Pure Inspiration

Ven. Ñāṇadīpa Thera – 72
recitation that ended with tea-drinking. Once, I even saw him have a
swim in the lagoon, which I found rather surprising.
The last two or three weeks before leaving, he remained in the
dānasāla (dining hall) after tea drinking in order to be taught
Sinhalese by the chief monk, Ñāṇaloka. He got help for composing a
mettā-kathā (talk on mettā meditation) so as to be able to give a small
baṇa (sermon) to the people who helped him on his cārikās (walk
tours). When he left, he was gone and no one knew to where. He left
leaving a vacuum – no one anymore to be inspired by. Conditions
gradually deteriorated and a few months later, I found it necessary to
leave for Bundala, not heeding his advice to ‘stay at least five years’.
The bear incident at Kudumbigala he told to me in ’69. He was staying
in a faraway cave. I was shown that cave later, it still had most of the
ancient walls. At night, a bear came through the entrance, stood up on
its hind legs, raising its front legs with the claws out and slowly
approached him (anyone who has seen a bear with its claws open,
knows what a terrifying sight that is). Ñāṇavimala started to recite the
so-called Khandha-paritta (Group Protection), a chant to appease
snakes, but it can be used for other animals too. The bear slowly drew
back its claws, turned around and left. This incident dates back to his
first cārikā (’67-‘68). We came to know about Kudumbigala because of
him.
Later on, Ñāṇavimala rarely (if ever) had a prolonged stay in the
forest. As he said to another monk ‘The forest is not my
kamma’(accumulation). I don’t think he often stayed out in the open.
That would only have been for lack of a suitable place. He preferred
the closed room to an open forest. When walking, he kept to the