Rude Awakenings - Forest Sangha Publications

^0 F I R S T M O O N 06government was concerned that it could break out into a holy civil war.An elderly official at the back of the office was sympathetic to ourscanning of the train timetables. As we wanted to go to Gorakhpur,there was a train to Gorakhpur; a timetable was produced to back upthis sympathetic reality, and the details of the train conveyed. Back atthe reservation desk, we tried again. “The train is cancelled.” This occasionedan exchange between the two ends of the office. This time literaltruth prevailed. We withdrew again to the timetables. Nick’s finger hitLucknow, capital of U.P., more than halfway to Gorakhpur. “Maybethere’s a train to Lucknow.” “Is this train to Lucknow running?” heinquired of the man. “Certainly.” “And could we get a train from Lucknowto Gorakhpur?” Suitably chastened by his recent defeat, our friendcame up with a polite waggle of the head: “Who knows?” The only realitythat inevitably pertains. So the woman booked us a ticket to Lucknow,where we hoped to connect with the “who knows?” express.The Buddha image in the courtyard was still imperturbably sittingunder his Bodhi tree when we made it back to the “Buddhist Pilgrims’Rest,” frazzled after a few frustrating hours attempting to get thingsdone in the city. The afternoon swam with heat and some excruciatingpop song that had become this month’s mantra. An overhead fan stirredit all and added its pulse. A few hours bathed in all that made some quietopen space an attractive proposition, hence the roof: as evening fell, wemoved upward toward the sky and the cool moon. The stillness andserenity of meditation seemed like a plausible option, but that had alsobeen cancelled. We started off with some chanting, gallantly enough,but went soggy in no time. Nick began to droop soon and spent a fewhours in various crumpled positions before disappearing. My mindteetered around in the darkness, occasionally glimpsing the Buddhagleaming under his electric light in the courtyard below or prodded bythe chomping and slurping of the upside-down demon. Although mylights dimmed by midnight, I managed to hang in the dullness until anacceptable cave-in sometime after two o’clock. So much for the Plan.1 6