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Rude Awakenings - Forest Sangha Publications

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^0 DA R K A N G E L 06I contemplated that a lot of it came down to the difference betweenAsians and Westerners. Left to themselves Asians will just hang out, likethe young Thai monks staying in the wat who were rather aimlesslymaking their way around the Indian holy sites. In Thailand one of thefavourite words is sabai, which they use in the way the Spanish usemañana. Westerners, on the other hand, can be driven by the need to getsomething done, to achieve something, and, in the spiritual life, toresolve all those emotional hangups. In Thailand they don’t have thehang-ups, they don’t even have a word for guilt! So perhaps it dependson the culture. For them the harshness of the Thai forest traditionmakes sense as a counter; for us perhaps there is a need for some kindnessto ourselves in with it. But then I’ve always been easy on myself.My companion did seem to be changing, though. Since Patna thingshad got a lot easier. Maybe that was just because we had got so run down,but I hoped it was more than that.Our last day at Nalanda was my birthday. I walked down to the site toget some cold Fruitees to celebrate. They were sold by some of the stallsat the main entrance, and I had got into the habit of buying them whenI passed. This time I bought seven, one for Ajahn Sucitto, one for eachof the Thai monks at the wat, one for the maechee, and one for me. Havingdistributed them I went upstairs to drink mine on the flat roof of thewat. It had been a quiet day but a nice one, and I felt the best I had sincewe started the pilgrimage. We had eaten well at Nalanda, and all thatmeat protein had got us feeling fit again. It had also helped AjahnSucitto’s foot. The temperature was now much more manageable—infact it felt very pleasant up there on the roof in the slight breeze—and Iwas looking forward to the next part of the journey. From the roof Icould see the hills of southern Bihar, rising out of the plain just beyondRajgir. Our long trek across the plains would soon be over. Rajgir wasour next stop, and after that we would be in forested uplands.2 1 7

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