Rite of Passage
Apr. 4th, 2009 11:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
grim23Today I spent all day being a witness to a 15-year-old boy taking his test to become a brown-sash at a school of Poekoelan Tjimindie Tulen. His test began at 9am, and he passed the physical part of his test at 9:30pm, more than 12 hours later. I watched him demonstrate his stances, his forms, his strikes, his kicks, and his spirit. I watched him fail, and learn, and fail again, and learn some more, and succeed. For his Ordeal, he engaged in a 9-mile forced march, with his instructor and three of us accompanying him silently. We followed him up and down hills, from the Hoyt Arboretum to Council Crest to the Japanese Gardens, pausing for meditation. Then we marched to Pittock Mansion to view the scenery, and then back to the Hoyt Arboretum. He kept close to his instructor the whole time, showing determination and loyalty. Then, even though he was very tired, he demonstrated more forms, and then he was put up against the wall and repeatedly attacked by an adult student. He cried, and did not give up, and he fought off his attacker. He struggled, and cried, and did not give in. There were no excuses. He fought, 20 fights versus adults who outweighed him by at least 50 pounds, with exercises in between, and then he had to fight yet more, demonstrating his flow. Finally, he performed his own form, shaking with exhaustion.
He impressed me with his spirit and his determination despite a grueling challenge. I sat and marched, and silently meditated with this young man. He was supported, and fed, and challenged, and nurtured, because he was doing a very significant task, and his training and resilience showed. He still has another 12 hours of meditation before he completes his test, and 9am tomorrow morning he will have earned his brown sash. I was honored to participate with the Ordeal, and I will be honored to sit in meditation with him for two hours tomorrow morning, sitting with him and his mother, engaging in a Vigil. I was additionally honored to be able to wear a borrowed school uniform to wear for my meditation with him, with the instructor’s approval.
I will bear witness that I watched a boy become a man today, and I’ll watch him become a Warrior tomorrow.
He impressed me with his spirit and his determination despite a grueling challenge. I sat and marched, and silently meditated with this young man. He was supported, and fed, and challenged, and nurtured, because he was doing a very significant task, and his training and resilience showed. He still has another 12 hours of meditation before he completes his test, and 9am tomorrow morning he will have earned his brown sash. I was honored to participate with the Ordeal, and I will be honored to sit in meditation with him for two hours tomorrow morning, sitting with him and his mother, engaging in a Vigil. I was additionally honored to be able to wear a borrowed school uniform to wear for my meditation with him, with the instructor’s approval.
I will bear witness that I watched a boy become a man today, and I’ll watch him become a Warrior tomorrow.
