Mind the traffic in Shanghai

It was mid afternoon and I was running late for an appointment. I was stuck right in the middle of four lanes of Shanghai traffic trying to cross the road. I still had another two lanes to negotiate. If only the traffic stayed in their lanes in orderly fashion. However, this was Shanghai where buses did war with motor 'scooterists', bicycles did war with barrow pushers, cars did war with cyclists and the whole lot did war with the pedestrian! I was starting to panic a little as I was nearly side wiped by a bus towering beside me. At last I made it to the other side, took a deep breath as the adrenalin took its last rush along the highways of my veins then picked up the pace darting amongst the mass of bodies as I rushed to the appointment.




Later in the evening I was to meet a friend in Xujiahui who was inviting me to meet his "master". I had never met a "master" before and wondered what to expect. Yan had told me that his master was a Buddhist monk who was in Shanghai for a few days from the tranquil Buddhist island of Mt Putuo off the coast of China.





Earlier in the day over breakfast Yan eagerly shared with me his story of how he came to discover Buddhism. Living the life in the fast lane as a Manager of a large hotel chain Yan described how his life had sunk to flirting with wine and women and how during a 'morning-after' walk full of remorse and 'never-agains' he chanced to walk into the grounds of a temple in Hangzhou. There he met his "master". "Your mind looks like a traffic jam" were the first words of his "master" almost clairvoyantly uttered. Yan told me his words could not have been more accurate. Yan went on to tell me how after about two hours' conversation with this elderly monk he felt he could start life all over again. Yan's face was a smiling shining disc. I was intrigued.





He looked right out of place. So much so I felt a little embarrassed. As we walked inside the ritzy Shanghai restaurant there in front of us with a gentle, almost cheeky grin, was Yan's "master" dressed in yellow Buddhist robes. Two worlds had collided. The world of the rich and opulent and the world of the humble and spiritual. Perhaps I could say: "Three worlds collided." The third world was mine, trying to make sense of all of this. Yan introduced me: "This is Master Xin Ming". I bowed and awkward bow and stumbled with my Chinese. We were ushered to a table by a seeming equally embarrassed waitress.





There ensued some conversation about Putuo Shan, or Mt Putuo as it is referred to in English, then Yan said: "Malcolm wishes to speak with you." I could have aimed a gentle kick under the table at Yan. At this point in my journey my life had been in turmoil dramatically breaking up a relationship with a lady I had been going out with after learning she was in fact married to a government official who if he had found out cold have easily made me disappear into the remotest part of Siberia never to be seen again. Thoughts were spinning around in my head. No, more than that, the thoughts and feelings dominated my head! I really did not want to speak to this holy man as I had nothing to say except to wallow in my own suffering. I was keen to know how old he was using an old avoidance tactic, so hoping to get an answer an indirect way I asked: "When did you first become a monk?" "I am eighty-four. I have been a monk since I was eighteen." I was shocked. Could this gentle man have known my intended question? Xin Ming immediately put me at ease by telling me about his life as a monk especially during the Cultural Revolution. I sat transfixed at his story. Then he stopped suddenly and changed his tone while looking almost as if straight though me. "You need to get out of the middle of the traffic or you will get run over. You can't stop the traffic in Shanghai and you can't stop it in Malcolm. Get to the other side. There on the other side of the road you are safe. From there you can watch the traffic." I was stunned. My mind swept back to my pirouetting in the middle of the traffic in the morning on my way to my appointment and then suddenly walked slap bang into the wall of my own illusion.





The evening conversation continued lightly but the seed was sown in my brain. The lesson was clear. My first lesson in Mindfulness. . .and my first shaky steps in Buddhism.