What I Learned Living as a Monk for 18 Months

I went way too ahead in chasing peace

Photo by Thomas Oxford on Unsplash

Author’s note — This is one of the chapters from my new book. To know more about my book, visit here —

https://dipanshurawal.medium.com/read-my-new-book-live-f3e9c7a215a4

24 September 2019. My 23rd birthday.

I was in Dharamshala, India on a solo trip. Dharamshala is the place of H.H. Dalai Lama’s temple.

Roaming those streets on my birthday, I saw so many monks doing their day-to-day rituals; praying, eating, talking, etc. I entered the temple and saw a couple of monks praying and chanting.

For the first time in my life, I saw “peace”. All those monks had peace on their faces. I thought you could only feel peace. I was wrong.

I wanted that. I really, desperately, impatiently wanted that peace in my life.

1 week before my birthday, my girlfriend broke up with me.

1 day before my trip, my boss fired me for not coming to the office on a Sunday.

I was broke and broken. Literally.

I was in shock. My mind was blank, trying to contemplate what just happened. And then I went on this trip.