A Way of Life

I never thought I would say this, but I learned a lot from a Buddhist monk. He taught me so many beautiful things yesterday. I am fortunate enough to have a friend who is taking a religious studies class and she coordinated a trip to a traditional Buddhist Temple! She was there to interview the monk for a research paper. He ended up shedding light upon us.

It was an incredible experience; eye-opening and life-changing.

I had a few "ah-ha" moments.

It was so amazing because I felt that when he spoke to me, that he was seeing me, as I am. He could see me and he knew me. Every word he spoke fell on open ears and into an inquiring mind.  Unfortunately his English was not good, and so many words I did not understand. His eyes, however, really told me everything I needed to know.

He asked me a question. Where did you come from?

We all gave different answers, but nobody really knew. Where did we come from?

I believed I came from the source, the light, GOD... but his answer was you came from your mother. He said that Buddhism is first knowing WHO YOU ARE. Before you even begin to study Buddhism, you have to know yourself.

He asked another question. What is important to you?

We pretty much agreed that it was our families, our mothers, our children.

His answer was that we were important to him, because we were there with him now. The most important people in your life are the ones around you right now! Your life is happening right now. He said that your present life is today, right now. Tomorrow is your next life. That was one of those "ah-ha" moments. Don't worry about tomorrow. Live the life that you are living now. If you are happy in this life (today) then you will be happy in your next life (tomorrow).

I loved the simplicity of it all. So simple, yet so deep. Like me :)