The Monk & I

I take from others.

Their spirit. Their attitudes. Their thoughts. Their peace.

And in order to take, I actively push myself into their presence. A bit shamelessly. Because I am the one that will benefit. It doesn’t lessen their store and yet increases mine.

When I met the 90 yr old Lamaji, I asked if I could sit with him for awhile. He consented. And continued his chanting.

And all the time that we spent together, I was actively conscious of only us. Him, me, his hummed chanting, the mountains, the beauty of the monastery; the isolation.

We sat in a monastery on top of an isolated mountain that was surrounded by kilometers of empty space before the other Himalayan montains formed a rim around that emptiness. He had lived there since childhood and now there was an assistant to help him with admin.

We didn’t speak. Yet there was a conversation with our eyes. He resembled my grandmother. Not in features but in spirit. The light smile, the expression of knowing, understanding and compassion, the unperturbedness… all that made me feel like we knew each other forever.

A silent and impactful afternoon!

jaina mishra / November 2026 / wovensouls.com