To the north of Bodhgaya, some 10 kilometres away, is Dungeshwari Hills — named after the Hindu goddess Dungeshwari (a form of Maa Durga). To the Tibetans and the Bhutanese, the place is known as Mahakala Cave, after the Mahasiddha Shrawarigpa (Ritro Wangchuk in Dzongkha) is supposed to have had the vision of the Six-Armed Mahakala.

Here there is a cave where Siddhartha Gautama almost died after practicing extreme austerity. An image of a self-mortified Buddha can be seen in the cave.

As the light of life was deeming away from him, Buddha heard a sitar player tuning the instrument. When the musician tightened the string too much, the string broke. When the string was too loose, the sound was terrible. It was only when the string was somewhere between being too tight and too loose that the sitar sounded perfect.

It then dawned on the Buddha that enlightenment can neither be found in the hedonistic princely life, nor in the extreme self-mortification of one’s body. He needed to find a middle way — a path between the two extremes.

He then got up and went looking for something to eat. Descending to the village, a milkmaid named Sujata offered some kheer — a traditional Indian dish of rice and milk pudding. Another farmer offered him a kusha grass mat to Buddha. He then got the strength to continue his search for enlightenment, which he achieved under a Bodhi tree in present day Bodhgaya.

Both the Mahakala Cave and Sujata’s house have become destinations of Buddhist pilgrims today.

The Middle Path

The Middle Path philosophy was later expounded by Nagarjuna in the first century and became the main foundation for the Mahayana, and later Vajrayana, schools of Buddhism. Nagajuna, and his student Shavaripa, visited the cave, which perhaps provided him with the inspiration and motivation.

For me, the middle path philosophy is one of the most important teachings of the Buddha. While the Four Noble Truths and Eight-folds Paths are indisputable, the middle path philosophy is practical and of greater use in life, where we are reminded to avoid the extremes and also find a moderation – a limit in whatever we do. Traditionally it is called Tsham tshey and it is a popular value we teach.

Is it relevant today? You bet!

As children grow up with all sorts of imported values and beliefs, they will increasingly be wary of parents and elders telling them not to do this or that. This is where middle path philosophy comes in, whereby we can advise them to know the limit (tsham tsey) in anything they do or pursue — money, materials, social media. To tell them not to do this or that would be futile.

Furthermore, the world is burning. There is so much hate and division – all because we can’t find a middle ground, no compromise, no acceptance of the other. Those of us, and those nations and communities that practice it are in a way fortunate.