Buddha Pournima  Shekhar Kapur Shares Some Insights From His Meeting With An Monk

Shekhar Kapur, while trekking in the mountains of the Himalayas, came across a monk meditating in a cave. The conversation on the awareness majorly impacted Shekhar. The monk advised him to find love everywhere and let it flow outwards.

This marked the beginning of Shekhar Kapur’s transformative journey of finding inner peace. Filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, who was recently awarded a Padma Bhushan award, shared an insight on the occasion of Buddha Purnima.

Shekhar Kapur Shares His Conversation With ‘The Monk’

The filmmaker took to his Instagram handle to share the insights wherein he uploaded a post with a caption that read, ‘Today is Buddh Jayanti. Budh in Sanskrit means ‘the enlightened one’… The one that is aware. I was trekking alone in the Himalayas, and came across a Monk who was meditating in his Cave. It was freezing, and yet he barely had any clothes on. His eyes closed. It was like a strong ‘Do not disturb’ sign ‘Aren’t you feeling cold?’ I finally had the courage to ask him.’

Further, the filmmaker shared, ‘Of course I had so many deeper questions and kicked myself for asking the stupidest question. ‘I was not aware of the cold’, He laughed’ But now that you’ve asked me, yes, it is cold’. And he closed his eyes again. With a slight smile on his face. The kind of smile you have when a child asks you a question. And you know there’s another one coming. ‘Are you enlightened? I asked. He looked at me with a deep gaze. His eyes seemed to change colour. I have no idea how long the gaze lasted.’

While concluding the conversation, the director, Shekhar Kapur, said, ‘I was suddenly aware that the sun had set. And the stars were out .. or was I just imagining it all? “Shekhar’,… I asked myself back, ‘Are you feeling the cold?  How long had I been sitting there beneath his gaze? “Are you enlightened?’ The monk asked me suddenly, I stuttered and realised how cold it was. This was the exact moment where my journey began.’