The bag man and Buddha


While traveling I have seen many of these bag men and women. They carry all their possessions with them in bags. Why, I wondered, would anyone live a life like that when I met the first one. Through the years I have stopped wondering. So many reasons, so many sadness, bad luck, sickness and sometimes a free choice to live a homeless life, without the certainty of a salary, insurance, good medical care.

 And here in the streets of Blitar I saw one sitting on the sidewalk. These people are not beggars, although they look like them. They mostly are not drinkers or drug addicts, but the way they live makes them look like them. This guy seems not to be bothered that I talk to him. They sometare and than it’s better to leave instead of pushing. He smiled at me and by speaking to him I noticed he had trouble with his voice. But then I realised he was talking about Budhha.
Luckily my partner speaks some Bahasa Indonesia and with her translation it must have been
Do not dwell in the past,

Do not dream of the future,
Concentrate the mind
On the present moment.

 In India were we saw some wise men we heard this spell of Buddha before. So when we recognise what he was trying to say he smiled. I took a photo and he wouldn’t any money. But he smiled again when I put the money in one of his bags . . .

 It made me happy to see him smile and when we’re leaving I thought of the many people I have met during our travels and that I must have been so far a lucky guy. So for now I will concentrate the mind on the present moment . . .


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