This morning, after a session of bumblebee meditation, Sensei surprised the monks by proposing that they play ‘passing the pillow’.
Sensei requested the monks to sit in a circle and asked them to pretend passing an imaginary pillow to each other, while he clapped. When the clapping stopped, the monk with the pillow in his hand would make a mental note of the same. Then the game would begin again.
Sensei began to clap and stopped 11 times. After the game ended, Sensei asked each monk to share how often he had been trapped with the pillow.
Rebel Monk spoke first and said, “Pillow? What pillow? I left my pillow on my bed.”
Sensei smiled and nodded.
Angry Monk said, “I was never trapped with the pillow, because I never even held it. The minute someone passed it to me, I just threw it to the next monk.”
Sensei grinned and clapped once.
Honest Monk became emotional. His voice cracked when he said, “Sensei, honestly, and I really say this very honestly; I was never caught with the pillow. Somehow, I managed to always pass it.”
Sensei looked at Honest Monk with benevolence and nodded.
Defiant Monk spoke next. He said, “I was never handed the pillow! The monk next to me just threw it so hard that it always passed me and went to the next monk.”
Sensei giggled loudly and clapped twice when he heard this.
Vanity Monk raised his voice and said, “I always got the pillow, but the Monk next to me snatched it away from me the moment the music stopped. I was kind enough to let him have it.”
Sensei laughed loudly and clapped twice, again.
After a period of silence, Sensei glanced at Head Monk and asked him to share his experience.
Head Monk bowed to Sensei and Buddha and said, “I was blessed by being trapped with the pillow each of the eleven times the music stopped.”
After he said this, Head Monk bowed to Sensei and Buddha again and became silent.
Sensei’s closed his eyes monetarily and his face softened. Then Sensei said, “Most of us are very quick to pass on all sorts of blame and mistakes to others. It is only the wise person who accepts problems and makes it his own.”
Sensei paused again and then said, “To grow, you need to accept not just your karma, but also the karma of others…”
*****