The Library That Saved The Monk

Satya woke up tired, sore and disgruntled. His legs were covered in rashes from insect bites, and he was throwing up anything he ate. He thought to himself, “What’s the point of this whole journey?, I just want it to end so I can go back. There’s nothing I’m learning by being here”. A few years ago, Satya’s master had sent him away from the monastery. The young man was a quick learner, and nothing short of genius. This was also his undoing. He knew he was better than the rest of the monks. During his time at the monastery, he often secretly dreamed of the day he would be made the head of the monastery. It was obvious to him. He was the strongest, fastest and smartest of all the monks at the monastery. During Satya’s last few weeks at the monastery, his master had become increasingly uneasy with his demeanour. He needed to teach the young man a lesson, but didn’t know how. 

The day marked the 433rd birthday of the monastery, and was open to outsiders. Early in the morning, some tourists came by for a tour. They had large cameras, expensive clothes and seemed to be in a hurry. That day Satya was given the duty of being at the door of the monastery to welcome any guests that arrived. A young woman from the group came and sat next to Satya. She was bored of getting pictures clicked and thought it was an utter waste of time to be sitting in this room with one’s eyes closed. She was an ambitious girl that often dreamed of a career in politics. After plonking herself beside Satya, she bluntly said, “why are you monks so boring? All your life you pretty much stay in this one area, sitting with your eyes closed, hoping some miracle is going to descend upon you. In a few years, I’m going to be traveling around the country actually changing people’s lives.” For a moment Satya couldn’t find his tongue. He was not used to speaking to women, and had never met someone that thought the life of a monk was pointless. He started to stammer and couldn’t find his words. This was unusual for him. In front of the other monks he always had the wittiest answers. The young woman looked at his red face and started laughing. “You monks are not even taught to speak properly, what a waste of human potential!”. Satya lost his temper. He shouted, “in a few decades when you see no meaning in your life, don’t come to our monastery to seek peace. I will be head of this monastery and see to it that you are not accepted here!!” 

Satya’s master and quite a few other monks heard Satya’s remarks. A sudden silence settled over the monastery. That evening Satya’s master summoned him to his room. “Satya, what you said to the young girl today was unacceptable. You have shamed the monastery. Please pack your things, and tomorrow at the crack of dawn you will go on an adventure. Your quest is to find a secret, hidden library. Here is a map. The journey will last a couple of years. You will not be allowed back to the monastery until you find the library. You think you know all the answers to life, but you know nothing.”

Satya looked out of the small cave, as the first rays of light hit the trees outside. An uncontrollable wave of anger swept over him. He thought to himself, “I will never go back to that godforsaken monastery, even if they beg me to return.” The map his master had given him was wrong, or maybe he had missed the library somehow. He had spent the last four years, going up and down one valley, and the next, trying to find the library. He had given up hope of finding the library, when a week ago he met a strange traveller. The traveller said he had been to the secret library. Based on his instructions, it was just at the bottom of the next valley. He should be able to reach there by this evening. He had tried and failed to find the library so many times that he didn’t have an ounce of excitement left in him. He thought, “What can a stupid library have to offer me?”

As he began his descent into the next valley, a wave of helplessness swept over him. “What was the point of this life, of this journey?”. Satya had recently been battling suicidal thoughts on a daily basis. The pressure started to build up around his chest, and it became difficult to breathe. He stopped and sat down on a rock. The rock was on a steep cliff, about 200 metres high. The thought sneaked into his mind, “What if I just throw myself off this rock?. Nobody will even know or care. I have nobody, being brought to the monastery at just a few months old. Even my brothers at the monastery don’t care about me anymore.” He stood up and looked over the edge of the rock, down into the valley. His fingers and toes started tingling with sweat. He took a step closer to the edge, and suddenly it seemed like the sounds around him got stronger, the colours of nature became more bright. The young girl from his last day at the monastery popped into his mind. She was right, “the life of a monk was absolutely pointless”. With that he took a step off the rock, down into the valley.

It felt so warm and cozy, was this how the afterlife felt like? Somebody started to shake him violently. Satya opened his eyes to find the strange traveller over him. “What the hell were you thinking, jumping off that rock?? Luckily you fell on a thick layer of straw I was collecting to keep the library warm for the upcoming winter.” Satya sheepishly said, “I didn’t jump, I slipped off the edge”. Satya looked around at the library, and was surprised. Where were all the books? He had taken all this effort to come to this empty place? At the corner of his eye he glimpsed a light. He got up and made his way to the light. There was one small book that rested on the bookshelf under the light. Aha. There’s one book here. He called out to the strange traveller, “Is there just one book in this massive library?” The stranger started laughing, “Boy, in this special library, you don’t find a book to read, the book you are meant to read finds you”. 

Satya picked up the small book off the shelf. The traveller called out, “I’ll head out to get us something to eat, you enjoy your book”. Satya barely heard him. His heart was racing. The book was titled, “The Head Of The Monastery Committed Suicide”. As Satya began reading the book, he felt all kinds of emotions. A part of him that he had forgotten, was rekindled. It felt like the book was a part of his own thoughts. It resonated so strongly with him, and yet everything in there was completely new. A fresh perspective, but arising from within. He quickly finished reading the book, and soon another light turned on in a far corner of the library. He began running towards the light and found another book under the light. Over the next few weeks, Satya hardly slept, from one book to the next. He had never felt so alive. Each book felt like a new Satya was being revealed to himself. 

A few years later, Satya still inside the library had totally transformed. The library was full to bursting with all the books Satya had received. The more he read, the more he realised how little he knew. It was time to make his journey back to the monastery. He had been away for 12 long years, and he was sure his master would be worried. As he was leaving the library, a book came crashing down from the shelves. It was titled, “The Girl Who Dreamed A New Political Order”. Satya picked it up and decided to take it with him.

On his long journey home, he came across a sprawling city. Hungry, he went into a baker’s shop. A newspaper lay open on one of the tables. A picture caught Satya’s attention. It was the image of the young woman who had visited the monastery. An article highlighted how she had brought so much change to city in the past five years, but had just handed in her resignation citing that the ‘system was too corrupt’. Satya asked the baker about where he could find the lady. After quickly eating his sandwich, he went in search of her office. 

Upon finding the building, Satya brushed his robes, and checked his hair in the reflection of a car window. His heart had begun to beat. How many times in the past years he had cursed this lady. He thought, ‘nothing good can come from meeting her again. Maybe I should just leave. Then it dawned on him, that she was the reason he found the secret library. He took a deep breath and entered the building. A lady at the reception asked him what he was doing there. He pointed to the picture in the newspaper and said that he had come to meet this lady. The receptionist laughed, and said “The lady you want to meet, hates monks. She thinks they are a plague to society. She’s not in a good mood, better you leave her and go on your way”. Satya insisted that he had something to give the lady, and wouldn’t leave until he had personally handed it to her.

The receptionist called the lady on the intercom and told her that there was a monk waiting to meet her. “He says he has something to give you”. The lady replied with scorn, “Probably some book in the hopes of converting me or something. I’d rather not waste my time. Please take whatever he has to offer and send him away.” Satya handed the book over to the receptionist and told her to tell the lady that he was the monk that shouted at her when she visited the monastery with her family. He begged her forgiveness.”

Satya left the building and continued his journey to the monastery. Soon after he left, the lady came out of her office and walked past the receptionist. The receptionist handed her the book saying that the monk was the one who had shouted at her in the monastery many years ago. The lady glanced at the book, and her heart skipped a beat. She went back to her office and couldn’t stop reading the book. A few hours later, she called the president’s office and asked to withdraw her resignation. She was not going to give up yet. How is it that this book arrived at the perfectly right time to push me to continue on my journey? How did the monk know? 

Upon reaching the monastery, Satya noticed very few people around. Everything seemed to be silent. He walked into the main building and saw a few of the other monks in tears. Satya’s master had passed away that morning. Satya felt a stone in his belly. All the monks had been discussing who should be the head of the monastery to take over after the master’s death. One of the monks looked at Satya and said, “We all took you for dead. The fact that you have returned the same day that master died, is a sign that you should be head of the monastery.” Satya looked at the monks around him and started laughing. No, thank you my brothers, but I have returned to the monastery to write. “To write???” The monks stared at him incredulously. “Yes to write, so that I may rekindle others with a spark. So that my books may one day discover them. It is the best way I can serve our departed master. Many minds listlessly await his teachings to discover them.”