A love he cannot let go of
A central concept of Buddhism is awareness; awareness that the world is all but an interpretation of the mind.
Flying high: The monk with his kite on the mountain top and below, heading back
Understanding this fact allows us to see the true nature of life and to let go of things we are attached to, be it those we love or something as simple as an activity we enjoy.
Buddhist monks and lay people strive to achieve this understanding by training the mind through listening to sermons, chanting, doing good deeds and meditation.
But the central theme is still awareness of what is in the mind. Sometimes awareness is just understanding that we are so attached to certain things that we just can’t let them go. This story is about one such love.
We were up in a village at the foothills of the Samanala Kanda mountain range (translated as “Butterfly Mountain” because of a stunning seasonal migration of butterflies) in Sri Lanka for a survey of dragonflies and frogs.
It is an amazing place. Beyond the village is one of Sri Lanka’s most pristine forest-covered mountain ranges. It stretches for miles to the North and East, all the way to Adam’s Peak.
The top of the mountains was mostly covered in mist and, when the sun made its periodic visits, the views were stunning.
It is here that we met a priest with a kite. Quite an amazing kite, a sturdy structure in red and blue and about twice the size of the priest.
The story goes that, when this priest was young, he loved to fly kites. But ordained young, he never followed his love. So in his older age he does so with the awareness of a love he cannot let go of.
He walks to the top of the village and flies his kites at the base of the Butterfly Mountain. The wind is strong, the kite is sturdy.
He expertly manoeuvres the kite through trees till it is free and flying high. The villagers come to watch, smiles all around.
One old villager says: ‘Ayeth mage aluthen hitawapu rubber waththata giyoth thennenang nehe apahu!’ (‘If it goes and lands among my newly-planted rubber saplings, I will not give it back to you!).
But it is more of a warning than something he would really do. The villagers love the priest. Their kids join his kite flying escapades while the villagers come to watch, smiles all around.
If only we understood love, maybe life would be as simple as flying a kite.