Teachers

One of my favorite shots from the dharma transmission ceremony for Dennis Shofu Myozan Keegan (see Myozan). Dennis is on the right and that's Beth Goldring, founder and director of Brahmavihara (Cambodian AIDS Project in Phnom Penh), on the left. Two very special people.  

Ice

This morning probably qualifies for the "wettest and coldest and most dangerous trip to work" day. Sleet and rain mixed with snow and 28˚temperatures turns everything into one big sheet of ice. Safest to walk on the the unshoveled stuff - frozen snow with a crust of ice, but then your boots get wet. Surfaces that have been shoveled and salted are pure treachery. Can't ignore this weather...

I Have a Dream

Words as powerful and relevant and important today as they were 48 years ago. Happy Martin Luther King Day. [NOTE: This is the full version of Martin Luther King's famous "I have a dream" speech].

Flat Tires (From the Archive)

It seems like flat tires are a common part of my fieldwork.  Two of my favorite flat tires, i.e. they got fixed and nothing got screwed up (much), are shown below:

Wednesday, December 30, 2009 at 9:12AM

I had a pretty tight travel schedule after we finished the fieldwork in Shinlonga (see Naw Aung and His Sagawa). Went back to Tanai on Sunday after the final wrap-up meeting with the community, and then the six hour drive to Myitkyina on Monday to catch my flight to Yangon on Tuesday to make my Singapore Airlines flight back to New York on Wednesday. Any screw-ups in this itinerary and I don't make it back to New York in time for Christmas (see Merry Christmas).  And then we got the flat driving back to Myitkyina on the Ledo Road...

Monday, August 17, 2009 at 4:35AM

While running last minute errands in Hanoi on Dr. Ban's motorcycle, we got a flat tire on Pham Ngu Lao Street. Help was right around the corner. Took about five minute to change the tube (the old one was too ratty to patch) and cost about 40,000 VND, i.e. a little over two dollars.

A Relic

This car is prominently displayed at the Thien Mu Pagoda in Hue (see Thien Mu Pagoda). The sign reads: "In this car The Most Venerable Thich Quang Duc went from An Quang Pagoda to the intersection of Phan dinh Phung street and Le van Duyet street on June 11, 1963 in Saigon. As soon as he got out of the car, The Most Venerable sat down in the lotus position and burnt himself to death to protest against the Nago Dinh Diem regimes's policies of discriminating against Buddhists and violating religious freedom". 

I remember when this happened, and looked at the car quite differently after reading the sign. [NOTE: The little blue car is clearly visible in the background of Malcolm Brown's famous photograph of Thich Quang Duc's self-immolation].

Tea Lady

This nice lady had a tea stall in the Central Market of Hue, Vietnam (see Hue Market and Commerce). Delicious green tea and very reasonably priced. I wanted to buy the large economy size shown in the foreground, but it wouldn't fit in my pack.

Peeling Bananas

This rather unremarkable image was taken on top of a restaurant  table in Hue, Vietnam. The question posed, or the dilemma illustrated, is "how do you peel a banana". I peeled the banana on the left. Grasping the banana with the peduncle toward the top, snapping it back quickly and then peeling down. The banana on the right was peeled by Mr. Thanh (see Kon Tum). He started the other way completely, with the peduncle at the bottom. Opined that the sweetest part of the banana was near the penduncle and that he liked to save that for the last bite. The Vietnamese lady at the table to our right grabbed both ends of the banana and snapped it in half. Never seen anyone do that.  Mr. Thanh said it was quite common - in Central Vietnam (but not in the North or the South). [NOTE: I'd never appreciated the depth of the cultural universe related to peeling bananas].  

Postcard from The Bronx

Last Friday there was a beautiful snowstorm at The New York Botanical Garden. Huge flakes.  I stopped what I was doing (preparing my class for today), went outside, stood in the snow with my video camera, and did a slow pan.  [NOTE: Full disclosure, I went home shortly after this to enjoy the weather...].

Hakuin Ekaku

Spent yesterday afternoon at the exhibit of Hakuin paintings and calligraphy at the Japan Society on E. 47th Street. Widely acknowledged as the leading Zen master of the last five centuries, Hakuin Ekaku (1685-1768) was also the most significant Zen artist of his time. This is the first comprehensive collection of Hakuin's work (78 scrolls) ever exhibited in the West, and the sound of one hand was subtly, yet forcefully, present throughout the entire gallery. Very powerful show.

Photography was not permitted inside, but images of several of my favorite pieces in the show are available online (thx, Jeff).  

Two Blind Men on a Bridge, Ink on Paper, Manyo-an Collection. I have always loved this painting. We are all pretty much blindly feeling our way through life - and our practice, whatever it may be.

Stability, Ink on Paper, 41.9 x 62.3 cm, Manyo-an Collection. The inscription reads:

The ability to stop is the ultimate virtue.
Knowing how to stop results in stability.

[NOTE: This wonderful show closes on Sunday, January 9. More information here. As Master Hakuin puts it: "If you are searching for freedom from this suffering, you must hear the sound of one hand"]. 

More Rattan Counting

The field crews from the rattan survey (Where are Those Transects and Field Books) sent a lot of images together with their data files. The shots provide a good overview of what the inventory work in the Central Truong Son mountains was like.

There was, for example, a lot of slogging around to locate the transects,

some confusion trying to figure out the identity of all the different rattan species that were encountered,

the tedium of setting up a new base camp every night,

and the occasional bit of fun when the rain stopped and the transect passed through a nice, i.e. flat, piece of forest. These guys did an amazing job with this survey. Deep bows of gratitude.  [NOTE: I love the plastic sandals and the leech socks].