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I had a really good day going for alms today. When it “rains it pours.” Although it rained today, I am talking about alms donations. I told myself, that if this village does not give (like usual), then I will skip it and find another one or stay with the shack village alone. After 3 weeks of only one donor in that village, I finally got some edible food…. However, I accomplished that by going down some other side-roads I had started to skip.. and then people started to stop me in my tracks.

I refused money 2 or 3 times. I love that part, because it is teaching real Dhamma to correct the false-dhamma teachings they have previously learned. My teaching ability is not so strong…but when it comes to refusing money, which is an essential part of The DhammaVINAYA, then I got that part down by heart (in two ways).

Too much food today… another problem. One house that I refused money from 2 or 3 weeks ago noticed me again. They invited me inside, but I told them I would wait outside. They offered me only curry today (with a container to take home) but they were sad because they did not have time to make rice. I told them, “Don’t worry, the village (pointing) over there is a sure thing. It will not be a problem to get rice.” I was a little disappointed in myself for having a “sure thing” these days. That is half the “fun” of collecting alms. However, nutrition was not compromised today and I will let it ride for some time because we all like to eat, don’t we? I ate quite nicely. I was a bit embarrassed eating in the hall today. It is supposed to be an ascetic practice, not a luxury practice. Attachment gets the best of me though. There is a practice where a monk decides to go down a new road at random everyday. In sri lanka, near Nauyana, there are so many monks who go for alms like this, that there is always food ready at any random house. Ahh.. Sri Lanka.. a really nice place for monks to be monks.

Picture of the “hin kwets” or curry containers I received today (with food).

• alms
• itbmu