The monk bowed to the abbot. The abbot bowed to him. What he wanted, it wasn’t time now to turn to the monastery. His work was on the street, in the villages, with the people, not with Buddha. The monk said he didn’t want to stay. He came to report a vision: he’d seen three children with shaved heads and wise eyes, clad in long robes hoisted to the knee and held in place with a woven cloth belt. The tallest of the three carried a larkspur. The middle one, a bowl of steaming rice. The last, a Betel nut. The abbot recognised the sign of the heavens. He thanked the monk and asked him in for porridge and water, then he went to the temple to pray, his heart a thundering dragon.
From the new series: 24 faces of the Earth in 24 hours, Christmas Eve
Wonderful!! Shangri La!!
Symbolic gifts fit for a new king offered to Buddha. I hope the farmers and yak herders are appreciative of your character, as he sets off to help them with their fragile ecology and bufferring of western culture.
Another superb little fragment in your kaleidescopic telescope! An array of fluttering prayer flags have been bequeathed in your honour….the dragon has spoken.