Pure Inspiration

Ven. Hiriko – 49
On one cārikā, the Venerable was walking through a forest, one of the
bigger National parks, perhaps Yāla. ‘There were not many villages
there,’ he said, ‘and these villages were very poor. On top of that, I
would arrive unannounced and so nobody would have any food to
give me. Two days went without receiving any food, and on the third
morning I was really hungry. But I was still deep inside the National
Park and I didn’t expect that I’d receive any food from the villagers
even if I encountered any. Early that morning I arrived in a small
village and as I was walking through it an elderly lady came from her
house with a pot in her hands. She came towards me and made an
añjali (reverential salutation). Then as I opened my bowl, she put the
food inside. The food she offered was of excellent quality, so I was
quite surprised. It looked as if she knew that I was coming and she had
the food prepared and was waiting for me. So after I chanted a
blessing, I looked at her and against my custom of not engaging in
conversation during piṇḍapāta, I asked her about it. She answered
‘Venerable Sir, last night as I was offering flowers and praying in
front of my altar a devatā (celestial being) appeared to me. He told me
to get up early tomorrow morning and prepare the best food. He said
that a bhikkhu is on his way and will pass through our village and that
I should offer it to him to get some merit. So when I saw you coming I
was already prepared and very happy because I already knew that you
will come.’ I heard this from the Venerable’s own mouth, I don’t
remember the reason he told me, but there isn’t any reason to doubt
that it really happened.
During his wanderings in Sri Lanka Ven. Ñāṇavimala often slept in
forests or tea plantations if he was unable to find a suitable temple for
that day. One of the temples of the forest tradition that he was quite
fond of, and mentioned a number of times, was Meetirigala. He was