Pure Inspiration

Ven. Hiriko – 48
anyone since I became a bhikkhu,’ he explained. I was never very good
at following that instruction, I must admit.
As for the teachings that one could find in the texts, he often said: ‘Go
and look for that passage, it’s in that sutta. It’s from the Buddha who is
the supreme teacher, so learn from him, it’s the best. I can’t say it
better than him.’ In that way he encouraged me to study the suttas. He
was a compassionate man, but it was ‘arahat’s compassion’(detached
compassion). He stayed with the Dhamma, and only talked the
Dhamma.
Venerable Ñāṇavimala spent many years walking from one end of Sri
Lanka to the other. He carried all his possessions with him. It wasn’t
much, and the begging bowl isn’t that heavy, but if you carry it day
after day always on one side, the right side (as is necessary because of
the style of the Theravāda robe), then the spine can slowly bend to the
opposite side – and that’s what happened to him. So walking became
difficult, and he returned to Polgasduwa after many years of doing his
cārikā (walking tours).
Once, I asked him if during these wanderings anyone has ever stolen
anything from him. He thought hard and said with a smile: ‘Yes, once
I arrived late in the town of Matara, and decided to sleep at the
railway station. When I got up in the morning to leave, I realised that
my bag had been opened. The thief had stolen the rope I would carry
and spread between two trees to dry my robes after I wash them. I am
sure the thief must have been bitterly disappointed that the bag didn’t
have anything better to take away but a single old rope.’