So I'm back in Saigon! We returned on the 14th, had the 15th for rest (and some crazy Asian ass-kicking massage!), and jumped straight into the Great Requiem Ceremonies on the 16th. A few of my friends from Segment 1 left on the 15th, I've been very sad to see them go. It's been like starting all over again. But it's also quite the practice. Helping me to focus on my meditation and personal awareness.
Anyway, the ceremonies! BIG, long, hot, intense. Some crazy Vietnamese chanting and prayer. Thay's dharma talks were really powerful, though. Really deeply delving into impermanence and transformation. The dead never leave us, they only change form, they are not manifested physically but they are still with us. It was a beautiful 3-day theme. I still have so much trouble swallowing my cynicism when it comes to those other-worldly theories, but I'm starting to see that they're really much less other-worldly than I originally thought.
The ceremonies were meant to call the dead, the hungry ghosts who have not found peace since the war, to this place and allow them to find peace. We directed them with the lotus-light candles, and encouraged their re-birth in peaceful states through chanting and food offerings.
We released these candles into the very fragrant Saigon River
7,000 candle-lit lotuses, floating
I was really worried the whole river would ignite.
(The pollution is palpable)
The most powerful thing was the sheer volume of Vietnamese people in attendance. Thousands of people, chanting and praying and grieving. I still have grasped the enormity of it.
I don't have too much to say, I guess. Catch-up day, rested all morning, heading into town for shopping and dinner in a few minutes.
This city is crazy.
Fo reals.
Until Next Time, "We know that hell exists everywhere in the world. We vow to practice in order to not create more hells."
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