Friday, December 9, 2011

The Bow



More than a gesture, a bow is an act of veneration -- for ourselves and the universe.- Lama Surya Das

In November 2010, when we returned from Brasil to Sacramento, and I was walking with Milton thru the terminal toward baggage claim, there was a sense of accomplishment, and not a little dread. My head and heard were conflicted… selling all our things, telling folks goodbye, moving what we wanted to keep… the list was growing with each step.

Accomplishment, because we had both successfully completed the concurso to become professors at UFOP, and dread… a feeling that “ok, you got what you asked for”. I was exhausted, very emotional, very excited and happy… and suddenly, in the old crowded terminal, there was a Buddhist monk sitting, just as I walked by him he looked up, and instinctively I quickly placed my hands together and bowed to him… he looked back at me and bowed back.


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