Volume 2, Track 3
One time, I was traveling through the province of Utter Pradesh in India, driven in an old car by a yogi who was very strict in his rules of brahmacharya. Among other things, he would not eat anything but prasad, that is food that had been consecrated in a temple or an ashram. This made it difficult for me. I had to eat twice a day, unlike the other older yogis, who seemed indifferent to cold and hunger.
One day, we were driving along a narrow road through a forest near the town of Dehradun. The road was empty of other cars, and I could see walking toward us a semi-nude renunciate wearing beads and many marks on his body and forehead. He was leaning heavily on a stick, and his body seemed almost covered with ashes.
“What do those marks show?” I asked my Indian companion, pointing at the wanderer. “Oh, he is doing topass stringent forms of penance,” was the answer. I observed the man as he slowly passed us by, apparently not even noticing us, as he was focused deep inside in whatever practice he was carrying out, possibly the continuous chanting of a name of God in rhythm with his breathing.
I thought, if he really wants to do penance and not advertise it, why doesn’t he wear clothing and follow his daily tasks inconspicuously? But of course, it wouldn’t be any fun if no one knew about it. I realized that most of those who practice strict austerities, such as holding a withered arm aloft for 10 years, were called saints because others observed them and labeled them saints.
I remembered what my friend the Zen priest in Kyoto had said, “Be the big hermit; anyone can be the small hermit.”
It seems only natural for me to contrast this scene with that of a young Indian boy standing on top of a load of hay in a rickety old wagon, dancing ecstatically in the pouring rain, laughing and moving his arms gracefully in natural postures and looking for all the world like a youthful Krishna playing his flute. Here truly was leela, the play of the Lord.
To listen to Justin reading Spiritual Stories of the East, click here.