The Triratna Story by Vajragupta

4 The Indian Dhamma Revolution n A group of Westerners are driving with their local guides in a jeep through the heart of India. Their vehicle shakes and slithers for hours down bumpy, ridged roads. The landscape is mainly flat, with large fields of sugar cane and cotton. There are banana trees with ragged leaves blowing in the breeze, and mango trees with their smoky fronds of flowers. A large green lizard stomps into the undergrowth. Every few miles, the jeep passes through another village, with its assortment of mud-brick buildings and market stalls.

These dust-red roads are the veins along which the lifeblood of India beats. There are women marching forwards with babies strapped to their backs. Emaciated, absent-minded cattle saunter across the road. Men teeter on bicycles overladen with sacks of rice. There are bullock carts with great lengths of sugar cane strapped across them. A cranky old bus, crammed with passengers, races to pick up those waiting at the next stop. Not everyone 29