Sensei

Definition: a person who was born before.

I found one.

This crazy old man I've met and befriended at the hostel has been strangely enlightening to me. He is 61 and homeless. He has $30 in emergency stamps for food until next month. That, a frozen chicken thigh, the clothes he wears, and $3.75 are all he posesses. He's had a crazy life of abuse, turmoil, poverty, education, travelling, drugs, and I can't imagine what else. I have never met someone (other than my own Grandmother) who had so much information locked in his head.

It's truly inspiring to see someone at that age who is cheerful in spite of what life has handed him, and who is generous with all he has in spite of how little it is. He offered me half of his chicken and I nearly cried.

If, to defeat greed, we all need to end up like this rebel angel (copyright Robertson Davies), this wild, deranged guru, then I support it.

Here is to the foretaste of my future, when I will be generous and guiltless. I will be poor and pure.