Āloka, a two and a half year old spotty dog, joined the foot-traveling Sangha on our journey of Following the Buddha’s Footsteps with a full heart. He met us for the first time in the ancient capital Kolkata, India; he accompanied us to various sacred Buddhist sites, including Bodhgaya, crossing the Niranjara River to the Forest of Ascetics, the location of Sujāta offering milk rice, Venerable Mahākassapa’s Cockfoot Mountain, Sarnath Deer Park where the discourse Setting in Motion the Wheel of the Dhamma was first delivered in Varanasi, Savatthi, Kosambi, Sankissa, Vaishali, Kusinara Parinibbāna, Rampurwa, Lauriya, Great Stupa at Kesariya, Vikramshila, Nalanda Buddhist University, Patna (Pāṭaliputta City), Rājagaha Gijjhakūṭa (Vulture’s Peak), and to landmarks in Nepal: Kapilavathu, Stone Pillar of Buddha Konagamana, Birthplace of Buddha Kakusandho, Lumbini Birthplace of Bodhisatta Siddhattha. The journey covered over 3,000 kilometers (1865 miles) from December 11, 2022, to March 31, 2023.
The Sangha encountered thousands of dogs during the 110-day journey of Following the Buddha’s Footsteps. Some barked like thunder piercing the sky and rattling the earth; some stood silently watching, and some bared their teeth and growled, ready to attack the monks. However, amidst this sea of canines, one spotty dog appeared to have been awaiting our arrival. As soon as he caught sight of our earthy yellow robes, he joyfully joined the Sangha and, just like that, accompanied us throughout the journey. It was as if our meeting had been predetermined by some kammic connection from the past.
Since joining the foot-traveling Sangha, a new chapter of life has opened for spotty. He left behind his birthplace, homeland, and a series of gloomy days without a home, family, or relatives. Now, he traversed new paths and reached new destinations every day, free from the struggles of rolling around street corners, scavenging for food in the garbage, and seeking shelter from aggressive wild dogs.
I named the spotty dog Āloka because the lives of animals are indeed a series of dark days. Without wisdom, they cannot judge right from wrong, create merit, or observe precepts; they merely survive on instinct and violence. Once born into the animal realm, it is not easy to be reborn as a human again. Now, Āloka has chosen to follow the Buddha’s footsteps and retrace the ancient path, a wise choice that may have been sown by past kamma. I hope he finds the light of wisdom on this journey and is reborn in the next life as a person with abundant wealth, who knows how to make offerings, observe precepts, and has correct understanding and sharp wisdom; may he head towards the path of enlightenment, be free from suffering and the cycle of birth, aging, illness, and death and attain the supreme Nibbāna. Āloka means light and is also one of the ten Kasiṇna objects in Samatha (Aborption) meditation, by which a person with wisdom can realize the five levels of form-sphere jhāna, serving as the foundation for Vipassanā meditation leading to the cessation of rebirth.
(to be continued)
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Source: Dhammacetiya
