Our group departed at four in the morning, heading towards Cockfoot Mountain (Mount Gurupāda or Kukkuṭapāda Giri Mountain). Passing a long way through the dark, we turned into a dim, desolate alley with only the flickering flashlights to light up the darkness and the gentle but mighty footsteps of the Sangha breaking the silence. Joyful mind, incredible joy at every step.

Cockfoot Mountain peak appears hazily in the morning dew,
The golden robe’s image in dusted silver white gleamed through a long path.

The bumpy road was deeply rutted by the tracks of the wheels, ox wagons laden with straw staggered, the axles swayed from side to side as if they were about to collapse. The trees on both sides of the road had changed color from many layers of dust. Beyond the long, rugged road is a bank of white sand alongside a small creek. The cool, clear stream of water soothes the burning feet of the Sangha.

I have now named spotty Āloka (light). With his effort accompanying the Sangha on this journey, may he be born in every life as a human and find the light of truth. Āloka also immersed himself in the cool water to quench his thirst. In front of us were the wide plots of land, winding paths with old bamboo groves, luxuriant old trees, and straight palm trees standing proudly in the sky. The beautiful village road with its lovely nature made many travelers stop to admire it. There is a yellow flannel flower and a purple climbing flower trellis, guava, tamarind, and straw along the roadside. Scattered here and there, blue smoke rose from the hearths of thatched-roof houses. It reminds us of the old rice pot the mother cooked together with a bowl of gourd soup, a plate of boiled sweet potato leaves, a cup of fish sauce with pork cracklings, and the scene of the whole family gathering together for dinner. How peaceful it is!

In front of us is the majestic Cockfoot Mountain peak with the magnificent golden Stupa at the top. The joy was even greater when I knew that I was about to kneel next to Venerable Mahākassapa and pay homage to the Master of Austerity, the foremost in austere practice (dhutaṅga) that we follow suit. Although the mountain is in front of you, the longer you go, the farther away it seems. The steps of the foot-traveling Sangha, holding medicine bags and alms bowls on their shoulders, moved through every nook and cranny of villages, deep forests and high mountains like an army on the battlefield.

Our journey is not to protect our borders or defend our country but to triumph over ourselves – over our ambitions and desires, which are our greatest enemy and the most causal condition that keeps people in the cycle of birth (saṃsāra) in six paths. Obscured by countless lifetimes of ignorance, people do not realize that the essence of all things is non-self without eternal ego. Everything is created by conditions but also dissolved by conditions. Thinking that the ego exists eternally, we use whatever means necessary to get what we want, chasing after our desires without knowing how much evil kamma we create in the process. Constantly fighting and competing, not once do we take a moment of self-reflection to see what true glory is.

We stopped for lunch and medical examinations. Once again, the Venerable Abbot of Wat Thai Buddhagaya arranged for the Vice Abbot to bring doctors and nurses over to perform medical checkups and hand out medicine to support the Sangha. We showered, stopped overnight here, and set off for the mountain tomorrow morning.

Source: Dhammacetiya
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