HOW I FOUND THE BUDDHIST PATH
***
Gary Mc Millen
In the summer of 1994, I was the
coach of a baseball team comprised of fifteen 13-year-old boys. We had won the local
I was staying in a motel room. One morning I decided to take the rental car
out into the countryside. I had a strong
feeling that I should not stay in the motel.
I had to get away from the competitive environment and find a peaceful
or quiet spot where I could relax and get my mind off of the thoughts about
baseball and competition. I was a
stranger to the area but I felt a compelling need to get away from the motel
room.
After about a half-hour of driving,
I became lost. I was worried that I
would not be able to find my way back to the motel. I was in some rural area on the outskirts of
town where the houses were few and far between.
I stopped the car when I saw a man cutting grass. He was working in the bushes and weeds
outside of a strange looking house. It
wasn't like the other houses or buildings.
There was bright yellow and orange colored flags
or banners on the porch and some kind of statue in the side yard. I got out of the car and went up to ask the
man for directions. The man was an
elderly Vietnamese person who spoke only a few words of English. After a few awkward moments of looking at each
other and smiling, he invited and motioned me into the house.
The house was actually a Buddhist
temple. I went in the side door and
suddenly, despite the strange surroundings and conditions, I felt as if I had
somehow come home.
The old man introduced me to a very
small Vietnamese woman dressed in a gray robe.
She was probably in her mid to late thirties and spoke no English
whatsoever. She had a wonderful, radiant
smile that seemed to reach into my heart and her eyes just sparkled with life
and confidence. Leading and guiding
politely with her hands, she led me through some curtains into a main room and
directed me to sit on a folded blanket and cushion. She positioned me in front of a shrine and
Buddha statue. Somehow, I understood
that I was to do meditation. She lit
incense, turned her back and walked out, leaving me alone. I was amazed at how such a small, quiet woman
could be so direct and forceful. There
was no question that she was in charge and I had no problem with that
arrangement.
During this meditation, my mind
eventually became very calm and settled. I quit struggling with
everything. I wasn't sure what was
happening but I felt comfortable and safe.
Before this particular and precise moment in my life, I had no religious
background, interest or faith. But
sitting there on the cushion, I could feel some natural affinity to the silent
smile of the Buddha.
Then I heard the soft sound of a
bell. I arose out of the meditation and
followed the teacher into the kitchen.
It was like I was under her leadership and authority but it was not
about control. She invited me to share a
simple lunch she had prepared. The whole
experience seemed to blend naturally from one event into another. There was no noticeable effort, strain or persistence
in the teacher's manners and movement.
The food looked strange but tasted delicious. I had never seen anyone eat with such
mindfulness in my life. We tried to talk
but we ended up just laughing at each attempt to communicate. Despite the barrier of different languages, I
knew, without any doubt that I was in the presence of an enlightened
person.
Finally, it came time for me to
leave the little temple…to go back to the
world. I was filled with a sadness and
reluctance. I did not want this unique
and rare experience to end. I said “goodbye”
and walked out the side door into a little parking lot. The old man was still cutting grass and he
stopped to bow to me.
As I walked to the car one of the
strangest events to ever happen in my life took place. I could smell perfume in the air. The sweet, light scent was everywhere,
drifting in the air. At first I thought
the aroma was coming from a tree so I walked over to the tree. But it was not coming from the tree. It was a pervasive, beautiful odor that
filled my nostrils wherever I walked.
Then, as I was walking around looking for the source of this perfume
smell---I had the clearest, brightest thought.
The thought was so sudden that it was like a voice speaking in my
head. The voice said, “
O.K. At this point you
must understand that the word “defilement”
was not in my vocabulary at the time. Of
course, I knew what the word “defilement” meant but it was a word I would never
think to use in everyday conversation or writing. I had absolutely no previous knowledge of
Buddhist dharma words or concepts. Up to
that point in my life I had never read a sutra or any kind of Buddhist
literature or teaching.
There are no defilements,
the words kept ringing in
my ears as I drove back to the motel.
What did it mean? What had
happened to me back there? Who were
those people? What did that little
Vietnamese woman have that I didn't have?
Over the course of the next few
days and weeks, I was unable to forget the experience. I kept coaching the baseball team. We won the Southwest Regionals and went on to
the Babe Ruth World Series in
Through a translator, the teacher
responded. After several letters of
correspondence, I bought a plane ticket to