Maine hermit discovered after 27 years

A place to discuss casual topics amongst spiritual friends.
User avatar
Ben
Posts: 18438
Joined: Wed Dec 31, 2008 12:49 am
Location: kanamaluka

Maine hermit discovered after 27 years

Post by Ben »

This is an amazing story.
ROME — Christopher Knight went into the central Maine wilderness 27 years ago.

He built a hut on a slope in the woods, where he spent his days reading books and meditating.

There he lived, re-entering civilization only to steal supplies from camps under the cover of darkness. During those nearly three decades, he spoke just once to another person – until he was arrested during a burglary last week.

In between, Knight told police, he committed more than 1,000 burglaries, always taking only what he needed to survive. He became so familiar for his thievery and elusiveness that he spawned the local legend of the North Pond Hermit, who for years confounded both locals and police investigating the break-ins.

http://www.onlinesentinel.com/news/Nort ... ?pagenum=1
“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.”
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725

Compassionate Hands Foundation (Buddhist aid in Myanmar) • Buddhist Global ReliefUNHCR

e: [email protected]..
User avatar
Ben
Posts: 18438
Joined: Wed Dec 31, 2008 12:49 am
Location: kanamaluka

Re: Maine hermit discovered after 27 years

Post by Ben »

“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.”
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725

Compassionate Hands Foundation (Buddhist aid in Myanmar) • Buddhist Global ReliefUNHCR

e: [email protected]..
Coyote
Posts: 845
Joined: Mon Sep 19, 2011 12:42 pm
Location: Wales - UK

Re: Maine hermit discovered after 27 years

Post by Coyote »

Amazing, if strange, story Ben!
"If beings knew, as I know, the results of giving & sharing, they would not eat without having given, nor would the stain of miserliness overcome their minds. Even if it were their last bite, their last mouthful, they would not eat without having shared."
Iti 26
plwk
Posts: 1462
Joined: Mon Mar 01, 2010 5:14 am

Re: Maine hermit discovered after 27 years

Post by plwk »

I think Dusty may have got some tips from him...
User avatar
James the Giant
Posts: 791
Joined: Sat Oct 17, 2009 6:41 am

Re: Maine hermit discovered after 27 years

Post by James the Giant »

What an interesting fellow... I hope the police don't prosecute him too hard.
Gosh, imagine 27 years of solitude in the woods, then being thrown in the county jail to await trial... A crowded, noisy, nasty concrete jail.
What a nightmarish contrast for him.
Then,
saturated with joy,
you will put an end to suffering and stress.
SN 9.11
User avatar
Khalil Bodhi
Posts: 2250
Joined: Tue Feb 03, 2009 6:32 pm
Location: NYC
Contact:

Re: Maine hermit discovered after 27 years

Post by Khalil Bodhi »

Weird that he spent time meditating AND stealing. Luckily jails in Maine aren't very crowd (I think).
To avoid all evil, to cultivate good, and to cleanse one's mind — this is the teaching of the Buddhas.
-Dhp. 183

The Stoic Buddhist: https://www.quora.com/q/dwxmcndlgmobmeu ... pOR2p0uAdH
My Practice Blog:
http://khalilbodhi.wordpress.com
alan
Posts: 3111
Joined: Wed Sep 30, 2009 12:14 am
Location: Miramar beach, Fl.

Re: Maine hermit discovered after 27 years

Post by alan »

I've been up in Maine. The coast is beautiful, but the woods are bleak and frigid in winter. No sensible person would want to live in there.
"Meditating"? Maybe not. I think he's just a nut.
Nyana
Posts: 2233
Joined: Tue Apr 27, 2010 11:56 am

Re: Maine hermit discovered after 27 years

Post by Nyana »

Christopher Knight, Maine Hermit, Attracts Wedding Proposal:
  • Knight has drawn international interest since his arrest, with an offer of marriage, an offer of bail and a ballad written in his honor. Attorneys in and outside Maine have expressed an interest in representing him, and one person wanted to provide him housing, officials said.

    There's even a book deal in the works.
alan
Posts: 3111
Joined: Wed Sep 30, 2009 12:14 am
Location: Miramar beach, Fl.

Re: Maine hermit discovered after 27 years

Post by alan »

Which only proves how stupid people are.
User avatar
Polar Bear
Posts: 1348
Joined: Mon Apr 16, 2012 7:39 am

Re: Maine hermit discovered after 27 years

Post by Polar Bear »

Khalil Bodhi wrote:Weird that he spent time meditating AND stealing.
I thought that was rather strange as well.

:anjali:
"I don't envision a single thing that, when developed & cultivated, leads to such great benefit as the mind. The mind, when developed & cultivated, leads to great benefit."

"I don't envision a single thing that, when undeveloped & uncultivated, brings about such suffering & stress as the mind. The mind, when undeveloped & uncultivated, brings about suffering & stress."
User avatar
Sam Vara
Site Admin
Posts: 13482
Joined: Sun Jun 05, 2011 5:42 pm
Location: Portsmouth, U.K.

Re: Maine hermit discovered after 27 years

Post by Sam Vara »

polarbuddha101 wrote:
Khalil Bodhi wrote:Weird that he spent time meditating AND stealing.
I thought that was rather strange as well.

:anjali:
Illustrates the perils of one-sided practice! For a person who has really strong mindfulness but very weak sila, burglary is an ideal career choice...
User avatar
Ben
Posts: 18438
Joined: Wed Dec 31, 2008 12:49 am
Location: kanamaluka

Re: Maine hermit discovered after 27 years

Post by Ben »

Yes, it is interesting that he was meditating and stealing.
But I try not to judge people until I've had a chance to find out a bit more about them, what motivates them, and walking a mile in their shoes (if possible). I'm sure there are many hermits in our midst who are likely to suffer from acute asperger's syndrome or various other mental health issues. One young man who just pulled out of a course I am attending is a prime candidate of this sort of behaviour.

Despite the book deal and marriage proposal - I wonder whether this is just a tragedy in the making. After 27 years of seclusion and silence re-entering society via jail/prison and international media attention is probably a recipe for disaster.
Anyway, much metta to him.
kind regards,

Ben
“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.”
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725

Compassionate Hands Foundation (Buddhist aid in Myanmar) • Buddhist Global ReliefUNHCR

e: [email protected]..
User avatar
James the Giant
Posts: 791
Joined: Sat Oct 17, 2009 6:41 am

Re: Maine hermit discovered after 27 years

Post by James the Giant »

I was astounded to read he did not have a camp fire at any time, not once. Because he was concerned the smoke would be seen.
In Maine, in the middle of winter!
Then,
saturated with joy,
you will put an end to suffering and stress.
SN 9.11
User avatar
Ben
Posts: 18438
Joined: Wed Dec 31, 2008 12:49 am
Location: kanamaluka

Re: Maine hermit discovered after 27 years

Post by Ben »

James the Giant wrote:I was astounded to read he did not have a camp fire at any time, not once. Because he was concerned the smoke would be seen.
In Maine, in the middle of winter!
James, you don't need a fire to stay warm or cook. But yeah, he puts many wilderness campers to shame, that is for sure.
“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.”
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725

Compassionate Hands Foundation (Buddhist aid in Myanmar) • Buddhist Global ReliefUNHCR

e: [email protected]..
User avatar
marc108
Posts: 463
Joined: Wed Jan 18, 2012 10:10 pm

Re: Maine hermit discovered after 27 years

Post by marc108 »

Ben wrote: I'm sure there are many hermits in our midst who are likely to suffer from acute asperger's syndrome or various other mental health issues.
Ben

very astute observation.
"It's easy for us to connect with what's wrong with us... and not so easy to feel into, or to allow us, to connect with what's right and what's good in us."
Post Reply