Monk

Today after school I walked through some temples. I expected to feel peaceful as I walked along the well-groomed path lined with trees away from the traffic and pollution of the town. Instead it was an eerie feeling as I walked past monks who were sweeping the sidewalks.  My heart started to beat faster as I remember stories some of my Buddhist students used to tell me about the mysticism and how they would see things lurking in the night, and how they are terrified more often than not.

One monk looked at me with clouded eyes and a head that was wavering, “what a creepy man” I thought to myself. He looked as if he were drunk or high, yet that is not allowed in the life of a monk, and their actions and diets are monitored. I was more concerned about not getting lost as the trees got thicker and the path turned into dirt. I decided to turn around and go home. There were dogs everywhere, as with true Buddhist value, everything deserves a life, so they are well fed here. Even though almost every dog in Thailand has mange, not one is skin and bones, and they are even picky eaters. One dog snubbed his nose at me after sniffing my half eaten apple and refusing to eat it. I laughed; my dogs at home would love an apple. I walked past a giant Buddha made of solid gold and rubies in a place where some are so poor and desperate for money that they would sell their own child.

Looking back at it now, and remembering the times past students would talk to me about what to do because their mom talks to their dead grandmother, and in Buddhism that is completely normal, but it scared him to death, I realize this particular monk from before was most likely in tune with the same line as my old students grandmother as a dark cloud hovers above the temple.

I spoke with my previous student and some others from around here, they all said that monk was probably a practicing medium. Hmmmm……