Don’t look back

The monks were waiting patiently at the market when Gedhun, his father, and grandfather arrived. Amid the smoke and strong smells of spicy food being cooked, Gedhun’s attention was drawn to the music coming from the fried mozzarella ball stand. Carol King’s ‘I Feel the Earth Move Under My Feet’ was blaring. The monks greeted them and made small talk. They agreed to meet back at the market in about 9 months time, on Saturday, right after the new moon.

Gedhun hugged his father and grandfather, turned, and headed off with the monks. His father and grandfather turned and headed out of the market and back up the hilly path toward home. No one felt joyful, not even the monks. But deep down inside everyone knew the truth. Gedhun and his family had been presented with the opportunity of a lifetime. He would be educated. The monks walked mindfully back toward their monastery and school with Gedhun. The 20 kilometer walk would take the better part of the day.

The monks stopped around midday near the bank of a slow flowing river. Everyone sat and the monks shared a lunch of dried fruit, leftover rotis, and cold tea with Gedhun. Across the river, deer walked silently. All around them birds chirped, happy to be warm in the midday sun. Just before getting up to continue on, one of the monks pulled a small wrapped package from his monk’s bag. He slowly unwrapped it to reveal a thick bar of chocolate. Gedhun had never seen or tasted it. The monk broke it up into small pieces and shared it. The monk encouraged him to allow the chunk of chocolate to sit and dissolve in the mouth. Gedhun tried that for a minute but was overcome by the deliciousness of it, finally giving in, chewing it up and swallowing it.

About mid afternoon the group stopped once again. This time everybody laid down. The monks had a daily practice of resting on their back, ankles crossed, hands folded, for about 20 minutes. They were adept at relaxing their body and mind to the point where they could produce delta and theta waves in their brains, giving them the benefits of hours of deep sleep with a simple 20 minute nap.

Gedhun fell asleep quickly and began to dream.

The oldest monk was the first to feel it. A subtle but steady vibration of the ground beneath him. He began to shift his conscious awareness from his deep sleep state back to the present moment. When he finally blinked his eyes open the steady vibration had become more of a rumbling and shaking. Gedhun and the other monk were shaken awake. The eldest monk motioned for them to sit cross-legged facing each other. He began chanting Om Tare Tuttare Ture Soha – The Green Tara Mantra. The mantra to relieve them from all sufferings. The mantra to relieve them from the 8 fears. The mantra to help overcome unpleasant situations. The mantra that Gedhun had chanted with his family right before he left his home earlier that morning.