The Thai Buddhist monk arrived in the citadel in March to live with the Catholic religious of various orders present at Claritas. He is about to leave and his heart is grateful for the experience he had.
“The more I don’t have, the happier I am. And I wish you to be happy in this moment, because you can choose to be happy or not, right in this moment. Then you enter into peace, into serenity.” And again, “Stay focused on the present, have your mind focused on doing only one thing at a time.” Furthermore “Be grateful for the things that happen, even if they are not what you expected.” Phra Pittaya, Thai Buddhist monk dispenses pearls of Buddhist wisdom. He arrived in Loppiano in mid-March to live with a group of Catholic religious of various orders at Claritas. Already in the 1990s Buddhist monks had been living with the religious.
Tall, thin, friendly, his face lit up with a smile, and is the protagonist of one of the “Cultural Thursdays” organized by the Sophia Institute. “The way is peace” is the theme and the monk interacts with Roberto Catalano, an expert in interreligious dialogue, a profound expert on the Asian world and a teacher at Sophia. Phra Pittaya has lived in a monastery for 26 years, after working as a manager of a supermarket. He chose an austere life, with 227 precepts to respect. Among these, breakfast and lunch are the only meals, and he only eats what others put in the bowl that he brings with him, he cannot use money. Then, a reassuring note, “At Claritas you eat very well.”
Living Buddhism for this monk of the Theravada tradition, is “always giving to others, thus the heart expands and inner peace grows.” He adds a personal note: «I wanted to become a good monk but I didn’t succeed. I lived with this pain for many years. Then I began to accept myself, to heal my wounds, to heal my breathing and to welcome the differences that are around me.”
He is satisfied with living together at Claritas. “I feel good, all the religious are nice. They prepared carefully so as not to do what is contrary to what I live, like for example hugging.” And he laughs! Then he continues, “I am experiencing that we are the same body. I see the beauty of being together with all the inhabitants of the citadel.” He comments, “Being together doesn’t mean that we always understand each other. We are different and when there are difficulties I never look for an answer outside, but inside myself. Problems arise inside, because we don’t have a heart big enough.” And he adds, “We can grow and flourish together, sharing the beauty of each other. Suffering is the fertilizer to make the flower inside the heart blossom.”
During Holy Week, he participated in the Way of the Cross. “I saw who this Forsaken Jesus is. We talked about his pain. The more attached I am to myself, the more I am not there in Jesus Forsaken. Jesus is empty of himself and experiences his own freedom.” He attends Mass at Theotokos. “I come to be empty of my Buddhist being and accept being Christian within myself. I want to grasp the love of God and of everyone, to let it enter within me.” Phra Pittaya does not lack a spirit of observation and asks a question to those present: «When you go to receive communion, where is your heart? Otherwise, God is not there and communion does not enter the heart.”
The confidences become more intimate. “Here I experience how to be more Buddhist in the midst of this Christian community. I am getting to know Chiara in contact with you to the extent that each one experiences Chiara within oneself.” He continues, “Chiara has experienced many difficulties with love. And I feel that Chiara still lives here in you and with you.” He finally adds, “For me God is the law of nature, where in everything there is cause and an effect. Just accept the events and you are happy. Therefore, do everything well and know how to lose.”
