Footsteps of Buddha/N. India & Nepal Spiritual Sacred Sites

Description

Blue Morpho International hosts spiritually based tourism groups at the different Sacred Sites around the world such as: Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley in Peru, Nile River in Egypt; Buddhist Temples in Tibet and Nepal, Mayan sites in Belize and Mexico, Lake Titicaca in Bolivia, and Amazon jungle in Peru.

Our tours range from 7 days to 12 days in length and offer guests a huge range of transformational experiences all guided by trained spiritualists as well as expert local guides.

Blue Morpho International was founded by Hamilton Souther and Malcolm Rossiter. Hamilton originally started Blue Morpho 12 years ago as an Amazon jungle exploration tourism company with plans to expand it to involve the entire world and all the amazing sacred sites that this planet has to offer. And now we’ve finally brought his dream to life.

Our aim is to not just host another tourism group who goes and takes pictures of these amazing places, but to host groups of spiritually-based like-minded people that are personally guided on a series of experiences where they can connect to the ancient powers and learn the indigenous ways. The purpose of our journeys is not tourism in the traditional sense; we are here to explore the sacred, the mystical, the ancient and profound. We are here to offer experiences that change lives, open minds, and awaken hearts. Our journeys are forays into the depths of the human psyche, on the edge of experience, where transformation, growth and evolution occur.

Achieve Personal Transformation & Evolution

Blue Morpho International (BMI) tours are all about personal transformation and evolution. This transformation is total, encompassing your mind, body, heart and spirit. Whether you are looking to address personal challenges in your life, learn new things about yourself and the universe, or explore deep mystical realities in exotic and exciting places, a BMI spiritual tour offers you all of these opportunities.

This is much more than just a journey to new and faraway places. This is a journey to the core of who you are.

Each unique journey is designed to take you to exciting foreign lands. In these places you will not only experience the magic and majesty of the landscape and culture, but you will be taken on an inner journey to explore, connect with, and discover your own extraordinary landscape. As you do, you will be able to transform this inner world from old patterns and beliefs that no longer serve you to something new and enriching, full of wonder and beauty.

What are Sacred Sites?

Sacred Sites are unique places, both natural and man-made, that have energetic powers that are very different from the landscape around them. These locations have been recognized by both ancient and modern man as not only incredible places to visit but as energetic realities that can literally change your experience of the world.

People from ancient cultures are known to have been more connected to the ebb and flow of the planet’s energy. Sacred Sites have been created in extraordinary locations where this energetic flow is more palpable, carrying a powerful signature unlike anything in the vicinity. These special or unique properties of the landscape were honored and sanctified by early cultures, often creating temples or places of worship near geographic features in the midst of spectacular lakes, mountains and mighty rivers.

These places have become epicenters of cultural and spiritual activity for time immemorial. People from all over the world and across the ages have gathered at these places for a variety of reasons, putting their energy, their time, intent and love into the place, making it what it is today: Sacred.

North India & Nepal - In the Footsteps of Buddha 12 days, 12 nights

This powerful transformational journey will take us on a true pilgrimage through the beauty of India and Nepal's countryside.

We will have the opportunity to reflect on the Buddha's teachings and what they mean to us personally, as we slowly move through the streets and village life of the area, absorbing, visiting and connecting with the Buddha in the very spaces where he explored life and learned what it means to be a sentient being.

We will spend contemplative time under the ancestral Bodhi tree where the Buddha achieved enlightenment. We will also explore spaces where he taught and shared his knowings with others. During this journey, we will visit the place where he achieved final nirvana, as well as the site of his birth.

This pilgrimage is designed to aid you in connecting you to your own personal wisdom and expressing it from your heart.

Sample Itinerary

Day 1

We meet today at the Kathmandu Hotel at 6:30am to officially start the tour. We will head to the domestic airport in time to catch the 9:00am flight to Lumbini (Bharawa).

Upon our arrival, we will board the bus and head to the Buddhist archaeological site of Ramagrama, which dates back to 2500 BC. Here we will perform the tour’s opening ceremony.

Ramagrama contains an important stupa that is part of the Buddhist pilgrimage trail. It is one of 8 places where Buddha’s relics were placed after his cremation. It is the only intact and original stupa that still contains Buddha’s relics; the other 7 places were all opened by King Oshaka some 300 years after Buddha’s death so that he could celebrate Buddha by redistributing his remains among 84,000 temples spread throughout his vast Maurya empire.

The 7-meter high stupa is still buried under a mound of earth; however, the site is an ideal space for us to make our initial connections with Buddha on this journey.

After our time here we will head to the hotel in Lumbini, check-in, and have lunch.

Following lunch we will visit the Maya Devi Temple, which is believed to date back as far as the 6th Century BC. This site is traditionally considered to be the place where Queen Maya Devi gave birth to Buddha.

Located here is the Puskarini or Holy Pond, where Buddha's mother took a ritual pre-birth dip before giving baby Buddha life. Buddha received his first bath in these waters. We will also explore the site's Sacred Gardens.

According to tradition, previous Buddhas were also born in this area, each achieving ultimate Enlightenment and finally relinquishing their earthly forms.

We will have the chance to spend time at the Peepul tree, also known as the Bodhi tree, under which Maya Devi is believed to have given birth to Buddha.

This site also contains one of the remaining Ashokan Pillars. These pillars were erected by the Mauryan King Ashoka to honor Buddha in the 3rd century BC.

Dinner and overnight at the Lumbini Garden New Crystal Hotel.

Day 2

We have an easier day today, starting with a leisurely morning at the Japanese Peace Pagoda in Lumbini.

A magnificent Buddhist stupa, this monument is designed to provide a focus for people of all races and religions to help unite them in the search for world peace.

We will have an early lunch and then head to Tilaurakot Palace in Nepalese Kapilavastu.

The Tilaurakot Palace is a beautiful site where you can still see the remains of the 12-foot thick walls of the city as well as the ancient moat.

It was from the east gate of this palace where Prince Siddartha Gautama (Buddha), at 29 years of age, departed on his famed journey on the back of his horse, Kanthak.

We will perform a ceremony at this eastern gate to open ourselves up to the new chapters of our own journey and evolution.

Later in the afternoon we will also visit two other sites, one at Kudan and one at Nigalihawa.

At Nigalihawa we will visit an amazing 1000+-year-old black stone Buddha statue depicting the fifth Buddha of antiquity, Kanakamuni. We will also see one of the remaining Oshaka Pillars.

Dinner and overnight at Lumbini Garden New Crystal Hotel.

Day 3

After breakfast we start our drive towards Piparahawa, India. We will reach the Nepal-India border after about an hour's drive. Once we have our our visa and customs clearances we will drive to Piprahawa in India.

The little village of Piprahawa is an important Buddhist pilgrimage site. Lord Buddha is said to have spent a major part of his first 29 years of life in this region. This place is also known as the Indian part of the historic city of Kapilavastu. It is considered to be the ruins of King Suddhodhana's summer palace as well as the ruins of a Monastery known as Ganwaria.

Archaeological excavations have dated parts of this place back to 5th Century BC. This stupa is accepted as the site where the Sakyas constructed the relic shrine with their 1/8th portion of Buddha’s relics.

Dinner and overnight at the Royal Retreat hotel in Kapilvastu.

For full itinerary & more information, please visit our website.

Join us now on this Journey of Life.