Читать книгу Best Day of My Life: True stories to inspire, move and entertain - Told by a cross-section of the UK's celebrities and courageous everyday people - Giles Vickers Jones - Страница 20

Singer

I’ve lived such an amazing and varied life it would be impossible to pinpoint what exactly is the best day of my life but I’ve had some incredible experiences that will always stay with me so I have picked this story.

I woke up at 4 a.m. and looked out of my shale into the beautiful Thailand sky. It was a magnificent night so I strolled outside and sat in a hammock gazing at the stars and as dawn approached I saw the most incredible sunrise. It was truly magnificent and was made that much more beautiful by the 11 orange-robed men walking past by the shore carrying big clay pots. I thought I was dreaming – I’d never seen this before mainly because normally I’m just coming in at that time from a crazy night out. But this was different so I thought I’d go and investigate. I approached them from the side and I tried to ask a question but no one answered me, so I asked the next and the next. But still I got no answer so I thought, If you can’t beat them, join them. The only difference was I wasn’t going to be quiet, so I took my place at the back and started to sing, ‘Hey ho hey ho, tell me which way to go, 11 orange monks with their pots and curly cheeky Chico, hey ho.’ It must have looked mad.

Anyway, we journeyed into the jungle, up a hill, down a hill, through this secret passage and still no one turned around or batted an eyelid or even spoke to me. It felt so strange yet serene and then all of a sudden like a hidden treasure I saw this magnificent temple that just took my breath away. My head was going at 100 miles an hour when all of a sudden an old monk appeared in front of us. With his tattooed head he reminded me of a grandmaster out of a Bruce Lee movie, and I was a Bruce Lee nut when I was young so you can imagine how I felt. I was transfixed by him and as he was with me the other monks surrounded him. He looked at me, I looked at him, he looked at them, I looked at them and any Thai I’d learned had just vanished from my brain. I thought, OK, when in doubt smile, and boy did I smile. I must have looked like a Cheshire cat or more like a gurning monkey.

Then the monk pointed at me and said, ‘Tarzaaaaaaaan, Tarzaaaaaaaaaan.’ Then they all joined in together: ‘Tarzaaaaaaaan Laaaaaabooooooo,’ which is the Thai name for Rambo.

So I beat my chest and let out the Tarzan howl! Everyone started laughing and they all started feeling my biceps and chest in admiration. They took me in and gave me some delicious food. I asked the chief monk all kinds of questions through a translator and there was so much love and compassion coming from him.

We did a little meditation, he blessed me and I was on my way. I really felt something strange and beautiful going inside me, as though there was an electric current going through my body that lifted me and made me feel like I could fly, something I also experienced with my spiritual master Mawlana Sheikh Nazim. I just felt free, I bowed to all of them and said, ‘Cup coon macup’ (thank you) and left.

As I walked back to the beach the sun had risen into its full splendour. When I got to the sea I dived in and just contemplated life and humanity as a whole, people, cultures, creeds and faiths. One thing really remains in my mind from that day. What I learned was, when you take away the garb, the external stuff, the colour, the skin and so on, all that remains is what’s inside and inside is the heart and inside the heart is love. Love is what I felt, love is what I received and after that love is what I promised to give and live by, the best religion of all.

Later on in my life when I’d experienced so many diverse cultures from temples to mosques, ashrams, churches and synagogues and spoken to many gurus and spiritual masters, the essence of all they spoke about was love. Now I know one thing for sure: I searched for God and there was no place I could see Him until I looked deep within and realised He lives within me and that’s what that Buddhist monk was trying to tell me. God is truth and God is love, so, whoever is reading this, may love, health, joy and laughter follow you wherever you go and may you find God within too.

Peace,

Chico