B, K, and I had two rewarding but challenging days in New Delhi before we parted ways two days ago when they flew home and I caught the train to my next adventure.

Rewarding because we were able to see some of the highlights of that city, such as the Rajpath area, where the big government buildings and the Prime Minister's home are located. This area was beautifully laid out by the British not too long before they had to relinquish it all to the new nation of India (one can imagine, and forgive, India's freedom fighters if they felt a bit smug about that). Now it is inspiring to see, with India's flag flying high over all the buildings, lovely gardens and greenery around, and the city of Delhi spread out below in all directions. In scale and layout, it reminds me a bit of Washington, D.C. We also saw some of the ancient monuments, such as Humayan's Tomb, a Mughal emperor's tomb that later inspired the Taj Mahal. The resemblance is unmissable. And we all loved visiting the National Museum, which contains wonderful collections of miniature paintings, sculptures, and other works.

Challenging, because we were constantly and inventively inveigled to go shopping, something we weren't interested in doing at all. Generally, I think that was because taxi and autorickshaw drivers earn a commission whenever they succeed in bringing tourists to a shopping site. Hence, they tried very hard to drive us to shopping locations, using every trick in the book, and in some cases just driving us to a shop without first telling us that's where we were going, then pleading with us to "please, just spend 15 minutes!." When our last autorickshaw driver tried hard to take us shopping, he heard such a loud, heartfelt chorus of "NO SHOPPING!" from the back seat that he really did give up. I'm left wondering whether such hard selling is usual in Delhi, or whether it's because the winter's stream of Western tourists is beginning to dry up and people simply need to work harder to make money now.

After all that, B and K came with me to the train station to see me off, and I boarded my overnight train to Varanasi Junction, which serves both the city of Varanasi and town of Sarnath. Originally, I'd planned to stay in Varanasi and make a day trip to Sarnath, which is the location of the Buddha's first teaching. But not long ago, I realized that I'd become too tired to handle the frenetic experience of being a Western tourist in yet another major city, and that what I really was looking forward to was the more peaceful experience I expected in Sarnath. In the end, I cancelled my guesthouse reservation in Varanasi, and caught my train (P, I'm so sorry to miss the opportunity to visit such an important and historic city, but I'm saving the list of wonderful suggestions you emailed me for my next trip.)

Once the train arrived at Varanasi Junction yesterday morning, I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and caught an autorickshaw to Sarnath. For much of that 10 kilometer drive, we inched our way along through a throng of agitated young men, who seemed to be involved in an organized protest march, though I never inferred its purpose. Often, some of them smacked the rickshaw nearly hard enough to dent it, and even the driver seemed to be a bit scared. When you're a visitor to another country, there's always so much you don't understand! I kept my fingers crossed that the situation wouldn't escalate, and we eventually made our way through the crowds to arrive at Sarnath's taxi/rickshaw stand.

I'd asked to be taken to a part of town where there are guesthouses and temples to stay in, but the driver and I didn't share enough language for me to get that goal across, so I just picked up my pack and walked in that direction. As I trudged along, a chorus of voices followed me: "Hullo, Madam, rickshaw?," "Madam, give me...!," "Hullo, Madam, do you want guide?" I wearily turned everyone down.

Before long, though, I found myself looking through a wrought iron gate into an entrancing garden, and then realized that the location was a budget guesthouse recommended in my Lonely Planet. I booked a room there and haven't regretted it. I put my pack in the room, intended to head out for a day of explorations, but before I knew it, I was flopped out for a long, deep afternoon's sleep.

In the late afternoon, I set out to explore a little, though I really was still too tired. I made my way through Sarnath's wonderful archeological museum, gazing wearily at dozens of beautiful statues of the Buddha and bodhisattvas, as well as a famous lion capital that used to top Emperor Asoka's towering pillar here and is now the national emblem of India. Then I wandered into the Mulgandha Kuti Vihar, a lovely sandstone temple containing beautiful paintings of scenes from the Buddha's life.

But I was so tired yesterday that only one thing really registered, out of that whole afternoon. In the museum, when a Japanese Zen teacher turned his head to answer a student's question, I noted his utter mindfulness--just his student's question, nothing else attended to--and his compassionate face. Oh, yeah, I thought, THIS is what it's about, just day by day, slowly-slowly trying to become like that--I'd almost forgotten.

Finally, I headed back to my guesthouse, stopping to buy some bananas and biscuits for a simple supper.

A long, deep night's sleep, and breakfast in my host's stunning garden, shared with many singing birds and a pair of honeymooning Ukrainian travelers, went a long way towards rejuvenating me this morning. I headed immediately back to the monastery ruins at Deer Park that are Sarnath's main tourist draw. It's late afternoon now, and I recently left there.

Nearing the ruins, I weaved my way past perhaps a dozen huge tourist buses towards the entrance gate. I had to wait a couple of minutes to enter, as streams of tourists along with disciples and their teachers exited the grounds,and then I finally made my way in, guidebook in hand (I'm using "Along the Path," a guidebook to India's Buddhist sites, written for pilgrims).

Inside, small groups of students and teachers were scattered among the ruins of many monasteries and stupas. The Deer Park is the location where the Buddha gave his first teaching on the Four Noble Truths, the eightfold path, and the Middle Way. From various locations, I could hear groups chanting that teaching in Pali, the language the Buddha used.

Soon I found myself standing before the foundation of the Dhammarajika Stupa, ruined many centuries ago. Many say this stupa was erected to mark the exact site of the Buddha's first teaching (others say a nearby stupa marks that location). I felt drawn to slowly circumnavigate it in walking meditation. I've been much neglecting my meditation practice while I've been traveling, and it felt good to return to the familiar practice of mindfully feeling the weight on my feet, the lifting and lowering of my legs, and the feel of the breeze and sun on my face and hands. Soon, my long-frazzled mind had calmed considerably.

Calmed as I was, I then began to slowly realize where I was, and the importance of this place. When the Buddha came to Sarnath, the ancient story goes, he had made a choice. He could have simply enjoyed his enlightened state and entered nirvana--no doubt a powerfully attractive alternative. Instead, he chose to remain to teach what he had come to know through his enlightenment. He taught faithfully for 50 years.

I have known this story for years, but it had not felt viscerally real until this morning. Perhaps I was a bit of a sight as I made my slow way around and around the stupa. All the other Westerners present were acting like tourists, not meditators, and all the meditators were faithfully grouped around their teachers. But I was beyond minding how I looked. I felt a slow, powerful wave of gratitude fill me as I made my way around and around the stupa, and tears filled my eyes. I also felt the deep holiness of this place; it exerted a steady physical pull on my heart as I walked.

I went on to spend the rest of the morning exploring the other ruins of Deer Park, including the site of the hut where the Buddha habitually rested and meditated (I meditated in the shade of the ruined shrine that marks it, at one point hearing the sound of footsteps walking towards me, then the click of a cellphone camera as someone took my photo), the ruins of many monasteries that were active here for centuries and then abandoned, and the tall Dhamekh Stupa erected by Emperor Asoka to commemorate the Buddha's first teaching. Alternatively, I sat in meditation at various locations, and did walking meditation, as a sort of self-retreat. Meditation comes very naturally here!

I'll remain in Sarnath through tomorrow, and then head on to Bodh Gaya, the site of the Buddha's enlightenment.