Exploring Connection and Spirituality : หน้า 31/164

Suzanne Jeffrey ally does know me better than I know myself because he meditates 24/7. He sees people as they really are but chooses to focus on their finest characteristics - all unbeknownst to them, of course. There are times when I think we have been on the same plane before, if you know what I mean, in the sense that he seems very familiar to me, kind of like a déjà vu with a person instead of a place, or simply someone that I have known through many lifetimes. We are almost the same age, and he (unlike me) is completely confident and comfortable with who he is and what he does. It is as though he knows just how often he has been around, and how many more times he will go around again. It’s all a bit confusing for me because I was definitely not born a Buddhist, but I am beginning to recognize the fact that I have probably been raised as a Buddhist before, and will be again because I am surely wishing for that even as I write this. As I said, we met only six months ago, but when I enter his office, I feel as though I have known him my entire life - well, probably for thousands of lifetimes before this one although I cannot be exactly sure of just how many lifetimes that would entail - I simply have not reached that level of meditation. Because of his kindness towards everyone, they naturally gravitate toward him, and defer to his wisdom. Perhaps because I am an American, I am not unsettled by his important role within the Wat, or Temple. And, because I am near his age, I think of us as contemporaries who are travelling on the same road, looking for the same things: inner peace, loving and compassionate kindness towards our fellow men, equanimity, mindfulness. In other words, we are both traveling the Eightfold Noble Path, although I know that I am about a million lifetimes behind him at this point in my travels: Whereas he is definitely traveling the path, I am just always trying to travel the path. However, he always looks at me rather tenderly, although somewhat bemused, as if to say “It’s about time you showed up! Why have you not come here sooner? We have lots to talk about!” All of this, of course, with a smile on his face, and a gentle laugh - a laugh that comes from deep within his heart, within the Dhamma that is his mind. There is another side to Luang Por, however, that I rarely see, but it is a side with which many Thai people are quite familiar: Luang Por is, in essence, the General of the Wat. And, because this is so, he must be the “muscle”, or the hard edge, behind the scenes. I have heard it said, “Wow! He is so stern! He is so demanding!” And, yes, that is true, too. There is something in him that I see in me: a need for excellence, both for himself, and