[Buddha-l] In the footsteps of Xuan Zhang

[Dan Lusthaus]

> Any evidence that when XuangZhang started out he was doing it with a batch
> of people as well?
> Joanna

He did start with a small entrourage, but the others dropped out along the
way. The last one, a guide he had picked up along the way, was planning to
steal his horse and leave him to die in the wilderness. Xuanzang did almost
die in the desert, saved only because after he had already passed out, his
horse smelled water in the distance and brought him there. He was also
almost killed by brigands. His return to India, was a grand affair,
involving dozens of pack animals and attendants loaded with texts, statues,
etc.

A number of people have retraced Xuanzang's steps in recent years. Sally
Wiggins covered some of that ground, and Richard Bernstein, a writer for the
New York Times, wrote a book about his own journey, _Ultimate Journey:
Retracing the Path of an Ancient Buddhist Monk in Search of Enlightenment_ .
He didn't walk, but took cars, trucks, trains, etc., whenever possible. Even
so, he had to skirt some of the areas covered by Xuanzang due to the current
political situation (Afghanistan, parts of Pakistan, Kashmir -- keep in mind
that Peshawar in Pakistan, always identified by journalists as a dangerous,
militant haven, was the Purushapura in Gandhara from where Asanga and
Vasubandhu, among many others, hailed). There are now roads that cover the
way, so it is not the forboding journey into the unknown it was during
Xuanzang's day. Chinese monks have continued to make the journey overland
into modern times. The famous master, Xu Yun (Empty Cloud), who lived over
130 years (died in the 1950s) traveled to India and Burma making
prostrations the whole way (take a few steps, do a full body prostration,
then take a few more steps, etc.). I don't think the current group will
follow his example.

Dan Lusthaus