Hedley, British Columbia
Slight Confusion Over Monks
A pickup truck that was hauling a wagon with fir log pieces pulled over. The two male occupants came out and obviously mistook me for another monk as I was footing along on the shoulder of the road. One of the fellows spoke.
“We were wondering if you had some trees we could cut on your land.”
“Sorry, but I’m the walking monk, and I don’t own any land. You must be talking about this local monk I’ve heard about, Leon is his name?”
“Yeah, that’s him,” said the one man.
“When I came walking through here eight years ago, I heard about a guy living in a cave near Hedley. I hope to see him one day.” The two fellows wished me well for the continued trek as they tread their trail on wheels. They had pointed out the entrance way to the roadway leading to the monk’s current cabin. I took note. This was Native reserve land. I hope to meet Leon either today or tomorrow while in the area with intent to share concepts and traditions.
With Friday being what it is, traffic thickens. It is a weekend that has begun. The sun is upon us and it is a summer solstice, the longest day on the calendar. I had been looking with envy at the quieter road across the road from the Similkameen River. Daruka was kind enough to shift me and Karuna to the parallel trail where it was much more pedestrian friendly. Once we arrived there it was confirmed, yes, this is the path of a slowed down more genuine pace.
I will rate roads according to the modes. In our precious text, the Gita, the modes of nature are three in number. They are sattvic (cautious); rajasic (passion and speed); and finally, tamasic (destructive). In the transfer of roads we had shifted from passion to cautious.
May the Source be with you!
46 KM
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