Of Independence and Interdependence

It was a matter of chance that I had attended a talk by a renowned monk known as Ajahn Brahms. Shirley and her husband were raving about how excited they are, firstly to see Ajahn Brahm and secondly to see an author in the face. Well, we were attending the screening of "How to Cook your Life" as part of a Buddhist Film Fest which follows with a post-show talk by Ajahn Brahm.

It was a refreshing talk, one delivered by a monk and yet with a modern twist and matter-of-fact content. He spoke of being fed steamed frogs with rice in Thailand and of yearning for chips back home in Australia. Despite the dietary constraints as a monk, he is nonetheless extremely honest about his thoughts, cravings and sometimes fallacies. But of course not without a moral of the story at the end of it.

What I have found immensely meaningful is his association of offering of alms and the notion of need. He has wondered as a young monk why is it not possible for monks to be self-sufficient? In that way, there is no need to seek alms everyday to fill their stomachs. Makes absolute sense to me, I thought.

He then explained that it's a matter of creating a need for each other, a purposeful interdependence. If monks were to be self -sufficient beings, there will be no need for the people to provide for the monks, that is the monks will not need the people. If that is the way to go, there may be absolutely no interaction between monk and the people and they will eventually live in isolation.

But the fact is that there is an intricate balance between the monks and the people - the monks need the people to provide and the people need the monks to teach them.Now that makes perfect sense to me.

Ajahn Brahm further explained that it is the same with all human relationship, and often in love relationships. I turned to peek at Shirley and her husband - the newly-weds for expression of realisation or enlightenment. I mused over it and thought about how true this is and really, my mom should have been here!