Let's Get on With the Show
Mar 30, 2005
"We use mosquito nets because at night, unconsciously, we might injure them," he says. It takes a moment for that statement to hit you. Most people use mosquito nets to protect themselves, not the mosquitoes!
But of course, this is a wandering Jain monk who doesn't use fans, electricity, or chairs and has spent 34 of his 42 year life walking from one place to another.
It's rather random that I'm in front of him, asking shameless questions, especially when there's a Wednesday night meditation going on with 30-35 people. But such were the circumstances, the night before I am about to take off on the boldest pilgrimage of my life.
"What have you gained by walking?" I ask him, with his disciples seated around him in the moonlit light. "Walking is a very humble activity, that allows you to connect with the most common man. And when you walk with full trust in the universe, you learn to accept everything that comes. Good or bad, you see it all as karma," the monk said.
"Your disciple tells me that you got hit by a truck while walking, many years ago. What went through your mind at that time?" I press him to relate theory to his personal life.
"Prior to the accident, I had a feeling something bad was going to happen but you don't know how it will manifest. So I was ready to take whatever came. When I was hit by the truck, I was unconscious for six hours. After I woke up, they told me that they have the driver who hit me and I immediately told 'em to let him go. He made a mistake. It's ok. This was my pending karma," he said in a very matter of fact way.
Touched by his be-the-change life, I ask him: "So really, we should all just walk out on the streets right now. Sooner or later, if we have to face our karma, why waste time rotating in maya? Let's just get on with the show, right now." He smiles and adds, "Yes."
But of course, this is a wandering Jain monk who doesn't use fans, electricity, or chairs and has spent 34 of his 42 year life walking from one place to another.
It's rather random that I'm in front of him, asking shameless questions, especially when there's a Wednesday night meditation going on with 30-35 people. But such were the circumstances, the night before I am about to take off on the boldest pilgrimage of my life.
"What have you gained by walking?" I ask him, with his disciples seated around him in the moonlit light. "Walking is a very humble activity, that allows you to connect with the most common man. And when you walk with full trust in the universe, you learn to accept everything that comes. Good or bad, you see it all as karma," the monk said.
"Your disciple tells me that you got hit by a truck while walking, many years ago. What went through your mind at that time?" I press him to relate theory to his personal life.
"Prior to the accident, I had a feeling something bad was going to happen but you don't know how it will manifest. So I was ready to take whatever came. When I was hit by the truck, I was unconscious for six hours. After I woke up, they told me that they have the driver who hit me and I immediately told 'em to let him go. He made a mistake. It's ok. This was my pending karma," he said in a very matter of fact way.
Touched by his be-the-change life, I ask him: "So really, we should all just walk out on the streets right now. Sooner or later, if we have to face our karma, why waste time rotating in maya? Let's just get on with the show, right now." He smiles and adds, "Yes."
