We recently held a contest over at our sister site, Narratively Academy, in which we asked you about a time when you learned from someone unexpected. After tearing up through many of your flash pieces, we found this was the one we kept coming back to. It’s a gorgeous little piece that made us think about what it means to be enlightened, about generosity and our collective pledges to do better. Sure to give you all the feels.
Years ago, while wandering through the grounds of a monastery in Thailand, I came upon a young monk, perhaps 12 years old, sweeping a sidewalk. He seemed entranced by his work, which involved a simple but very effective sideways swoop of his broom, swinging left and then right while he slowly walked forward. Dust and leaves flew cleanly to each side as he made his way down the walk, until he noticed me and his face lit up.
“American?” he asked, surprising me with his English. I nodded and we struck up a conversation. We talked about our homes, his life of study and meditation, my years of college followed by a yearning to see the world. I mentioned how impressed I was with the elegance of his sweeping, and the care he obviously put into it. “One must aim for perfection in everything,” he said. “One can get enlightened while simply sweeping.”
When it came time for me to leave he stopped me, saying he wanted to give me something. He pulled from a pouch a flat, dried leaf. “It’s from a bodhi tree,” he said. “The same kind of tree the Buddha was sitting under when he got enlightened.”
I demurred, embarrassed to accept a gift from a child. “Please,” he responded. “Don’t deny me an opportunity to practice generosity. Giving can bring enlightenment, too.”
It struck me how different this boy’s priorities were, and what a difference such a cultural framing would make back home.
I accepted the leaf with a silent commitment to be more generous myself. And for years now I have regularly pictured this young boy, draped in saffron, his head neatly shaved, as I sweep the sidewalk in front of my house, thinking, This could be it, maybe this time.
Rick Weiss is a former longtime Washington Post science reporter, and the director emeritus of SciLine, a free, nonprofit service that connects reporters to knowledgeable, articulate scientists on deadline, to help ensure that news stories on virtually any topic can include the best available evidence.
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