A Monk prays for a dead man who was waiting for his train in the station hall of Shanxi Taiyuan train station in Shanxi, China.
The photographer:
“I remember clearly that it was about 5 p.m. on November 25. I was just finishing an assignment photographing retired military soldiers bidding farewell to their comrades at the train station. On my way out, I heard someone yelling from a corner and soon after lots of people gathered around. I ran towards the sound and made my way to the front of the crowd, only to find an old man dead on the bench. As I raised my camera, a Buddhist monk walked out of the crowd and went directly towards the dead man. The monk bent down to hold the old man’s hand and started to chant scriptures. I began to take pictures immediately. One minute later, police came over and cordoned off the area. After the monk finished the ceremony, he bowed to the old man and quickly disappeared among the other busy passengers.”
When the monk found an old man slumped over on a train station bench, he stopped, held his cold hand and prayed, and then bowed before him. He honored this man, who died while waiting for his train.
We know our lives are a brief moment of the Infinite, but there are only few instances in life that conjure the true understanding of reality.
The day, the second, this old man was born, he too never have thought he would one day leave this world in the waiting hall of a train station.
Things are difficult to predict, and lives are over in a moment. We never know when the last time is THE LAST TIME.
Most of the things in life are just noises, and a very few things are exceptionally valuable. Find those things.
It pains me to see people eating alone, let alone death. Money is very important and so are the people with whom it is spent with.
Lessons I learnt:
From the Crowd: No matter what. World never stops. It goes on.
From the Man: Death is inevitable. It will come when it will come. You leave everything behind except what is woven into the life of others. Try to weave something good.
From the Monk: A part of being a human is to do something for people what they deserve. In times of tragedies, no act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.