So it's been a few days. I've passed through Bao Loc for a stop at the Prajna Monastery, which is absolutely beautiful. I may be able to come back for a week at least near the end of my voyage. We stopped for a day and passed through to Dalat, an old French resort town in the mountains.
Of course, we've been following Thay from temple to temple. The people here, they love him so much. On our last night in Saigon over 10,000 people came to hear him give a dharma talk! It was insane! He's a rock star here, I'm not kidding. But it's so incredible to see the looks on people's faces when we pass. Some are crying, some laugh and smile. Old women who lived through the horrors of the war, bowing to us with tears in their eyes. They love him, and they love us for loving him, too. It's so powerful.
The drive to the mountains from Saigon was about six hours, and it was very interesting. The soil is so red and rich. It covers everything with a dusty film, I can't describe it. The world feels gritty, worn. Of course, the evidence of Vietnam's third world status was revealed. Families of 8 living in lean-to's the size of a single-car garage. Young women burning their garbage on the side of the road, faces black. Poverty and need. A woman on the trip has said that poverty in Asia is much more disturbing than poverty in Africa. In Africa, she said, the people around you, even if they have no house or no shirt, they know that their life is worth everything. They hold themselves above you, they have pride. But here, people are broken. They are tired, they're over-wrought.
Thay is here to do that work, I think. Not to fix their difficulties, but to give them pride and hope. I feel truly blessed to be here.
Funny story? A lot of people have been getting sick from the raw vegetables or unfiltered water. You just can't eat those things here. One guy, Paul, was having some trouble but slowly starting to recover -- he hadn't eaten for days. For lunch, we were eating at a temple in DaLat, and we were told not to eat the green salad or the fresh strawberries because both had been washed and soaked in unfiltered water (which I'm told has a bacteria level equivalent to that of American sewage). A little later, Paul's roommate asked him if he'd eaten anything. Paul said, "No, I didn't really feel up to it. Nothing much appeals to me. But I had three buckets of those strawberries! They were so good!" He hasn't been seen in the three days since...
Another? We had just arrived to our first temple visit in DaLat, one at which Thay had spent a lot of time about 55 years ago. We were lining up in ordination order to enter, and waiting for the final preparations to be made, when Thay appeared with his little group of bodyguard monks, and started to mingle with us. He wandered a little, and ended up right next to me and my friend Fiona. My knees gave out a little. You can be a memeber of this practice for years and years and still never speak to Thay. He looked over and said with a goofy smile, "I have already arrived here, I am now just pretending." We then talked for a bit about how DaLat had changed in the 55 years he'd been away. Only one monk had survived at this temple from his time, and he was now 91 years old. After he felt the conversation had finished, he slowly walked away. Fiona and I basically melted. It was a rare moment.
What else? Vegetarian dinner at a 5-star restaurant our last night in a Dalat, a special gift from the sisters.
A beautiful flower stolen from the tourist trap/historical embroidery village where we were held hostage yesterday.
Lots of laughter. Good stories from all over the world. Meditation and mindfulness. Can you read this sign?
(It says VARIETY CREATURE STRANGE. We didn't investigate, unfortunately.)
So that's it! We're back in Bao Loc for a 5-day layperson retreat, followed by a week of monastic retreat and ordination ceremonies. We'll head back to Saigon on March 14.
Until Next Time, "One crowded hour of glorious life is worth an age with no name."
- Ancient Buddhist proverb
Thay has been teaching a lot about taking advantage of the time you have. After an old Vietnamese woman pleaded with him to find some peace for her because she has cancer and her health is rapidly deteriorating: losing hair and teeth, able to move less and less, Thay said, "I had a friend in Canada who took tea with me and a few companions one afternoon. He sat next to me, and slowly the others revealed that our friend had been diagnosed with a very serious disease and only had a few months left to live. This man had two very young sons and a loving wife. I turned to him and I said 'You have four months left! That is marvelous! You can live four months in paradise!' And I showed him how to take his tea in mindfulness, how to enjoy the beautiful moment at hand. And he followed me back to Plum Village with his family, and practiced with our Sangha. And he lived for 11 more years."
ps: Article about this trip on CNN can be found here.
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