Sunday, December 8th, 2013

Ghostly Kids

Burnaby, British Columbia

There’s this boarded up school house that I trek by on my walks in the Burnaby area.  There’s always something heart sinking when I see an image like that.  If you put school bullying to the side and rewind in your mind what the school yard may have looked like in recess or lunch hour, what would you see?  In particularly in a suburban school that ran for at least three decades?

You would likely see, and hear, a bunch of energetic and electrifying bodies out there.  Future hopefuls, future influentials – leaders and followers.  Yes, you would see kids playing.  Doesn’t bring out the parental instincts?  Even in a monk’s world, you can’t help feeling an urge of protectiveness.  You are left in question, will the kids achieve?  Will they make it in a world that has become so harsh and selfish?

These are some of my mental thoughts while going by an abandoned school.  What to speak of a school yard that is real, with real kids, alive and teaming with energy.

I did manage to speak to the security guard on site.

“So, you’re walking?” he asked me.

“Yes, I do a bit of that,” I said.  And then we got to talking about his keeping vandalism at bay.  The young folks who usually commit to pranks and property damage are often times those who didn’t do so well in school.  They may very well be the ones who got too neglected at home.  Even sometimes a good kid gets caught up in the wrong crowd.  The security guy spoke more about the homeless who are potential squatters, the other reason for his being there.  He told me that he’s on a four hour shift then someone else comes in to take over.  With dumpsters in front of the building, it looked more to me like the beginnings of a demolition, and then a follow up coming new subdivision.  Please!  In any event, there’s some readiness for a change.

In spiritual life you endeavour towards an overhaul – within, and there’s always a need to become a child again – innocent and full of wonder, back at playing (in kirtan), perhaps after years of work and stuffy offices or contending with challenging conditions at a construction site.

Life is not easy in a non devotional setting.  That’s why I feel even for the security guard who talked but who couldn’t get into devotional parlance.  We ended on a good note and I kept walking.

May the Source be with you!

4 KM