“Can I get you some water?”
He shook his head in response to my question, flashing a toothy smile. The chubbiness of his cheeks ballooned further as the smile stretched from one end to the other.“Just a few minutes. I’ll be fine,” he said, patting the ground on which he’d parked himself right before me.
As the sun bounced off the top of his bare head, I wondered what could have driven one so young in search of wisdom. “Did your parents send you to the monastery?” I queried gently.
Shaking his head again, he replied, “No, I just wanted to know what it was like. I had to beg them to let me go.”
“What do you think now?”
“I’ve never been happier,” he beamed, getting up, dusting his palms before putting them together and bowing before me. As his bouncy little Buddha form waddled away, it struck me that here was one far wiser than me, in years and maturity. Glancing at my laptop, I shut it and put it away.
It seemed criminal to work on a day like this.
I think in the times to come we will be seeing more and more of younger generation, including teenagers interested in pursuing a path of deeper knowledge. This is the future evolutionary course, as I am beginning to understand. Your little story seems to catch hold of that trend to come. Lovely!
I do too. How different their lives must be from ours 🙂
Yes I do recall seeing it! Made me wonder what if a child chooses this path on his own 🙂
There’s this Malayalam movie named Deshadanam. The boy of literally forced into sainthood. I somehow feel that it is criminal to force children into anything. If it is their choice, it’s still alright.
I always wonder about their wisdom and their calmness.
Have you seen tht post whch s been doing rounds on FB of a cute young monk. While of course age has nothing to do with wisdom, maturity the sight of young monks does make me wonder!