. After his time, it served as a monastery for a while, until it was abandoned a few decades ago. Now it lied in ruins.

Many ascetics made the journey every year, however, not to see the temple ruins, but the tree that lied at the centre of the main yard. The famous Mahabodhi Tree. Everyone argued that the tree had magically appeared one year, without any signs of vegetation previously. It bore no fruit and cast no shadow. Like it originated from out of this world. The tradition said that it served as a gateway to Nirvana, or the after-life. Young monks, eager to ease and expedite their path to Enlightenment, they meditated for hours, even for days, under the tree. Noone had reached Enlightenment all these years though, despite the increasing number of people who decided to abandon the earthly pleasures and make the spiritual journey.

Vihaan and Avyaan were close to the temple now. They had started hiking early in the morning, having a local village as their temporary base.

"I've been told that some royals have made the journey this year." Avyaan said, wanting to break the silence between them that could last for hours.

"Oh, is it someone famous?" Vihaan asked.

"A young prince from Nepal. From the Shakya clan, I think. I don't know his name though." Avyaan said and went back to his silence. They both preferred a quiet hike without much talk. They saw their walk as part of their meditation. Sounds from wildlife and the forest filled the silence. The dusk was closing in. It looked like the Sun was waving goodbye to them and their surroundings. Both were already deep in their monastic training, so they had learned to enjoy every detail around them, use them as fuel to still their minds and fill their hearts with compassion.

They were close to the temple now. The front entrance looked like it was guarded by two tall stone pillars. These pillars looked exactly the same as every time they traveled to the temple. Something looked different though. There was an unexpectedly big crowd gathered right in front. Vihaan and Avyaan approached the crowd and asked two monks.

"What's the reason for this commotion? Did something happen with the tree?" Vihaan asked without trying to hide his excitement.

One of the monks turned around to respond with an excited look on his face."No, no!" he said. "One of the pilgrims is claiming to have reached Enlightenment. He'd been sitting under the holy Tree for days, almost over a month now. Look at the state of him. You can clearly see his bones. Yet, he looks so happy with clear mind and no fear."

Vihaan turned to look at his friend Avyaan. They both nodded to each other and tried to push through the crowd, in order to be in hearing distance of the man's first dharma. After a while, they manage to reach the third row of the gathering crowd and in similar fashion to everyone else, they sat down to listen in silence.

The pilgrim was indeed in dear state. His body looked starved, dehydrated, and his bones clearly visible under his skin. He looked like a man close to his final hours. His eyes were stuck in the ground right in front of him, when all of the sudden he raised his glaze and looked at the crowd. He tried to smile, although with little success as his face muscles had become powerless by starvation. Nonetheless, his eyes were as bright as fire. As gentle as the calm sea. As welcoming as the evening breeze.

The silence all around was complete and deafening. As if the ghosts of the temple had come and taken the sounds of all things, and muted nature itself.

The pilgrim opened his mouth to speak and startled everyone, as his voice was unusually loud and clear for his physical state:

"I can now see, when Ι was blind."

"I can now hear, when I was deaf."

"I can now understand, when I was foolish."

"I am now awake."