Pure Inspiration

Ishanka – 82
Sometimes Ven. Ñāṇavimala would stay at Lanka Vipassanā
Meditation Center on Wijeyrama Mawatha (the well-known Mahāsi
centre), and he would walk the short distance to our house, possibly
because he had a long association with my aunt and her family. We
invariably offered him tea and then transport to wherever he needed
to go. He always politely refused, stating that his feet were capable of
doing the job. My family all considered Ven. Ñāṇavimala ‘special’.
One of my cousins, Sarath was a hard drinker and considered a bad
boy in the family, but later, due to his close association with Ven.
Ñāṇavimala, who guided him in reading the suttas, Sarath underwent
a dramatic transformation. He stopped drinking and became a model
citizen – to the infinite gratitude of his wife. She prepared meals and
visited Ven. Ñāṇavimala with Sarath, and I accompanied them during
one of these visits and was re-introduced to Bhante. On one such
occasion, I offered some liquid refreshment (gilanpasa) to Bhante who
commented about the heat of the day and expressed his appreciation
of the drink.
I used these opportunities to sit and talk with Bhante for a while. I
explained my background to him, that I had been offered good career
opportunities, one of which was to work and be trained in the U.S.A.,
but I never followed this up. Bhante commented that it was a good
thing that I was back in Sri Lanka. He said it was important that I was
brought up as a Buddhist and this background was necessary for the
acceptance and development of virtue (sīla), as I had been resentful of
discipline as a child. He commented on this without being prompted
and said, ‘Yes you are lucky to be born a Buddhist, if we simply follow
our instincts, we fall away from the path.’”