Winter sky

I was visiting my son in Geelong for a week and I went into Melbourne on my last day, in order to do a bit of research on Japanese-Australian history at the Victorian Archives, before flying out that afternoon. I had planned my trip out to the airport – down to the last minute and down to the last dollar, leaving just enough time and just enough money to get back home again. I had to walk from the Archives to the nearest train station, which would take me one short stop into the city, from where I would take the airport bus. However, when I got to the station, which was unmanned, there was nowhere to buy a ticket and when I used the station phone to talk to a rail employee, I was told that there was a new system in place which meant I had to buy a travel card for $6 and then add the minimum of $5 to it in order to travel. But I was on my way out to the airport and I didn’t have time to walk the distance to the airport bus and I didn’t have enough money to pay $11 to travel one stop!

It seems this station is nearby to a training facility for the sight-impaired and a blind man who was walking onto the station platform heard me talking to the station employee and offered to help me out. “Look,” he said, “I know it’s illegal, but it seems pretty crazy to have to pay so much just to go one stop, so if you sit with me on the train and an inspector comes along, I’ll tell him that you’re my carer.” Well, I didn’t want to miss my flight, and time and money were running out, so I thanked him and we sat down together and chatted while waiting and travelling on the train.

My Good Samaritan told me that had been a builder and lost his eyesight about twelve years ago when he found out his son had been sexually abused by a priest: he became so angry that he actually burst the veins in his eyes and went blind! Since that time he has become very active in support groups and lobbying to help to ensure that this doesn’t happen to other fathers. He said that he found great comfort in his activism and it helped to channel his anger and frustration, so much so that these days he’s actually much calmer and relaxed than he was before he went blind. He makes incredibly intricate ornamental wooden boxes, one of which was in his bag, just finished, that he showed me. It was  beautifully and very delicately engraved using modern technological instruments that actually talk to the user. He told me that his grandkids all lived nearby to his home and visited frequently and he felt his life was rich and rewarding in ways he never imagined possible. “Don’t get me wrong,” he smiled, “I’d still rather see, but I appreciate my life now in a way that I never thought possible and so to some extent I’m actually grateful for my blindness – there were so many things about myself that I just didn’t see before, but now I do!”

When we got to the central station, I walked – guiltily – through the turnstile with him, but actually no one even asked who I was or stopped me! My Good Samaritan then proceeded to lead me through the station and take me to the airport bus station. He quickly and efficiently navigated his way by using his stick along the raised guidelines on the ground, and I followed along one step behind like a little kid. When he deposited me at the bus station I asked him if his home was nearby. “Oh no,” he laughed, “I live another 80 kms on the other side of the city. I just thought I’d better first get you to your bus safe and sound so you wouldn’t miss your flight!” He then said goodbye and walked back towards the train station.

Geraldton wax – harbingers of Spring

I was so grateful for his generosity, and it reminded me too that help can come from the most unexpected sources. In one of the Buddhist sutras that I study, the Kuan Yin Sutra, it says that the deity Kuan Yin will appear to whoever needs help in whatever form is needed at that moment. It then recites 33 forms that are examples of her manifestations, including the ones we might expect such as gods and goddesses, monks and nuns, but also in forms that we might not expect such as children and animals, but much more surprisingly is that Kuan Yin may even appear in the form of criminals and demons and monsters! In other words, if our eyes are open – that is, if our inner eyes and hearts are open – and we are not blinded by our own judgemental attitudes, then we will find whatever help we need on our path through life. It is our own prejudices that blind us to the goddess standing before us ready to help us on our way. See?