8.16.10 Arungam Bay, Sri Lanka
A long, hard, sweaty, crowded day on the roads of Sri Lanka...twisting mountain roads, mist capped hills of verdant green, tea terraces sculpted into the landscapes; giant whitewashed Buddha statues adorning hilltops, visible for many miles...dropping into the eastern plains, the heavily militarized past still very much a part of the present; soldiers everywhere, their sandbagged bunkers monuments to a violent past; as I saw them, and looked around the packed bus, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, all souls together in this time and place, all I could think was that all thee people want is peace...war is such a fundamental burden on the souls and psyches of the populace....there was a wild elephant grazing in the freshly burnt fields between the road and the sea; I saw the creature as a blessing in this sacred land...
8.17.10 Arungam Bay, Sri Lanka
The black crows are screaming in the trees behind and above, the sea crashing into shore rhythmically, blue to white, sucked back out, in front; and the breeze coming from all around, caressing my reddened skin, the sun and the surf both taking their toll. Looking down the long, cresent shaped bay, the mist creates the illusion the sea is melting into the shore. I sit and contemplate my mind, the doubt and aversion, the longing and grasping, the empty nature of all these thoughts, cutting through the illusions, resting in awareness, watching the passing parade of thought with all of its theatrics, dancers, singers, lights, and distraction. Thoughts come, then they dissipate, like the sensations of the wind on my skin, the light rays in my eyes, the vibrations of sound in my ears; nothing lasts.
"When we let go of the familiar and go forth with honesty and determination, everything we experience can serve to strengthen our understanding." -jack kornfield
"The whole art of living a meditative life is to keep a beginner's mind, to keep a mind where, with each experiencde, at each time we sit down, we are willing to discover what is actually going to happen this hour, not what happened yesterday or what wil happen tomorrow. It is a wonderful way to live." -joseph goldstein
8.20.10 Kandy, Sri Lanka
If a country is to be measured by the quality of its citizens, Sri Lanka would surely rank near the top of the UN Development Index, instead of near the bottom of the monetary-based realities of our modern world. Sri Lanka is an absolute gem, and its people truly shine. There is such an unbelievable warmth, grace, kindness, that is found throughout the country, teeming capital cities to beach resorts, that is contagious to the soul. One can feel as if they are wandering the Truman Show, on occasion, the kindness can be so surreal, especially to the jaded Western mind. The warmth reminds me of the smiles of Nepal, Burma, and Indonesia, other Asian countries which are materially amongst the poorest in the world, yet spiritually amongst the most endowed. Strangers offering their umbrellas in a downpour; restaurant managers coming over to just sit and smile; taxi drivers giving their relatives’ contact information in the U.S. and inviting one over to their homes after a 3 minute ride in the pouring rain; a guesthouse owner giving up her own room because she accidentally overbooked and would not have you walking around in the rain looking elsewhere; these are all the occurances of a few hours in the second largest city in this beautiful country...such kindness warms the heart, and kindles the spirit....tomorrow, to the mist shrouded mountains for a period of self retreat...
“Wisdom is the clear seeing of the imperminent, conditioned nature of all phenomina, knowing that whatever arises has the nature to cease. When we see the imperminence deeply, we no long cling; and when we no longer cling, we come to the end of suffering.” –Joseph Goldstein
