In some Buddhist traditions, bracelets are worn as a reminder of one’s spiritual journey, serving as a physical symbol of mindfulness and the path to enlightenment. When a monk gives a bracelet, it may be infused with prayers, blessings, or well wishes, making it a beautiful piece of jewelery and a meaningful spiritual gift.
This little story is about my continuing synchronicities after having an experience with a monk, two bracelets and $5. Each time I’m on a new adventure and an incident occurs that is related to these bracelets I will add it to this post.
The story begins with Denise and I traveling to some of the biggest cities in the United States to see the girls perform on their pom squads. In all major cities we encounter people asking for money on the streets and panhandling on the sidewalks. A few places we’ve landed in this past 12 months include L.A., San Antonio, Orlando and Phoenix.
I normally try to avoid people begging and adults with children trying to scam people out of money. That’s not to say that I haven’t ever given someone down on their luck some money because I have. But in these tourist towns I know there are scams going on everywhere.
On one of our most recent trips Denise and I visited San Antonio to watch Piper perform at the Alamo Bowl. While there, we stayed downtown on the Riverwalk and ran into the usual mix of people asking for money around the Alamo.
One morning while on our way to see the Alamo I was approached by an oriental gentleman dressed like a monk. He was short, bald and had the signature brown robe on. The thing I noticed about this guy was that he had a big smile and a quiet demeanor.
He walked up to me and bowed. He then reached out with a bracelet and indicated that he wanted to slip it on my wrist. It happened so quickly that without much thinking I stuck out my hand and he slipped a multi-colored bead bracelet over my wrist.
I am one for wearing bracelets and anklets so I thought this was pretty cool. The wooden beads on the bracelet were a great mix of colors including white, green, brown, back and white. They were arranged in color by two’s. I thought it was a good looking bracelet and was glad to have it.
The monk looking guy then held up another bracelet and mumbled something about giving it to my wife. He had spotted Denise and I walking together. She had walked on not wanting to be a part of what was transpiring.
The second bracelet was made up of all black beads that were slightly larger than the ones on the first bracelet. These beads also had tiny oriental writing on them. I shook my head that I was willing to accept that bracelet as well. He then handed that one to me.
Again, this all happened in what seemed like a split second. He then bowed again and mumbled something. He opened a book he had been holding and I could see that there were names in the book with dollar amounts next to them. I could see $40, $50, $65 and more.
I didn’t catch exactly what he said but I know it had something to with giving a donation. At first it hadn’t dawned on me that this would be a panhandling scam but suddenly here it was. I was in a good mood and this smiling guy had struck me as a kind person.
I knew that I had five one dollar bills in my pocket because I had paid a valet earlier and was aware of how much cash I had remaining. I wasn’t interested in reading anything in the book or signing my name so I looked him in the eye and said, “I’ve got $5 in my pocket”.
I pulled out the five bucks and I could tell he wasn’t very impressed. Again, I said, “This is all I have, will you take $5?” He bowed, took my five one dollar bills and was on his way. I was feeling pretty good having just received two great looking bracelets for $5.
I knew the guy most likely wasn’t a real monk but I liked his smile and his gumption for offering something in return for a hand out. To me, he was more of an entrepreneur than a beggar.
I caught up with Denise and told her I had a bracelet for her. She didn’t want any part of the black bracelet because the guy was panhandling and she didn’t know what the writing meant. She didn’t want to take a chance that the writing was some sort of bad luck. I happily threw that bracelet on my wrist next to the other one and we headed off to the Alamo.
Throughout the next day or two we spotted a couple of other monk looking characters making their way along the Riverwalk. Each time I would see one of them I would raise my sleeve and show them that I had already contributed to their fishy endeavor.
A couple of nights later Denise and I ended up in a tavern on the Riverwalk for a couple of drinks. The place was packed with Arizona and Oklahoma fans, many of which were partaking in karaoke. A random couple and their friends sat at the table next to us and we started chatting after we noticed they were from a town in Oklahoma.
As the evening wore on I noticed that when the lady next to us stretched out her arm there was one of those colorful bracelets on her wrist. I started laughing and stood up to show her my wrist. She began to laugh and said her friend across the table also had one of the monk bracelets on. We all laughed at each other and I thought it was some coincidence that I had spotted her bracelet.
I leaned over and asked her how much the guy had gotten her for. She smiled and said he had gotten her for $20. I laughed and told her that my monk only got me for $5 and I gotten two bracelets. The other lady stopped laughing. They told me he had gotten her for $40 and now she was upset!
Once we arrived back in Oklahoma I did a little research on the black bracelet and found out it is sold at retail locations and is considered a feng shui good luck bracelet. It is supposed to bring wealth and good luck. I was pretty pleased with myself after that discovery and told Denise. Of course she wanted it after finding out the meaning of the writing. I decided it was meant for me to receive the bracelet and kept it.
Fast forward to our trip to Disney World in Orlando a couple of weeks later. While shopping and browsing the stores at Disney and the airport we kept an eye out for another good luck bracelet for Denise but never ran across one that matched mine. We spent a week in Florida and hopped on a plane back to Oklahoma.
On the last part of our trek home we were on a Southwest flight and I was in the aisle seat. As we were flying I would rest my head on my arm and try to get a little sleep. As I did this it exposed my wrist and the bracelets I was wearing.
After about an hour into the flight I got a tap on my shoulder. I looked back and the guy across the aisle and one row back was saying something to me. I looked at him and he pulled back his sleeve only to reveal one of those colorful bracelets that matched mine!
He said he had gotten his bracelet from a monk in New Orleans while visiting there. I asked him how much the monk had gotten him for and he said $40. He told me there were names in his monk’s book with donation amounts of $50 and $100. I had to laugh and told him my tale of getting the bracelets for $5.
When I arrived home this last week I decided to investigate the whole monk and bracelet racket. Come to find out the whole thing started around 2012 when someone organized groups of men and women to go out looking like monks to elicit donations. In some cities the monks tell fictitious stories about the money going to help fund temples and things like that.
Many cities including New York consider what these people are doing as scams against tourists. They are trying to reduce the number of scams by asking people not to give money to these fake bracelet wielding monks. Some of these fake monks get aggressive and have been known to bully or take back their bracelets if not given a big enough donation. Even the real monks are irritated by the deception.
These organized monk patrols are most likely making a pretty good living. I don’t consider myself as being scammed because I was not told a tall tale about the money going toward some made up ploy. I feel pretty good that I ended up with two souvenirs for only $5. I’m always looking for good signs, omens and synchronicities. This was just one of them.
My cautionary tale to you is to carry five dollars in your pocket while on vacation in case you are approached by monks with good luck charms. Just smile, tell them you only have $5 and get away quick without listening to any pitch they might have.
I’ll always look fondly on these two bracelets and hope that in some way they have a good luck vibe that rubs off on me. Whether they do or not, I believe they do and when it comes to manifesting good things that’s all it takes.
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