Monk Wisdom Series: What's in a Name

In this age consumed by materialism, I am attempting to usher in some profound wisdom through my monk stories to the reader. There exist some possibilities for personal transformation through an exploration of alternate realities.

These stories are not very difficult to follow, but they are what most of us believe, but fail to deliver at that moment. To understand wisdom we have to first drill down into the meaning of ‘Wise’. There are many meanings to it; erudite, learned, enlightened, extensive information so on and so forth. Of what use is all this if you make no use of it?

Hence, making due use of knowledge; discerning and judging soundly concerning what is true or false, proper or improper and delivering the message is of prime importance. What these stories or anecdotes try to provide us with is a subtle message. Some of us will identify with it, some others will be critical about it. When we do that we touch philosophical barriers.

“Our mind is like a monkey” the monks say, constantly at work, hopping from one topic to another. Do you have control over it? Your memories, your wills, your sensations, your perceptions,your future and the list keeps going on and on.

Here is the story for today:

The monastery was quiet. It was serene at dawn and the young apprentice was sitting on the boulder facing the hills. The birds flew back in an orchestrated way. The amber light filled the depth in front of him. The view he had from the top was overwhelming. The village far down in the valley was beginning to retire. Electricity had not reached the village. The light was pure, no adulteration.

He had to come up with a name for himself for the baptism into the monastery. What should he be known as? What should be the name? Is it important? His mind was swelling with questions. The Master saw the young face glowing in the light. The mind was reflecting!!! Moving slowly towards him, he perched and sought his attention. The boy twitched his eyebrows and asked the Master.

‘What's in a name?’

‘Oh! It does not mean anything in isolation, it is about what the ‘subject’ is all about. You are not known by your name but your character and your deeds,' he said and then he went on to tell this story:

A Jackal once went to the naming ceremony in a dog's family. All the members of the dog's family were there. They were the grand-dog, the grand - bitch, the father, the mother and few siblings to celebrate the occasion. The question was what should be the name of the newborn dog? It was very simple. Every one had a suggestion. This went on and on, there were many suggestions. No one was impressed with any of the names. The jackal was the quiet observer. He was watching all the fun and thought - that these dogs can never change. He opined to himself: individually they can be masters but as a collection, they are a nuisance. A dog can be the man's greatest friend and considered intelligent but he saw them how they behaved in a group. To be one up dooms us all.

And then the moment arrived. Seeing the commotion one of the dogs looked up at the Jackal. Then another one, and then another. Soon they all looked at the Jackal and started to suggesting the names awaiting an approval. It was commotion once again; this time with their heads up in the air looking at the Jackal. The Jackal was no mood to end the party. He thought over and said: ' You guys are fighting over the name, when
you have it written on your tails. Every dogs tail has the name of their new family member written on their tail. You just have to look at it and name him.'
'Whoever reads it first will get to name him', he continued. Without wasting any time the dogs started turning round and round……in order to see the name in their tails, and they went on and on……

The Jackal was watching all this, smiled and proceeded to next dogs party…. Even today you see sometimes dogs trying to catch their tail.

Master then looked at the disciple and said while ‘some parents spend some time’ to nurture the child and to be 'known' good, others spend on cosmetics to 'look' good. We start to look for names way before they are born, rarely thinking about how we will raise them.The objective I feel is lost some where in the Trivia'

Monk Wisdom Series: Love Failure

It was another day, another moment.A tiring day both physically and mentally.Today he could not sleep. It was pitch dark and the ambiance of the crickets seemed to bother him. Normally silence drew him into contemplation. "Interesting" he said to himself,when my mind is at rest this same ambiance puts me to sleep. Today my mind is filled with thoughts and it is disturbing. He reminisced the situations in life prior to him joining the monastery. Failed at work on his project , lousy investments, failed businesses, ditched by his beloved parents after few misunderstandings, soon the world changed and everyone considered him a loser. It was this disturbance that drove him to seek the inner meaning of existence. And now the thoughts were haunting him...

The breeze was flowing from the westerly direction and his robes were fluttering as if they were speaking to him. It was quiet and serene, between the noise of the wind. He never realized when his Master had joined him. He turned around and their their eyes met. He said helplessly “I am so disturbed by my failures. My thoughts are so suicidal. Please help me, Master”

Master had this calm and still look that soothed the disciple for the moment as he listened to this story from the Master…

The jungle was all praises for this little monkey. He was the star of the colony. Excelled in everything and success was at his feet every day. The mother was all praises about her son and bragged about his achievements. She created opportunities for him to excel everyday. In her own way she was pushing him to greater heights. The other parents felt the heat. Their children could not just keep up with the progress of their peer. Days went by and the little monkey went from strength to strength. Everyday the measure of their success was the fruits they plucked for the colony. Our little monkey always had the most exotic fruits and the most filled basket. One day things changed, it rained heavily and all the fruits had fallen and washed away. That day when he returned with his booty, he saw the another fellow monkey with just one leg had more fruits than he did. He was shattered. After this incident, he never achieved or performed like before. Just one failure was enough!!!! His mother never thought it was important to teach him; how to deal with failure. This was because he was always motivated on his achievements. However this time failure overpowered him.The young monkey began to lose hope and in despair fell in bad company. One instance of failure was enough….

The father of the monkey was a keen observer to all of this. The flamboyance of the kid, the showing off of his mother and the mindless celebrations of petty achievements. The heady behavior of the kid was causing him concern. On a rainy day the monkey, as he sat there scratching his belly, the father slid next to him and asked, “Son why are you no longer competitive, why don’t you hang around with the rest of the kids?” . “Oh!, I am no good, dad. Leave me alone” said he with mixed emotions.

“You never knew what failure was. Your problem was you gained because the others were no better than you. As you grow you will if you wish to be in good company, you will have to be choose the ones better than you. Embrace failure, learn from it and you will be more stronger. Life is not measured by successes in tasks and achieving milestones. It is the legacy that you leave behind in the hearts of others. Sometimes we pay more dearly for our triumphs than for our defeats. Those who do not strive will never fail”. The words echoed the sulking monkey. The next moment he sprang up and joined his friends in their favorite past time. “Scratching each other’s back!!!”

The Master moved slowly and perched on the boulder facing the disciple, while the he was still immersed in the message. The Master said in all his profoundness “ Do not brood on your failure, learn to love failure and learn from it. Success will eventually find its way to you”

The twilight dawned and the morning sun was making its warmth felt. The golden light signaled as if the disciple was enlightened. He looked behind to thank the Master and saw him walking towards to the monastery. He just smiled to himself and followed him.