MAKING A VOW TO YOURSELF

MAKING A VOW TO YOURSELF

Are you enjoying our travel stories to India & Nepal?

I know it’s not about flowers -- but it's about transformation.

If you read my last blog post, you’ll remember that 20 years ago, I took my first trip to Bodhgaya, India.

Colorful flower mandala laid before the Mahabodhi Stupa in Bodhgaya, monks and visitors gathering at dusk.

I remember visiting the Mahabodhi Stupa one night – I’d stopped to listen to a group of nuns singing the most enchanting melodies together. They each carried a big drum and methodically moved it from side to side.

The following day, I took a day trip, walking several hours through dusty villages to get to a place called Mahakala Cave.

Two people walking barefoot across a wet riverbank in Bihar, India, a tall metal tower rising behind them.

Hazy view over the Bihar countryside from a hilltop, palm tree in the foreground, a distant village below.

It was a special place. Some 2500 years ago, the famous prince Siddhartha was sitting in that very cave, doing austere meditation practices. He’d stopped eating until he was skin and bones.

Gilded Buddha statue draped in saffron cloth with marigold garlands and candlelight in Mahakala Cave, site of Siddhartha's meditation.

He was on the brink of death, when he came to the realization that he needed nourishment in order to continue on his path to enlightenment.

It was there at that cave, that I made a vow to myself:

One day, I would learn the nuns’ melodic practice that I had heard. I would come back and do that practice at this cave.

Why did I make that vow? I’m not sure. It just arose from within me.

Over the years I was slowly introduced to the practice, but never indulged in actually doing it on a regular basis.

I have a weird thing sometimes where I deny myself things that I really love.

Do you ever have that too?

[If so, grab the Divine Within or Luscious Embodiment; it helps!]

In 2022, due to a personal hardship, I found it absolutely necessary to start doing this practice regularly. Rather than an indulgence, it felt like survival.

Fast forward less than a year – I found myself back at that cave where I’d made that promise to myself 20 years prior. I was able to fulfill my vow and offered the practice at the cave.

Katie Hess gathers with others beneath strings of prayer flags outside Mahakala Cave, the site of her 20-year-old vow.

What I learned:

Sometimes we make promises to ourselves. They might seem random. And yet – it’s important to uphold those promises, especially when the outcome is positive.

I don’t have to understand how all the puzzle pieces connect, but I enjoy the magic and synchronicity of it all.

Another example of this was that daily I started reading Thich Nhat Than’s translation of The Insight that Leads Us to the Other Shore.

Person holding Thich Nhat Hanh's translation "The Insight that Brings Us to the Other Shore," sitting on a blanket surrounded by books

Then the LOTUSWEI team started reading it out loud every day after our meditation practice in preparation for the Ripple the Void Tour last year. We even added it at the end of our flower offering ceremonies in each city.

LOTUSWEI team members gathered on a red-rock hillside, reading the Heart Sutra aloud ahead of the Ripple the Void Tour.

Otherwise known as the Heart Sutra, it was first spoken out loud some 2500 years ago at a place called Vulture’s Peak.

Two women resting on a boulder below prayer flags at Vulture's Peak, a bird perched on the rock behind them.

Then last December, we booked a last minute trip to India (we booked our tickets ONE WEEK before departure!).

And just like that – weeks later, we found ourselves at the place where the Heart Sutra was first spoken.

The highlights?

We did our practice in a cave inside Vulture’s Peak.

 Two women chanting inside a cave on Vulture's Peak, the site where the Buddha first taught the Heart Sutra.

It was the most comfortable cave I’ve ever been in.

As we started our chanting, a group of Tibetans crouched into the cave and they were so touched by our singing, they offered each of us a 10 Rupee bill on each of our laps.

We were stunned.

Four people chanting with mala beads inside the Vulture's Peak cave, orange cloth draped behind them.

Afterward, we walked to the top of Vulture's Peak and saw a big group of monks doing practice.

Maroon-robed monks gathered for a fire ceremony on the misty hillside terrace atop Vulture's Peak, India.

I watched as the winds danced in the prayer flags, sending love out into all directions in space.

Colorful prayer flags fluttering above a boulder at the summit of Vulture's Peak, trees below.

At the end of the day, we went to Nalanda.

About 2000 years ago, it was a thriving center for learning about astrology, philosophy, natural medicine and the art of war. People came from as far as China to study at Nalanda!

Weathered brick stupa ruins of ancient Nalanda university in Bihar, framed by overhanging tree branches.

Although just ruins today, it was possibly the most peaceful place I’d ever been in my life. My mind was blown to pieces and I found it hard to speak.

 Two visitors walking past the ancient brick ruins of Nalanda, once a renowned center of learning in India.

I walked around every room in the living quarters of the university.

Brick ruins of the ancient Nalanda monastic university in Bihar, India, stone stairs climbing a weathered wall.

We touched the trees and tuned into the ground under our feet. I felt something absorb into my body from the ground under my bare feet.

Person in white reaches to touch the trunk of an ancient tree at the Nalanda ruins in India

The sun crept under the horizon and the sky went black as we ended our visit. My belly felt full & my heart overflowed with wonder. Funny how we carry these experiences in our bodies forever.

I thought you might like to hear the Heart Sutra, so I put together a playlist of it in various languages.

No matter your spiritual path or what you believe in, listening to the Heart Sutra is like watching a beautiful sunset.

Enjoy here.

Love & flower petals,
Katie

 

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