I’m currently reading the classic book by Buddhist master, Jack Kornfield, “After the Ecstasy, the Laundry,” where he describes joining a monastery and being instructed to bow down deeply to everyone who is his elder. He soon learns that his elders aren’t just those who are older in years, but each person who’s been in residence longer than him. In other words, he has to bow to everyone—even the haughty 21-year-old monk in training, or the old farmer who’s on the “farmers retirement plan” and doesn’t actually care to meditate.
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