I rarely live anywhere these days, at least not if I’m there for any length of time, without seeing to some planting of one sort or another. My life, being as it is, it is true that I rarely get to see the fruits of the efforts I make, but I regard the planting and the caring in themselves to be sufficient reward.
After weeks of rainy afternoons followed by cloudy evenings, again the sky is clear at night – and what changes have taken place in the meantime! Slowly, slowly we move through the seasons, but when there is break in continuity it becomes very clear how a little change each day adds up. After evening chanting I go out with a friend to the courtyard; when we last looked Orion was almost directly overhead, and now it lies half way down towards the horizon. Just now as we progress through springtime we have some truly wonderful views with most of the readily identifiable constellations spread out across the western sky. Ursa Major, the Great Bear, which I last saw in the mornings is now the most northerly of these groups; followed...
It may be thought that a forest is a good place to watch birds, but in fact that is not always the case: some birds prefer to spend their time in the treetops, and here that can mean that they are over a hundred feet in the air; others, it is true, come to ground, but they often do so because the jungle undergrowth provides them with such good cover. It is not surprising then that a number of birds were more often heard than seen.
There are many rhesus monkeys in these hills and they turned out to be our constant and most easily visible companions in this forest – and by far the most quarrelsome too. There are, as far as I can see, two family groups numbering about twenty each who dwell in and around this part of the woods. One of the groups rests for the night in the mango grove beyond the road that leads into the monastery. As this is my work area I often see them as they wake in the morning. It sometimes seems that as soon as they get up they start fighting, and these squabbles, which may start out as only verbal challenges and self-assertion often have very violent endings with some poor fellow being thrown clean out of the tree. It is common to see one...
Usually we dwell in this forest in solitude, even those who come to feed the monks rarely venture into the forest proper. However, passing through the monastery is a rocky mountain stream that leads up to one of the highest peaks in this range of hills, and which provides an adventurous climb for those willing to try it, and this proves to be particularly popular with the local youth on any holiday.
It was evening and we had been sitting in meditation for a while when the vehicle was heard approaching. Others, better informed than I, got up and started preparing the hall – obviously someone important was coming. When everything was clear we stood expectantly to one side, all eyes on the door and the darkness beyond.
The sweet smell of Queen of the Night filled the air as we sat together on the steps close by the courtyard. It was just a couple of nights before the full moon and the planet shone bright overhead casting strong shadows on the ground around. It was the first clear night after a number of cloudy days, and as we talked one was aware of just how precious life is.
Just below the monastery on the way down the hill lies a tea estate. As soon as one leaves the forest the whole atmosphere changes as the dense tree cover and foliage gives way to open lands and skies, and one can look out over the valleys and mountains that lie to the north and west, and which provide one of those magnificent views for which this area is noted.
Slowly we walk in single file keeping our eyes and minds guarded. Monks, like soldiers, want everything done in an orderly fashion.
Loneliness is a fact of everyone’s life, is it not? Some, maybe even most, have managed to evade it in one way or another, but I wonder whether that has ever made it go away, or if it doesn’t remain one of the more powerful driving forces of the unconscious, whereby people seek distraction on the one hand, and feel the need to belong to a group on the other. But for some it appears they find themselves lonely because no one cares enough to befriend them; maybe making friends with the person concerned is not an economic proposition, either materially or psychologically, they may have very little that they can give in return, and find themselves consequently neglected.