Head Monk shared a personal story with the Monastery monks this morning:
“When I was a little boy, growing up in town, I was fascinated by the idea of putting messages in bottles and then sending them out at sea.
One late afternoon, I quietly slipped away from home, went to the local marina and noticed a rowboat gently bobbing in the water. It was loosely tied to a pillar. I stepped into the boat, untied it and then slowly rowed away. My idea was to go somewhere in the middle of the sea and then release a sealed bottle with a message that I was carrying with me.
I don’t need to explain how bad the idea was. I had no clue of operating a boat. The sea became choppy and I lost control of all my bearings. Evening rushed into darkness and I was scared and exhausted. The boat was violently tossed around by the waves and I felt horribly sick. Amidst the tragic circumstances, I do remember taking my bottle and tossing it as far away into the sea as I could. At that moment, I prayed, ‘Please send this bottle to someone who can save me.’ Then I passed out.
When I opened my eyes, I was on the beach. A gentle looking man was caressing my head. He had spotted me as I lay on the beach and was trying to revive me. That man was Sensei. Sensei later reconciled me with my family and also compensated the fisherman for his lost boat. When I had fully recovered, Sensei told me, ‘Buddha saved you.’
Today I am standing here to tell you the story. The moral being that my prayer ‘of being saved’ despite all the odds was answered.”
The monks clapped excitedly and Head Monk took a small bow.
What no one expected was to see Sensei shedding tears.
Head Monk bowed to him and said, “Sensei, did I hurt you or say something wrong?”
Sensei said nothing. Much to everyone’s surprise, he stood up and left the meditation room. The monks were stunned and became quiet. Head Monk grew very disturbed, but he gestured to the monks to stay where they were and wait.
Half an hour later, Sensei returned to the meditation hall, carrying a cloth bag. In front of the monks, he opened the bag and slowly removed a glass bottle that had a parched, brown, old paper stuffed inside it.
Sensei asked Head Monk, “Was this the bottle you threw into the sea?”
Head Monk immediately choked when he saw the bottle and began to sob. He said “yes” to Sensei.
Sensei said, “In the pre dawn hours of that fateful morning when I came across a young boy on the beach, I found this bottle with a message. I opened it and felt instantly burdened to help the person who wrote the message. For the past twenty years I have been praying to Buddha to help me find the person who wrote this so that I can help that person. Today, Buddha has blessed me.”
Sensei closed his eyes, remained silent for a few minutes and then clapped three times. He said, “Those who seek blessings with a pure heart are blessed instantly. And those who give blessings are blessed also, but it just takes a bit longer to realize it.”
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