LOST & FOUND!!

Strange things happened & I wonder why..

After coming back from my green curry delivery to Bruce Hall at around 130am, I left my green curry in my fridge basket and locked my bike to the bench at the entrance of B&G ( Burton & Garran Hall). To my surprise on Friday afternoon, my box of leftover green curry was gone & so was my leftover rice. The rice was gone, with the empty box still in my fridge. Who on earth will wanna steal left over food? & Out of the 500 over fridge baskets and 40 over fridges, why mine? Was it coincidence or was it a prank? I tried to recall if I had unintentionally had bad blood with anyone, & I could only think of the person whom I occupied his fridge basket ( coz my basket is right below the vent and my veggie dry up after few days). Nahs, I dun think anyone will be so childish to prank on me...

On Saturday, Vesak day, when I finally decided to go to wat thay (thai temple in Lyeham suburb) with my lang exchange partner Pom, I was shocked to see my bike lock left on the floor where my bike was supposed to be... IT"S GONE... MY BIKE IS GONE... went to kitchen & complaint to Priscilla & the Vice-pres Greg, reported to the Senior Resident on duty ( I suspected that he was still sleeping when I called.. & he lamely told me that he'll just record it on the log book). I was trying hard not to be upset and decided to borrow a bike from Mandy.
Mandy's bike had flat tyres and problems with the gears. Cycling there was hard, & I wasnt very sure of the route & had to hold on to the map as I cycled.. Throughout the whole journey, I decided to send metta to the person who stole my bike, considering that he must have needed money or a bike desperately. & I recalled Bhante's dharma talk - when something was stolen or lost, just consider it as another dana. Yes, what can be a better day to dana your favourite possession? A good practice of dana, of metta, and understanding impermanence. At least for today, I should try to minimise unwholesome thoughts and mental volitions.

Anyway so I was trying to get used to walking and I admit that I tried to stay in my hall coz walking isnt my cup of tea really. On monday, when I went to the front office to top up my already exhausted internet quota at the front office, I was surprised when Joy mentioned about my bike.

" Oh yes, you have a bike with registration number 6? & did you lose your bike recently?"
"Yeah my bike got stolen... Yar I think my registration number is 6"
"That's right, I've been trying to get you at your room phone. Somebody called and said that they saw your bike in Deakin at the junction of Norman St & Lawley Cres. I tried calling back but I couldnt reach the person. Maybe you want to check it out"
Wah.. immediately rushed back to get my cycling map & helmet & off to get a bus to Deakin, about 45min bus ride away.

Walked to the intersection but saw no bike along the road. Asked around and finally a group of workers having lunch at the roadside told me they saw a pink bike with a basket at the next intersection. Gosh, it does help to have a bike that has a strikingly bimbotic colour, everyone just cant miss it! But when I reached the next junction, there was no bike in sight too. An old man staying there told me that the bike was there for the weekend and was gone again. He brought me to his neighbour 6 houses down whom he suspected might have seen my bike but they were not in. I left my number with him. Deakin residents were really helpful & nice. Really appreciate their help!

So my bike was lost a 'second time'.

On Wednesday, I received a missed call from B&G during my endnote course & Joy said that somebody delivered my bike back to the front office. MY BIKE WAS DELIVERED BACK TO MY DOORSTEP! It felt like striking lottery. I was expecting my bike to be squashed or damaged, anything but in its perfect state. The bike was still as new as it was, with the spider webs I gave up cleaning off totally gone. Gosh, so thankful to whoever who sent it back. Joy said whoever who called on Mon might have called ANU security and ANU security might have gone down to collect the bike before I went down.

Samitha, my newly promoted sub-dean, a Sri-lankan senior resident who once drove me to the Sri lankan temple and to wat thai during song kran, told me that he checked through the entire record & mine was the ONLY case which stolen bike was found and returned. " You have been praying arent you?" His guess was that someone who had no transport home was desperate and took my bike, but later felt bad and called to say a bike was found & sent it back.
In any case, I'm thankful.

I think metta does work wonders. This is not the first time I experience the wonderful effect of sending metta. Yes it could have been coindence. Yes maybe there isnt enough data set to prove its significance. Maybe there should be scientific methods to test it out. Yet even if it doesnt work at all and all these were plain coincidence, at least it's wholesome mental volition and it makes one feel good nonetheless. It's non-religious, it's not a superstition, nor a prayer, just a simple wish for others to be well and happy, to be free from mental and physical sufferings, to be free from all dangers.

Whoever it was, thank you for sending my bike back to me. Sadhu!


VESAK
It was my first time spending Vesak in a Thai temple. It started with dharma talk in Thai & at one point in time everyone laughed at the joke the monk was saying. Pom and keew turned & asked if I understand the joke, nahs, I understood a little, but not enough details to fully understand what the monk said..

Next we walked around the temple thrice with incense sticks, a yellow candle and a stalk of flower as in the Thai traditions. Then everyone collected a set of Dharma books (in thai), a bracelet and a little Buddha statue. I received the bracelet and the statue. Pom and keew went to have a chat with the monk while I just sat at the back & try to practise listening. Only caught words like "usefulness" "meditation" "concentration" " talk to your parents" "future".. coincidentally what Pom asked was what I wanted to know too..

Anyway, it was a good experience. Thanks Pom for inviting me to go along =) Sadhu!

Helpful Aussies
On the way to the thay temple, I decided to drop by the petrol station to pump the tyres of mandy's bike. I know I cannot go up the steep slope towards the temple with flat tyres. I didnt know how to do it & one guy drove over to help me adjust the settings and pump air into the tyres. He was old, and his hands were weak and trembling, but that didnt stop him from helping me with it.

On the way back from the thai temple, we saw an old man on his four on the ground vomitting hard. Almost everyone who passed by stopped to help. Some offered water, one called ambulance, a lady gave him her jacket. Pom and Keew went to the road to direct the ambulance. One man who drove offered to safekeep his bike and will send it back to his house. A car drove onto the pavement and offered to send him to hospital or anyone who needed a lift. Before the ambulance left, one of the guys told the sickly old man
" Hang in there, Mate! U'll be alright! U'll be fine mate!! "
Community spirit in action. A very heart warming day despite the cold cold Autumn =)