Two thousand to fifteen hundred years ago,
Anuradhapura was one of the world's greatest cities, the greatest Buddhist
monastic city of all time with, at its height, hundreds of monasteries and tens
of thousands of monks practicing here. Traders from as far as Rome and the Arab
world made this a stop on their journeys. For centuries, the greatest man-made
structures in the world were the Pyramids at Giza and the great stupas of
Anuradhapura. Then, as with many great civilizations, it was all wiped out and
nearly all traces of its existence disappeared. Today, what remains of ancient
Anuradhapura is just a fraction of the great city that once stood here, but the
expansive ruins and a little imagination help one rebuild the ancient Buddhist
city as what remains is explored. Still, as the birthplace of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, and one of the world's strongholds of pure, Theravada Buddhism, this city is a
thriving pilgrimage site for devotees from around the world. In many ways, the
Buddhism practiced in Sri Lanka is the purest form in the world, and watching
the hundreds of pilgrims arriving in white robes at the sacred site of the
Bodhi Tree grown from a clipping taken from the original
Bodhi Tree, we couldn't help but be reminded of just how special and important
places of worship and pilgrimage like this one are to the preservation and practice of human spirit.
Our first full non-travel day in Sri Lanka is one we will always remember and not just because of the immense beauty and spiritual power of this place. When we returned from our day of exploring the ancient city, I checked my email to find the kind of string of messages that one never wants to receive. I had had just a few hours during which I could have made a phone call and those few hours had expired at 5:50 a.m. Although I did not receive these messages in time to say "I love you" and "I will miss you" the way I would have wanted to, somehow, we still feel that we were given the opportunity to say goodbye. Strangely, Ash and I had both awoken around 5:30 this morning, without reason. Now, we know there was reason. Other than being at home during this time, I can't think of a better place to be then right here where the spirit and love that permeates from this place makes it the kind of place where goodbyes can be said in less tangible but more powerful ways. It's 8:45 p.m. and as my family sleeps, I will walk to look for a place to sit and say "hello and goodbye" to my beloved mother. Mom, I love you so much.
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