Note: Another kidnapped blog. This took place February 3rd and 4th.
Friday
We awoke to Lam giving us a great piece of news, today we would be accompanying her to Mahasarakham for a meeting and for lunch we would be enjoying pizza. Yes that’s right, pizza. I immediately started to salivate as that has been the one thing I have been craving the most since my diet of fish, noodles, sticky rice, papaya salad and vegetables began. But then I stopped myself, what if it was a Thai version, covered in squid, fish sauce, and rice?? I corralled my excitement, hoped for the best, and expected the worst.
The meeting was being held at the hospital in the city and the purpose was to brainstorm ideas on how to make the quickly modernized city hold onto its roots. Lam knew this would be a long one, so she dropped Stephanie, Om and I at the “mall” in the center of the city and it was there we stepped into the pizza shop. Now, after looking at the menu, it wasn’t a place I would normally frequent to satisfy my pizza cravings. It looked pretty generic, much like mall pizza in the US. But at this moment, in Thailand, it looked amazing. We ordered plain cheese and when it arrived it resembled a Tony’s Party Pizza, an old staple of Stephanie’s and mine from our Purdue days (mostly because they were like 99 cents). Despite all this, it tasted delicious. Om was less than impressed, but our enthusiasm made up for her lack of excitement. After we finished it off, we shopped around the mall and the plaza, looking for clothing souvenirs. We were unsuccessful in our quest, mostly because everything we found would never fit the recipients of our gifts. Clothes in Thailand are tiny, just like the people. We had to ask Om if we were in the kids’ section, she just laughed. I have never felt so tall in my life as in Thailand.
We joined the meeting halfway through its completion and, as in all of Lam’s meetings, could not understand a thing being said. This one was particularly long, so we started playing silent hangman. After a few puzzles of Jordan Knight, The Never-Ending Story, and Alex Trebeck, the meeting was finally over. Afterwards, Lam, Toi, Om, Stephanie, and I joined a professor from Mahasarakham University and a few of Lam’s friends for sukiyaki, traditional Japanese barbeque. It was not as tasty as the Thai version of barbeque and I’m pretty sure I ate a whole crab, shell included, at one point. Additionally, I tried the spiciest thing we have had to date, by far. It set my mouth on fire and one bite was enough. We were wiped on the way home and listened to Lam’s American music C.D. that included the likes of Celine Dion and James Taylor. One outta two ain’t bad.
Saturday
What I thought was going to be a boring, activity-free day turned out to be one of the most interesting we have had so far. Lam had informed us earlier in the week that she would be leaving for Temple today and would be staying through Tuesday. During this time, she would arise at 3 am, eat breakfast, and then walk in a circle for the entirety of the day. The only meal is breakfast, talking is prohibited, and only 6 hours of sleep is allowed. The purpose is to focus on yourself and your movements in order to find calmness and peace within. One of the main facets of Buddhism is that one cannot help others unless they are fully at peace with themselves. We thought we were going with Lam’s cousin, Mr. Jaw, to simply drop off Lam at the Temple. We finally got there, after getting a bit turned around, and were disappointed to see that the gates were locked and no one was there. After a few minutes of trying to decide what to do, a monk pulled up on the back of a moped and it all of a sudden felt like I was in one of those bad jokes. You know, a monk walks into a bar, yadda yadda yadda. Anyway, I couldn’t think long because as soon as Lam saw him, she immediately went down to her knees in prayer position and bowed. I quickly followed; the last thing I need to do in Thailand is insult a monk. Eventually we arose and to our surprise, the monk invited us inside.
He first sat us down and spoke to us about the importance of being able to stop thinking when trying to relax. This will allow a person to be fully aware of their body’s movements. To Buddhists, it is important to recognize everything your body is doing and to be fully in the moment, not wrapped up in thinking of the past or the future. He also told me that he could see the sincerity in my eyes and he knew right away that I could be trusted. Lam was amazed that he said this; she informed us that this is very high praise from a monk, especially one we just met. After the lesson, we enjoyed a lunch of pork fried rice, cucumbers, and spicy fish paste. Yes that’s right, I ate lunch at a monk’s house. The monk did not join us, as they are forbidden to eat after 11 a.m. We finished lunch and monk gave us a tour of the property. It includes small huts for each visitor, with the paths they walk on day after day during their stays. It also had a slightly larger hut to house the monk, a large indoor praying area, a large outdoor praying area, a crematorium, and tombs. The place gave Mr. Jaw the creeps, but I found it quite serene and beautiful. After the tour, we helped Lam and her friend move all of their stuff into their huts for the week.
Those staying at the temple are also expected to bring food, which the people in the surrounding village will cook for them during their stay. We went with the monk and his driver into the village to drop off the food. Monks are not allowed to drive themselves, however they do use cell phones and ride on the backs of mopeds. Not sure what to think of that. Anyway, after dropping off the food, we found ourselves at the mechanic. Another odd place to end up with a monk. Apparently, his car needed fixing, so we left it there and were picked up by yet another driver. When we returned to the temple, we finished helping Lam get set up and walked back to the front of the property to meet the monk. I heard voices as I got closer, which was odd because I thought we were the only people there. It turns out, a few of the villagers had come with a sick friend. I’m not exactly sure what was going on, but the friend was spitting up blood while pointing to his stomach and repeating “whiskey, whiskey”. The monk was standing above him very calmly and told us the same, “whiskey”. It seemed that the man was sober at the time, so I concluded that they came to find out what was wrong with him and the monk diagnosed that he drinks too much and something is wrong with his liver. I could be way off though, who knows.
The gang of us, along with the monk, continued on to the indoor praying area where the monk showed us varying movements with our hands, arms, and legs. The point of this exercise is to completely focus on the movement, without thinking of anything else. We were told to chant, “the body moves, the mind knows” while doing the movements. Apparently, monks spend years trying to reach the highest level of self-awareness and enlightenment and this particular monk was at the top. After we learned a set of movements, we were told to repeat them continuously so that eventually, you wouldn’t even have to think about the movement and your mind could be completely free. I had so much trouble not thinking about countless other things, and it seemed the more I tried, the more random my thoughts became. I guess that is why they practice for years. We moved on to the outdoor area, where he showed us how to walk, how to stand up from an Indian style position, and how to properly bow to a monk. We practiced each multiple times. Lam asked how we were feeling, and I couldn’t lie to a monk so I said I couldn’t stop thinking about other things. She told the monk this and he said I must continue to practice and learn. I guess multitasking is not all its cracked up to be, at least according to the monk.
After about 6 hours with the monk, Jaw, Stephanie and I left to go back to Plaboo. We parted with the monk’s final words, “Nothing is certain but uncertainty”. Lam translated his explanation, to stop worrying about things we cannot control for the worrying doesn’t change the fact that we can’t control them. I think he has a point.
No comments:
Post a Comment