Following my life-altering pilgrimage across northeast India and audience with the Dalai Lama, I find myself this morning waking up overlooking my very own apartment across the East River in an isolation unit of New York Presbyterian Hospital.
I had contemplated finding medical care in Delhi, but didn’t know how and knew my insurance would never cover me there. The flight home back was gruesome and I sweated the entire way. Having feverishly coughed my lungs out for thirteen hours, I was so weak I broke my normal pattern and took a taxi back to our apartment.
The author recovers from pneumonia in isolation at New York Presbyterian Hospital.
Room overlooks his home on Roosevelt Island. Photo: John Lee.
After arriving home I took every medication I could get my hands on, then slept for 24 hours. Waking up feeling worse than when I had slept, I headed for the Emergency Room. They admitted me immediately, diagnosed me with pneumonia, and are now ruling out T.B.
My body is now back in New York but my mind lingers to my pilgrimage in India.
Here, the tanks were rolled out to help protect the Dalai Lama against threats in Bodh Gaya.
Photo: author.
Hundreds of thousands of Buddhist devotees in Bodh Gaya listening to the Dalai Lama.
Photo courtesy of Norbu Wangyal (www.phayul.com).
One of my new Indian friends, Deepak Agrawal, owner of the Sakura Hotel Bodh Gaya as well as several other establishments, wrote me upon hearing I was not able to shake off my cough:
Namaste. I received your mail regarding your severe sickness and was set back and extremely shocked. Let me add quickly that I am going to pray inside the bodhi-tree for your quick recovery from this sickness. I will light the candle in front of Lord Buddha as many people believe this brings speedy recovery from any trouble. Thank you very much for your kindnesses. Even in the depth of your sickness you did not forget to write me. I am very much excited to be your board member and look forward to do good things and eager to continue communication with you. Warm regards from the bottom of my heart, your faithful and loyal friend, Dipu.
Fooling around with the kids, the author posed with one boy’s hat. Photo: author.
My attending physician is convinced I do not have tuberculosis, but New York protocol demands I remain in isolation until all test results – taken over three consecutive days – come back clear. On the heels of a three-day weekend, this process is delayed. That being said, I have had a chance to catch my breath and finish this 14-part series – perhaps my most ambitious to date.
Getting drinking water in Bodh Gaya is a challenge. I bought bottled water every day.
Photo: Vanessa Cabezas.
The challenge has been to write a series that focuses on my personal journey, the journey of the Buddha through the Dalai Lama, and social needs encountered along the way in India – written across thee platforms: The Daily Kos, The Huffington Post, and The Stewardship Report. Each story, I hope, can stand on its own – and yet together, they collectively form a cohesive and interesting narrative. You be the judge.
Edited by Ferdi Kayhan.
Pilgrimage to Buddha’s Holy Sites
Main Sites: Lumbini, Bodh Gaya, Sarnath, Kushinagar
Additional Sites: Sravasti, Rajgir, Sankissa, Vaishali, Nalanda, Varanasi
Other Sites: Patna, Gaya, Kosambi, Kapilavastu, Devadaha, Kesariya, Pava
See Stories by Jim Luce on:
India | International Development | Philanthropy | Social Responsibility | Tibet
On Pilgrimage: Following the Footsteps of Buddha Across N.W. India: 14 Parts
1. HuffPo: On Pilgrimage: Following the Footsteps of Buddha Across N.E. India
2. Daily Kos: Under the Bodhi Tree in Bodh Gaya Where Prince Became Buddha
3. Daily Kos: Photo Essay of Bodh Gaya, Where Buddha Became Enlightened
4. Daily Kos: Next Step of Indian Pilgrimage: Mountain Where Buddha Preached
5. HuffPo: Touching the Untouchable in a Rural Indian Village
6. Daily Kos: Rediscovering the World’s First Great University in Buddhist India
7. Stewardship Report: Buddhism for Beginners: Insights from a Non-Buddhist
8. HuffPo: Can We Help Rescue Education and Orphan Care in Bihar, India?
9. Daily Kos: Buddhism and the Universal Concept of Social Responsibility
10. Stewardship Report: Most-Photographed Man in the World Prepares to Retire
11. Daily Kos: Varanasi: Holy City of Buddhists – As Well as Hindus, Jainists, Jews
12. Daily Kos: On the Banks of the Ganges: Continuing the Search for My Soul
13. HuffPo: My Pilgrimage Complete: Lessons Learned, Life Continues Like a Wheel
14. Daily Kos: Pilgrimage Postscript: Pneumonia and Possible T.B.
The James Jay Dudley Luce Foundation (www.lucefoundation.org) is the umbrella organization under which The International University Center Haiti (Uni Haiti) and Orphans International Worldwide (OIWW) are organized. If supporting young global leadership is important to you, subscribe to J. Luce Foundation updates here.
Follow Jim Luce on Twitter and Facebook.
