Tonight will be the full moon, which is always a big time
for Buddhists. However, this is a special full moon marking the end of the
Buddhist lent - a three month period
during the rainy season when monks have to stay in one place and can’t travel
anywhere. It is supposed to be a time of reflection and retreat for them.
Tonight will be celebrated with hot air lanterns that are set adrift in the sky
and banana leaf boats lit with candles that are set to float on rivers and
waterways. I was here for the festival last year, so have any idea of what it
looks like. I’ll wait to tell you more about it until later though.
What’s in my mind this morning is a conversation I had with
a man who comes to the temple whenever he can. We have been talking in the
breakfast line each morning actually. He always waits until the end of the line
and makes sure that everyone else eats first.
... A momentary aside... I’m sitting out in the common area of the house where I stay
and all of the young nains – novices – who stay here have come up and are
standing around me at the moment. They are quite interested in the typing that
I’m doing, but it’s hard to concentrate…
I showed them some pictures of mountains and Stewart Lake and things. OK – they’re off to do something else now…
Anyway, this man, who says his nickname in Thai sounds like “Boy”
is a five stripe sergeant in the Thai army and is a commander of a special
forces unit that does things like defusing bombs, going into situations where
there is a threat of terrorism, and other “first in – last out” situations
where special skills are needed. He seems
to be a very kind, calm, gentle, and compassionate person and he was telling me
how he struggles with his work and worries about the Karma that he is
accumulating by doing what he does. He told me today that he talked to a
colleague last night and six people (I’m not sure if they were from his squad
of 40 or not, but I think they were) have been killed in the last few days
trying to defuse land mines that were set by separatist groups in the
southernmost islands of Thailand. He has to go back to this in a few days.
He made me think of the story of Arjuna in the Bhagavad
Ghita. The Bhagavad Ghita starts with Arjuna, who is a young prince, standing
in his chariot beside the God Krishna. Two armies are lined up and ready to
join in battle and Arjuna is hesitating because he doesn’t see the point to
fighting. He sees that there are his family members on both sides, good people
on both sides, and the reason for fighting seems to be unclear, or not worth
it. He asks Krishna about it, saying that it would be better to go away and
leave the fight than to go into a battle like this.
Surprisingly, Krishna says no, don’t go away. You need to
fight this battle Arjuna. Most of the rest of the book is about why this is so,
and how to go about being in the fight without developing hatred or enmity or
attachment to a desired outcome, but being there in a way that sees the deep
truth of the world.
I have often wondered about this, and how to apply it, or if
it can be applied in my own life. Sometimes I think I’m running away from the
battle (some would probably say that’s what I’m doing now by being here
actually. On the other hand, coming here could also been seen as taking on the challenge and entering the "battle" in a different way I suppose. It gets tricky when you allow yourself to see more than one viewpoint). Sometimes it feels like I’m in the thick of it and forget the part
about not getting attached to particular outcomes. Sometimes I have moments of feeling
like I touch on understanding the idea of being in the middle of “the battle”
and being OK with it.
The word that they use for this here, I believe, sounds like "Tomkran". It literally means "in the center", and is used to denote being in the center of the whirlwind, the center of the battle or the center of whatever has come your way and maintaining that center so that there is still balance. It means being in the midst of the battle without becoming attached to outcomes. It is also a concept in Aikido, which is a martial art that uses the concept of circles in its philosophy and application. In Aikido, one strives to maintain a dynamic center that responds to all outside pressures and challenges, flowing with the energy of an attacking force from a centered and balanced state.
Ning showed me a little clip from Kung Fu Panda 3 yesterday. It’s the part where the Po realizes that in order to win his fight he has to have inner peace.
“Oh, all I need is inner peace….” It
seems that’s the whole puzzle really… Where does inner peace come from. All this searching and looking that we do, but I guess it has to come from inside?
Anyway, the man I've been talking to seems such an unlikely special forces person in
his mild mannered and self-deprecating way. He looks like he's been through plenty of hard living and some pretty wild times; he probably hasn't been a complete angel all his life. However, I wanted to write about him in
honor of his ability to walk into his battles and take his compassion with him,
and in honor of what I imagine to be the gift of calm and understanding that he
gives to the people around him when they are in the thick of their stress and
danger. Maybe he is not in the wrong place, as he believes, because he has bad
Karma to work out. Maybe he is in the right place because he has the capacity
to be there with grace.
And maybe there’s no reason at all… J
Hi Todd , enjoy your heat there as good as you can .It is minus 20 here and at least 3 feet of snow,probably more.....Good old man winter came down hard on us.
ReplyDeleteEnjoying your stories very very much.I will never look at figs the same way again.:)
It sounds like you are well and have a interesting experience. We miss you lots.
It is kind of hard to comment here, you have to enter 2 words and they are very hard to see(security thing). I thought once I am signed up it would be easier...but they want that every time. I hope it goes through.
Cheers