Norman
67. It is twenty-five years since I went forth. Not even for the duration of a snap of the fingers have I obtained stilling of the mind.
68. Not obtaining peace of mind, drenched with desire for sensual pleasures, holding out my arms, crying out, I entered the vihāra.
69. I went up to a bhikkhunī who was fit to be trusted by me. She taught me the doctrine, the elements of existence, the sense-bases and the elements.
70. I heard the doctrine from her and sat down on one side. I know my former habitation; I have purified the divine eye;
71. and there is knowledge of the state of mind of others; I have purified the ear-element; I have realized supernormal power too; I have attained the annihilation of the āsavas; I have realized these six supernormal knowledges; I have done the Buddha’s teaching.
Weingast
I was young when I left home.
And for years I rambled around.
My practice—sitting, walking, and hoping.
At first everything was new.
I didn’t notice my skin drying up
or my hair turning gray.
Then one morning, there I was—
an old woman.
Where had I gotten in all those years on the Path?
That night I slept out in a field,
and it rained.
I felt like I belonged there—
miserable and alone in the mud.
In the morning,
I went to the nearest monastery
and threw myself down.
A nun took me in and taught me.
This body, this mind, this world.
Where they come from, where they go.
What they are, what they are not.
That night I went out to sit in the field,
and it rained.
I felt like I belonged there—
every drop of water telling me I was home.
Don’t worry, my sisters.
When the road reaches its end,
you’ll know it.