“Try to direct the feeling about the story of Master Bavari being cursed by the Brahmin
beggar towards Achita,” Lord Phoche advised me while watching the events.

“Is that what I should do?” I asked to confirm.

Then I tried to direct the entire story I had learned, including conveying goodwill into
Achita’s thoughts. In that instant, unintentionally, I felt a oneness with Achita and Lord
Phoche. Achita himself didn’t know what he was saying. He only knew that at this
moment, we shared goodwill towards Master Bavari.

“Were you cursed by the Brahmin beggar?” Achita asked, as I expressed the feeling to
him.

“How do you know? I haven’t told anyone about this,” Bavari asked.

“I perceived it through the intuition from a great god who is currently present with me.
He told me to say this to you,” Achita narrated about Lord Phoche as he felt.

“Which great god is with you?” Master Bavari asked.

“Lord Narayana,” Achita replied, from the feeling I sent to him.

“Is that what you truly say?” Master Bavari sat up in a cross-legged position,
immediately bringing his hands together in a prayerful gesture at his chest and reciting
a short mantra, “Namo Narayo Anjalikaraniyo.”

“The god came to warn you because he saw that you are suffering. He instructed me to
tell you to let go of that attachment. It is just a trick of a cunning person seeking gain.
Please don’t pay attention to it,” Achita said.

“Oh… the great god is so kind to me. I bow to him,” he said, and was about to bow down.

“Please don’t do that, teacher… I will be committing a sin,” Achita said, holding Master
Bavari’s hands to prevent him from bowing to the ground.

“Achita… at this moment, you are like a representative of Lord Narayana, whom I can
ask about the Dharma. Please be the medium for me to ask about the Dharma I have
sought throughout my life,” Master Bavari didn’t hesitate to use this important
opportunity to the fullest.

“Venerable ascetic, the great man who can clarify what you seek has now appeared in
this world. Please go and ask him. Although I can answer your questions, it is not my
role to do so. There are many wonderful coincidences between you and that great
man,” Lord Phoche spoke, using Achita’s body as a medium.

“What coincidences are there?” Master Bavari asked.

“The night that the great man decided to renounce the world, leaving the palace, and
decided to change his status from prince to a truth-seeking monk, is the same night
that you moved to start your ascetic life at the new hermitage near Savatthi. Your
intention that night aligns with this great man,” Lord Phoche explained.

“That is a very pleasing coincidence,” Bavari expressed his joy.

“There is another coincidence. Six years later, the night of his enlightenment, the night
of complete awakening, which led him to be known as the great man, is the same day
that you decided to go to find a new residence,” Lord Phoche added.

“That is truly amazing. This great man must have a special connection with me. Please
clarify this for me,” Master Bavari requested.

“There is definitely a connection, but please consider it yourself. Originally, your home
was in the north, but you traveled down to the south. And now you are near the Sakya
region, which is the birthplace of the great man. As for the great man, his residence is
in the south, but he went up to the north. So, you both traveled in opposite directions at
the same time. Since you came to reside in this land, established your school, and
became known for your kindness, distributing wealth to help the poor and needy,
many people have flocked to you for help.”

“The great man has also been seeking the truth in the northern regions, and now he
resides in the city of Savatthi, your hometown. A wealthy man bought land and built a
large monastery for him, and he has resided there for quite some time. Now, people
from all directions travel to meet the great man to receive the immortal Dharma, so the
city of Savatthi is now nicknamed ‘the city of spreading Dharma.’ Do you know this?”
Lord Phoche explained.

“Oh… I now understand the significance. I see that it is truly my misfortune that I have
no opportunity to meet this great man. While I traveled to seek a secluded place, I have
now realized that such a place does not exist. The more I try to escape the chaos, the
more chaos there is. I traveled far to seek the truth, but in the end, the one known as
the great man, the all-knowing, the awakened one, the teacher of all beings to liberate
them from suffering, appeared in the land I left. That is my utmost shame. Now I am
almost 100 years old. Even if I know that this great man has appeared, I cannot travel
to meet him. I would probably die before reaching halfway. That is my true misfortune,”
Master Bavari said.

“In the presence of Lord Narayana, I now realize that this is a lesson for me to reflect
on how much time has been wasted and how it is too late to go back. I now realize that
I must create peace within myself. No place can give it, no one can offer it. That peace
does not come from external factors, but it must arise from within. I apologize to you
for my foolishness, my foolishness to the very end,” Master Bavari said with regret.

“The fact that you have this realization now means that you have entered a high state of
Dharma. From now on, you will never revert to your old self. From now on, what you
need to do is to find out what else you are still attached to, besides the peace you have
always sought. If you find it and contemplate it until you can release those attachments,
release them until you no longer cling to anything, not even the non-attachment. If you
can understand this before your final moment, your mind will be free. You can choose
to go or not to go, to be or not to be, to stay or not to stay, as you please. Because you
will no longer be under the control of the rules created by your attachments. You
yourself will be the one to decide, not anyone or anything else,” Lord Phoche explained.

Then I saw Master Bavari burst into tears, crying loudly like a child being punished by
whipping. I, in the guise of Achita the ascetic, could only watch with surprise at Master
Bavari’s outburst. He cried for a long time until it seemed that he had released all his
sorrow. Then he sat up in a cross-legged position and took three deep breaths.