Pure Inspiration

Ven. Bhikkhu Guttasīla – 69
by car, but Ven. Ñāṇavimala refused and walked. We were expecting
him to come to Vajirarama – walking from Ratnapura would take a
few days. But then we’d heard that he’d actually walked to the vihāra
(temple) in Colombo hospital where there is a monk from Vajirarama
in residence. When he got to the hospital, he was in an extremely sick
condition with complete fatigue and exhaustion and he may even have
been put in the intensive care unit. Also, he was beginning to have
extreme difficulty with his hips. Basically, he wore out his hips from
walking. A couple of years later Ven. Ñāṇavimala spent some months
at Vajirarama before permanently moving down to Island Hermitage.
I was staying in Vajirarama in the mid-nineties when Ven.
Mettavihārī was looking after Ven. Ñāṇavimala. At that time he had
become so skinny, just like a bag of skin and bones. He could only take
liquid foods. He was so sick that everyone thought he was going to die.
Ven. Mettavihārī used to help him walk one length of the room. This
little bit of exercise was all he could accomplish. Even to turn in bed,
he had to be assisted – he was just so weak. Ven. Mettavihārī was very
wonderful, the care he gave him during that time. When present, I was
also helping a little bit. Ven. Ñāṇavimala’s character completely
changed, he was helpless. Here was this person who had a very bright
mind which actually showed a lot of love and patience. This was very
different from the Ven. Ñāṇavimala that I saw previously – self
contained, austere.