When I was younger, I would make fun of girls who would tie their long hair in braids, the strands intertwined like ropes. All of us have a braid made up of our past identifications, attachments, desires, and experiences, intertwined with our present. Those who want to take a spiritual path, like monks, are told to shave their heads and wear simple outfits, all orange or white. All start the same when getting ready to merge onto the highway of the spiritual journey. This is called the starting point. All their pasts and how they got there do not matter. The only thing that matters is the journey on which all want to go. Where each one goes, and how far they go, is up to each one. Then, no more intertwining of the hair is required. No knots appear, as they are no longer wrapped up in wrong notions of who they are. — Satish Daryanani
