Dealing with Incidental Travel Hiccup

posted by sonam yeshi

My Teacher, Rinpoche la was travelling alone from India to Bhutan in a train, in such short time to the rest room (toilet), his travelling luggage undearneat his seat (which he thought is safe) could be just been stolen without the awareness of others. Obviously, someone in the same couch disappeared. Moreover, the other coachmates remained just trying to sit on the fence. Probably the traveller does not look alike in characteristics, and an obvious travller! All travel documents and cash you may think is the safest place to put in such public space could be just like any other similar theft incidences we encoutered or heard of which may be out of our imagination.

On top of this, the most trusted authority nearest to where one lost the luggaged pushed this practitioner away to another police station and to another place, thus for the whole day Rinpoche la was referred here and there from one police station to another - this is a real case of lack of civic-mindedness and considerations. This case is an eye opener for travellers which may be seasoning travelling a land he regards like his own home, and 'so far so safe' and taking for granted people around him are human beings.

My question was - Did those authorities personnel been approached by a helpless traveller consciously try to excute law entrusted without fear or favor, irrespective the traveller is own citizen or not? Is the simple act of allowing or assisting a traveller to make a simple police report he needs to facilitate the documentation of his travelling pass being replacement such difficult? - In such case, it was really a bad image and shame of the responsible personnels who are empowered to uphold security and justice by its government!

But the Rinpoche is such calm and gentle. I do wish he could be 'fierceful' a little with uncivilized authority who has no heart with reason 'this is not our duty in this station! (at least exert the duty of basic protection as a legal traveller) - then why do we have police stations in any country? Aren't they belong to the same government? How could an enforcement authority been such immuned for a request of theft report in public space which involved travelling documents? Don't they understand there are other records available in other systems such as airline check-in luggage etc. and train tickets records in one's computer system? Personally, i think it is not a matter of compassion towards the criminal but to protect the innocent and to uphold the basic security in an environment.

I am posting it to share this experience of my Teacher which happened on 4 October 2012 in a train at India to Bhutan. It is also a reminder and a lesson to all of us when travelling alone in particular, there were 'hugry ghosts' around us, we do not need to understand whether there is really such a realm exist in our cosmology!

Reflecting on the Buddha's Teachings, the mind's lessoned learned : watch our own mind, we may become hungry ghost too if we do not guard our fergile mind?
"To Do Good, To Avoid Evils, This is the Teachings of the Buddhas!" - simple phrase but profound ethical, humane meaning for mind training.

Tashi Delek!