This is one of my finest day here in Sri Lanka. Meeting some new friends. This is the first time in my life to make friends with monks. They are all around my age, around 25, some are younger. Spending time with them everyday gives me insight of being a monk. Amazing yet very simple life. Everything make sense when we lead this kind of life. Being not attached to various things in life somehow is a liberation for me.
Why we have to cling to something that is subject to decay and death, if we could understand that ourself is subject to decay and death? Something else must be there. Money and material things are subject to decay and death, wife and children are subject to decay and death, fame and glory are subject to decay and death, even religion & philosophy are subject to decay & death. These are not kind of understanding that everything is vain & empty. Just the opposite, where there is an understanding that everything is impermanence then something great are born from it. Love born from it. Love that is free from attachment. From this understanding then we could love everything deeper. We could appreciate our wealth more and use it wisely, we could love our partner more for we don’t know how much time left for us to be together, we could look others as equal for there are no boundaries between ‘me’ and ‘you’, and we can pray more sincere for we know that the Ultimate Reality is beyond time –all doctrines, religion & philosophy are bounds by time– only by surrender and being humble then we can touch the Ultimate Love. With the understanding that everything will not last forever, it is very easy to be in the here & in the now. That’s the only reality, here & now. So why clinging to the past and future? Why worries? Just enjoy the moment!
Yesterday one of my good friend, Barmen Simatupang, gave me “Heart of Gold” lyric, a song by Neil Young. The song touched me deeply. I felt that my journey here is kind of like a searching for that heart of gold, even though in reality that heart of gold can be found anywhere, anytime. We don’t need to search it again and again until we old like it says in the song. Just be aware of our own self and others, and we will find out that very heart of gold is in front of our own eyes.
Here, I can found those hearts of gold among my monk friends. In my trip to Ambuluwawa, amazing tower in the hill near Gampola town, I found those golden hearts playing and joking around just like youngster of my age. It is very nice to know that leading a monastic life don’t have to be so serious & stressful, instead, when there are no attachments there are no worries, just be happy and “enjoy the ride!”
I want to live,
I want to give
I’ve been a miner
for a heart of gold.
It’s these expressions
I never give
That keep me searching
for a heart of gold
And I’m getting old.
Keeps me searching
for a heart of gold
And I’m getting old.
Town of Gampola, Sri Lanka.
People in the town of Gampola.
I’ve been to Hollywood
I’ve been to Redwood
I crossed the ocean
for a heart of gold
I’ve been in my mind,
it’s such a fine line
That keeps me searching
for a heart of gold
And I’m getting old.
Keeps me searching
for a heart of gold
And I’m getting old.
We must hike for 1 hour from the gate because
the car engine was over-heat.
Lama Nam Gay, Tibetan Buddhist monk from Bhutan
wearing his traditional hat. Dalai Lama also like to wear this kind of hat.
Bhane Wimalajhoti tried to wear Lama Nam Gay’s traditional Tibetan Buddhist hat.
“Toilet”
While resting Bhante Wimalajhoti showed that in Sri Lanka’s ID
there is no mentioning of “religion”.
Amazing view from the hiking track.
Playing with the sun.
Eating the sun.
Holding the sun.
Shy faces.
Church, Hindu Temple & Masjid built side by side in the area of Ambuluwawa Tower.
Inside Ambuluwawa Tower.
Bhante Kushala on the top of the tower.
365 feet above the ground.
Happy monks.
Keep me searching
for a heart of gold
You keep me searching
for a heart of gold
And I’m getting old.
I’ve been a miner
for a heart of gold.
International monks (from left to right): Ven. Soma (Nepal), Ven. Suguna (Mongolia)
Ven. Khavi Daja (Burma), Lama Nam Gay (Bhutan), Ven. Chakma (India),
Ven. Kushala (Nepal), Mahatma Putra (Indonesia, Lho?).