Pilgrimage Reflections #1
A personal reflection on Buddhist pilgrimage in Nepal, exploring temple rituals, mindfulness, and the five elements through direct experience.
I was born a Methodist, grew up agnostic, despaired as an atheist, and eventually found a sense of peace in Buddhism—though not completely.
Along the way, I married a Buddhist from Nepal. With that came not only a family, but a culture: annual festivals, Newar traditions, Nepali food, and time spent in the Himalaya. These became part of my life over many years.
And yet, for much of that time, I was not really seeing.
I had lived alongside Buddhist practice without truly observing it. I had not paid attention to the rituals at temples, or understood their meaning. Perhaps more significantly, I had not reflected on the quiet coexistence of Hindu and Buddhist traditions within my extended family—something both ordinary and profound.
In many ways, I had been present, but not aware.
A Pilgrimage to “Come and See”
In March 2026, I returned to Nepal for three weeks with a different intention.
Not to visit—but to observe.
This was, in a simple sense, a Buddhist pilgrimage in Nepal. But more personally, it was an attempt to follow the invitation expressed in Ehipassiko—to come and see for myself.
Not to learn through explanation, but through direct experience.
Temple Devotion and the Five Elements
One of the first experiences that stayed with me was a simple act of temple devotion.
I removed my shoes before entering.
I sprinkled water on my hands and touched it to my forehead.
I lit a butter lamp, then used its flame to light an incense stick, placing both before the image of the Gautama Buddha.
Standing there, something became quietly apparent.
My bare feet rested on the earth.
The incense moved through the air.
The flame gave warmth and light.
The water cooled the skin.
Without intention or analysis, the experience drew attention to the five elements: earth, air, fire, and water—along with the space in which they arise.
Sitting afterward, the mind settled into that same simplicity.
There was no need to interpret the moment.
Only to observe.
The Five Elements and Non-Self
In Buddhist practice, reflection on the elements is not abstract.
It is a way of seeing clearly.
This body is not separate from the world—it is composed of the same conditions: earth, air, fire, water. What we call “self” begins to appear less fixed, less solid.
Not as an idea, but as something directly experienced.
Moments like this bring a quiet recognition:
that what we take to be permanent is, in fact, dependent and changing.
Again, this is not something to believe.
It is something to notice.
The Golden Temple, Lalitpur
These observations deepened during visits to the Hiranya Varna Mahavihar in Lalitpur.
There, I watched others perform the same acts of devotion—lighting lamps, offering incense, moving quietly through the space with familiarity and care.
What stood out was not the ritual itself, but the shared attention within it.
There was no sense of performance.
No explanation being given.
Only people engaging directly with the moment.
It became clear that reading about ideas such as non-self can only go so far.
To stand in that space, to take part—however simply—has a different quality altogether.
A Beginning, Not a Conclusion
This experience did not provide answers.
It did something more modest.
It shifted attention.
For the first time, I felt I had begun—not understood, but begun—to see what had always been present around me.
The practice had not changed. Only the way of looking.
And perhaps that is where the path begins:
not in belief, but in seeing.
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