Of Nostalgia and Motorcycles

Pala is fond of saying that the gentlest tug of nostalgia is akin to the magnitude of ten great waterfalls. While I have yet to even see such phenomena, I feel confident in saying that my experiences over the course of this past week have certainly led to my feeling them.

I spent a lot of time with children this week. In the neighbouring village, it was children who aided our team of healers in the preparation and delivery of various salves and medications to quarantined sufferers of the naga illness. Some, seeing that we had left prayer flags as offerings for Virupaksa, followed suit and brought their own toys and clothing to leave behind as offerings to appease the god. The lot of us were stunned at how such young children had managed to grasp the concept of generosity, the hang of which adults two and three times their ages were still struggling to get. When I pulled one of these children to the side and asked why he had done what he did, he explained to me that such were the teachings of his teacher. Despite being a child, he must find ways to do all that is in his power to help those in need and must never let selfishness prevent him from saving another being. In doing this, he would eventually accumulate the karma needed to free himself from samsara and escape life’s endless dhukkha, all while simultaneously working to reduce the suffering of others. Again, I was utterly shocked to see that this child of no more than ten years of age had come to the same realization that I had only a week ago. The importance, thus, of finding oneself a spiritual friend or a teacher suddenly dawned on me.

To escape samsara is to achieve liberation, with which one attains Buddhahood. Our teachers, in giving us the tools and the guidance needed to escape samsara, act as our truest guides to liberation, much like the Buddha was for the Five Disciples. In this way, one can achieve liberation simply through pure and unquestionable devotion to their teacher. Almost as if through the process of diffusion, simply being around a teacher who is pure, learned, compassionate, and generous makes use individuals who are pure, learned, compassionate, and generous, such that we accept the teachings of our teacher as true and maintain a pure perception.

Granted, he did not possess (nor does he currently possess) vast knowledge of the tantras, sutras, and sastras, and I am unsure as to whether or not he has at any point contravened the external vows of the Pratimoksa, the inner vows of the Bodhisattva, or the secret vows of the Secret Mantrayana. Yet, in seeing the child’s enthusiasm for his teacher, I was taken back to my childhood and Pala’s role in shaping me into the person I am today. At the age when my parents left me, I was young, I was impressionable. I could have become anyone and anything. A thief, a pirate, a robber, a criminal. However, this did not end up happening. The universe, perhaps sensing my need, sent me a spiritual friend who would guide me along the right path.

These thoughts occupied my mind as I made my way home from the neighbouring village. I suppose I was somewhat distracted because I somehow ended up along the western outskirts of our village, a place I had never before visited. As I was taking stock of my surroundings, I heard the sound of a woman crying. Following this sound, I came to a fallen hut where I found a sobbing young woman clutching an injured child in her arms. I quickly ran to her and introduced myself as a doctor. The woman, Sonam, explained to me that her hut had collapsed during the storm and while she had managed to escape, her young daughter had not been so lucky. The child’s cries had eventually tapered off and she had been in a vegetative state for a few days now. Closer inspection on my part revealed a severe case of gangrene and a broken leg, likely in need of amputation.

That was several days ago. Since then, Sonam and I have been working together, her meditating and me administering various antibiotics, to bring her daughter back to a stable state so that we may take her to the village core for surgery. Today appears to be that day. The girl is finally eating solids and has an inexplicable vibrance in her eyes.

*****

Upon returning to the village, we were immediately informed that plans were underway to have a travelling lama make a stop at our village. To say that utter pandemonium has ensued would be an understatement. I have only been back a quarter of a day, and someone has informed me that Pala is insisting on greeting the lama on a motorcycle… That being said, it’s about time the village had something to be excited about. I’m going to see to it that Pala and I help out some of the neighbourhood women in preparing torma for the proposed visit. Maybe that will get Pala’s mind off this motorcycle.