Talk to Us, Teach Us Things

Earlier this hot summer evening Dibong thought about the young men waiting for his lesson.

Words, words only.

These young men were shortcutting the time-honored practice that had served him and his fellow thudongs well for a thousand years. For a moment he was disgusted with them for the impatience and ignorance of their youth, as if listening to a teacher will bring knowledge, wisdom or enlightenment.

What good have I accomplished?

The young novices and assorted laymen sat restlessly waiting for Ajahn Dibong to begin. He sat cross-legged on a platform facing the impatient group. A lifetime as a thudong monk was his education. Only since the last rainy season had his strength waned to a point at which he could no longer pursue the harsh life of wandering the remote forests. His friends and occasional fellow travelers, Cahn and Man, had died a few seasons ago. Philbun abandoned the ascetic life for the security of the Temple and Soang, his brother, had traveled to the northern provinces and hadn't been seen in years. Perhaps he was dead or found a life of total solitude and reached his own personal nirvana.

The primordial forests were vanishing. His odyssey was over and the remaining thudongs were an endangered species. Farms and towns were encroaching the vast forests; and rapidly, the forests were disappearing.

The Way of the Elders was the path he had chosen many years ago. Buddha himself wandered for many years to find enlightenment. Buddha's lessons are written in the Dharma for all to read and benefit. But, those that only study the written Word reap limited benefit. Traveling the road of life, now or then, is the other message that can be found in the Dharma. Multitudes have taken to the wandering life and have found meaning and relevance on the solitary trail.

Dibong was deep in meditation when the group arrived and he existed with no awareness of their presence. He stopped meditating when his soul was ready to reenter the temporal world.

"Thus I have heard..," he paused as the waiting seekers quieted. They turned their full attention to him. A smiling Dibong was pleased. They were waiting for a lesson. He knew that some would decide the searching life was their personal destiny and they would continue the Way of the Elders.

"Doubt is in all of us..," he continued and so another lesson from the Dharma was passed down.

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Published on 8/27/04