When they wandered

Some Buddhist practitioners of the past

were forest dwellers 

they wandered the open land of God with very 

little comforts if any at all

they slept on the hard ground with the wild creatures 

about 

they carried no money or weapons or anything that 

could protect them 

their practice was to roam the land with nothing that 

concealed the body or mind from being looked into 

they had at their heart the will and strong desire to 

*look at* or *into* the depths of the soul, body -- 

to penetrate the layers there

and not get caught up in any other activity 

that aroused the mind to get distracted from their search

When they wandered 

they went to dwelling places to ask for food 

they did not pick and choose which house to go to 

they went to the one that came first in the line 

they took what was offered by the layperson without 

question

they were not to take food specially cooked for them or 

take from the dinner that was being eaten by the family

but given the left over parts of the meal and they were 

to graciously accept this no matter what it was 

they could not specify what was wanted -- "a little of this 

or that" or "i don't like this or that" 

they were to be indifferent or equal minded about the offering 

and to eat it while sitting in quietude in the forest, near a tree or 

if they were with others, sit there, but not speaking at all

Some of the practices these practitioners underwent were severe

and hard to bear

such as sitting in the cemetary grounds and sleeping there and being 

with the corpses that were placed there 

in Asia in the far past, the cremation grounds would place corpses that 

were wrapped in cloth to sit on the top of the ground 

and there would sometimes be a strong smell coming from them 

the practitioner was taught to follow the breath no matter what the 

experience and to stay inward thru it 

not to strongly protest or switch something up, but to be with it in it's full

range of what it brought 

for if they changed this or that or asked for something special, the mind 

would get attached to that thing as an escape or attraction

this is not easy to do when one is overwhelmed by sensory phenomena 

such as this 

The practitioners too, were to share their space (the forest) with dangerous 

creatures 

they were not to be overcome by fear when these creatures came near 

and some (practitioners) even went close to these animals as a way to 

purify the fear that was there

the practice was to follow the breath and to give off *harmless* energy of 

just sitting, just being, not tensed up with aversion and thought processes

Sometimes, the practitioners would be ill due to the conditions that were 

very extreme, in terms of weather and low food supply

and simply accepted this and continued with their practice without a break

they would see the body (attachment) with all it's woes and pleasures as 

something to move beyond 

they would see the body attachment with the pain that accompanied as being 

driven (often) by mental valuation of it be it good, bad or indifferent 

and were to abstain from judgement in this way so the seeds of karma could 

burn up

as it was understood that the present condition (be it positive or negative)

is due to actions or (karma) of the past 

and to not get involved in it so those seeds of attachment would not continue

to flower

When these  types of practices were here

there were lush forests that no one owned or occupied 

the monks could travel (relatively) safely through them
as long as they were mindful

and followed the practices with strict discipline 

the forest, to them, was the temple, the church, the monastery

those that wandered there, wanted to find the direct experience versus 

the intellectual gathering of knowledge that the pundits were involved in

this (intellectual knowledge), to them, held no value whatsoever

it did not offer the depth that was being looked for 

and only brought about debate after debate that seemed to 

go nowhere

The monks that chose this austere type of path did not worry about the 

next moment 

this is one of the reasons for the corpse meditations that have come 

to allow the mind to get insight into the imperanence of all things including 

the body as one can easily read about this reality (of death of the body) 

but to get an insight or move beyond it into the depth of understanding that is 

non-dual is entirely different 

so these monks chose to throw out the book knowledge and clutter 

to throw out the comforts too 

to throw out the body glorification and adorning 

to throw out the attachment to friends, family and the like
so as to bring the simple lifestyle to help in observing what is there

and to lay all down to be taken in by the search, and not look back 

which, to most, sounds extremely arduous, daunting,

ridden with potential agonies, dangers and all that one can imagine

Now, in these areas the forests are no longer there in their lushness, beauty 

and empty solitude that is present for those wandering ones 

it is over ridden with populations of cities and such

also, most people did and do not understand this lifestyle or honor it, 

but are superstitious, annoyed, curious (in not such a good way)

and simply not allowing for that space to be 

so this type of practice has died out mostly 

(though  there are still some that live this way

and will not change their course) 

The wandering lifestyle is helpful in the  understanding of the 

deeper meaning of purifying spiritual practices 

though one need not be exposed to all of this 

a true kundalini awakening will bring forward all that needs to be
confronted in terms of fears, 

attachments, layers and layers of collective mind-stuff to be viewed 

kundalini does this quite well without the need for these circumstances
yet, there are still many potential dangers and/or pitfalls that can happen
along the way

so, the practitioner needs the right conditions, the right practices, the right teacher 

that is completed to continue on 

because without it, just like these monks that were living outside in the open air 

with all the dangers -- if they did not have the grounding of their practices and 

understanding where the path was leading 

then there could be unfortunate consequences as well 

om shanti