Wandering Monk

Wandering monk

I was born in a rich family and most of my life was spent basking in luxuries. My family belonged to the category of successful corporate sector which I later took care of. I had everything in life that an ordinary man struggles to get within his three lifetimes. My glorious life took a sudden narrow turn and it all started with a phone call. I still recall the day, it was a warm spring day and sunlight danced in my designer office. That one phone call informed me about a sudden breakout of fire at my palatial house and upon arrival I saw everything that I owed had turned into ashes. The glowing embers glared at my shocked face, mocking at my pitiable state. Within hours I had lost my life long accumulated wealth along with the ancestral possessions. The news of my loss affected my reputation in the corporate markets and by the end of the day I was being hassled by the creditors, board members. My so called friends left me like a shadow leaves the form on a rainy day. I always thought that I knew who I was until that horrible day when I sat alone, with no friends and only the company of desperation, desolation and doom. My mind went blank and the only thought that entered was to end my life. However hard I tried the dark thought clung to my brain, and slowly it brought comfort and became a medicine for my psychological and emotional anguish. I walked alone in the dark night, on the lonely streets engulfed in silence. Just then my thoughts were interrupted by the gentle ‘tick! Clack! Tick! Clack!’ sound. I looked up and saw a monk on the other side of the road. He was only wearing a thin orange robe and had no shoes on; his head was shaved from the front with a mullet on the back of his head. He was carrying an orange sack on his thin shoulders and held a bamboo stick in his left hand and walked nonchalantly with serenity on his face. I was amazed at the combination of his simplicity and tranquillity. Here I was dressed in my Armani suit and feeling restless and in utter despair. Curiosity got the better of me and I decided to approach him.
‘O monk. Why are you thinly dressed and with no shoes?’
The monk looked at me with a humble smile, and calm words cascaded from his mouth, ‘Sir, I’m only wearing what I need to cover my body, but why are you walking alone at this time of the night?’
I told him about my ruined state of affairs and my decision to end my life. As soon as I finished he, walked away from me and started picking pebbles from the roadside. He them came back towards me and showed me his hands with the palm facing up pebbles on one palm and nothing on the other. He then asked me,
‘Brother what do you think is going to happen if I twist my hand’?
I gingerly replied ‘the pebbles will fall from the right hand and nothing will fall from the left’.
He then said, ‘exactly, the stones will only fall as I have them nothing will fall if I have nothing. So I will lose something only if I own something and if I have nothing than I have no reason to grieve about my loss.
His response satisfied me and sensed that he was no ordinary man. I decided to have a conversation with him.
‘Monk tell me who you are, and what are you doing here?’
‘I am the wandering monk and I travel seeking people who need any help and aim to help them in their time of need.’
His answer amazed me at his selflessness, ‘why did you give up your pleasures those who don’t even know or care about you’.
‘Because it is my duty to help humans from hollow pains of the world and guide lost ones due to worldly desires, it is my duty to bring them back on the right path without expecting anything in return. Just like you, my friend. You are restless due to your bonding with the material world and inability to let go of your desires. Peace hails from the understanding that everything that exists will perish one day, live without materialistic attachments because you will have to let go one day’.
‘So how can I escape from worldly suffering?’
‘Friend, suffering is a part of life; embrace it and find the cause of that suffering, only then you’ll understand why you suffer so much’. Suffering is greediness, sexual desires, anger, ill will and delusions; one must purify one’s heart to find inner peace and true happiness.’
‘But what can I do to free myself from my despair?’
Your distress is your past and it has awarder you a valuable experience. Learn to adapt to your new situation and embrace the change because only letting go is the first lesson one must learn from life.
‘Brother, death is the final experience of life. Individuals can’t escape from death but can escape from the fear of death by helping who are suffering and by teaching Dharma (Religion) to those who have been mislead from the path knowledge and have been living in ignorance.’
After this short discourse with the monk, the monk continued his journey to help and guide the confused and dejected like me. I walked away calmly and with a renewed perception of the meaning of life. I was now on the journey to restart my life that will now be equipped with a new aim and purpose for I had learnt the lesson of living life in the present unattached and unaffected by the money-oriented possessions.

“No matter how hard the past,
You can always start again”.
Gautama Buddha