My Hero!

This is my hero and he currently rests on my office desk constantly watching benevolently and gracefully upon me as I work away on my laptop. In his heyday, my hero was known by his nickname, Bhusuku or three lower actions – namely eating, sleeping and defecating. Well, that was all that everybody saw him do everyday. Yes, you now know why he is my hero now…

He was a monk of the prestigious Nalanda monastery where scholasticism was highly regarded and monks like him was often the butt of many monastic jokes. However, everything changed when a large group of monks decided to play a prank on him.

They built a high teaching throne for him and in front of the entire assembly of monks, requested him to teach. Everybody expected him to make fool of himself but suddenly, Bhusuku floated up into the sky from the throne. While afloat, he gave the most profound Buddhist teaching that eventually became known as the Bodhicharyavatara. It has since become one of most definitive text on the Mahayana tradition. Everyone was stunned and began prostrating to him and sought more teachings in genuine awe.

You see, Bhusuku slept most of the day and just had his meals and went back to sleep. Nobody at the monastery knew that he was diligently meditating and studying at night. His Yidam was Manjushri and often had visions of his Yidam and he would receive many teachings from Manjushri as well. Bhusuku is better known to scholars and practitioners as Shantideva today.

I love Shantideva! I love his life story! I just love how he is such a secret and attained practitioner under the guise of a lazy pig. I relate to that so much! I relate to the lazy pig of course and maybe one day, I will become an enlightened pig too.