A few years ago I spent some time in Northern India, where I stayed a few nights in a Kagyupa monastery. The monks would wear their robes (just like the one he is wearing in that video) and ONLY their robes, in the single digit Himalayan temperatures. Me and the other Westerner's I was traveling with had on every layer of clothes we owned, and were still freezing cold. I asked one of the monks why they wore no coats and he answered, "The mind is the best coat."

Part of me is still incredulous, even though I saw it with my own eyes. I mean, it is FREEZING COLD there - how is it humanly possible that these men could be comfortable wearing so little? I take it the answer is because they had figured out how to use their minds to regulate their own body temperatures. It still amazes me every time I think about it.

-- JuliaS - 20 Jan 2008