Kappiya

Kappiya is a Buddhist attendant or steward who assists Buddhist monks. I was a Kappiya for several months, my monk was venerable Bhante Sujiva. He was kind and full of knowledge. We practised Buddhist meditation most of the time and we also traveled. My upbringing was in Communist times in Yugoslavia and that is why my view towards spirituality was always with a bit of scepticism. So I had many questions for Bhante. Once I gathered all my courage:

Gregor: Bhante Sujiva, everybody says you have achieved enlightenment, is it true?

Sujiva: Well, what do you really want to know Gregor?

Gregor: I wanna know if you are the one?

Sujiva (he took some time and let some silence slip between us): Enlightment is not something that you talk about, it is something that you see.