Baci Ceremony (From The Archive)

Shortly after finishing the rattan workshop, I attended a traditional Lao baci, or well-wishing, ceremony for Roland Eve (shown above), the departing Country Director of the WWF Greater Mekong-Laos Programme. A lot of chanting and bowing and then white cotton strings are pulled out of the pha kwan, a lovely arrangement of flowers, fruits, food, banana leaves, and other offerings (whiskey) in the center of the room. The man shown below to the right of the pha kwan is the maw pawn, or village elder, who leads the ceremony and does all of the chanting.

The strings are then tied around the wrist of the honoree while offering blessings for long life, good fortune, and continual happiness. And this happens dozens and dozens of times and soon the honoree's wrist is covered with white string - and good blessings.

The guests also tie strings around the wrists of other guests and offer blessings once the honoree has been taken care of. I have three around my right wrist as I write this (thx, Thibault). [NOTE: The blessings, apparently, stay in effect for as long as you keep the string around your wrist. Good to know.]

[NOTE ADDED TO RE-POST: My left wrist sports a red blessing string that I got at Banteay Srei (see Banteay Srei) during my recent trip to Cambodia. The strings, on average, last about a year on my wrist, but I am happy to replace them as necessary. You never know...].

VietClimb

Case (see Ganesha (with Coffee) and Steal Yourself) spends the afternoon bouldering at VietClimb, a neat little climbing gym and cafe in the Tay Ho district of Hanoi. I sat in the cafe sipping a tea and reading my book, a 40th anniversary edition of Shunryu Suzuki's wonderful Zen Mind, Beginners Mind. 

Ta Prohm II

Massive roots of Tetrameles nudiflora R. Br. engulf the ruins of Ta Prohm (see Ta Prohm) at Angkor Wat while a lovely, yet slowly eroding, devata looks on.

The Tree in the Pot

Somebody thought that adding a flowering tree in a pot would enhance the ambience at the Imperial City in Hue (see Imperial City). And then several years went by and they forgot about the little tree. And it got pot bound, and then turned into a bonsai specimen with a lovely, yet labored architecture. And one small pink flower. For me, indeed a significant enhancement to the weathered yellow and red building behind it. [NOTE: I may have been the only visitor that day who paused, reflected, and took a photo of this tree].  

Beat The Drum

Kasan, giving instruction said, "Practice and learning is called 'hearing'; complete learning is called 'being next to the fact'. When you have passed through these two it is called 'true passing'."

A monk stepped forward and asked "What is the 'true passing'?"

Kasan said, "Beat the drum".

He asked again, "What is the true reality?"

Kasan said, "Beat the drum".

He asked again, "I do not ask about the sentence 'Mind itself is Buddha (Case 30, Mumonkan), but what does 'Neither mind nor Buddha' (Case 33, Mumonkan) mean?"

Kasan said, "Beat the drum".

He asked once more, "When someone who knows the ultimate Truth comes, how should we receive him?"

Kasan said, "Beat the drum!'

-from the Blue Cliff Record, Case 44: Kasan's "Beat the Drum".

[NOTE: Drum is from the Imperial City in Hue, Vietnam].

H.H. Dalai Lama and Aung San Suu Kyi

Had to post this. His Holiness the Dalai Lama meets Aung San Suu Kyi in London, England last week - on her 67th birthday. Happy Birthday! [NOTE Photo by Jeremy Russell/OHHDL].

Pre Rup

Impromptu soccer game in front of the ruins of Pre Rup in Angkor, Cambodia. Notice the slight breeze moving the leaves around on the tree at the end of the clip (0:19). Real hot the day we visited the ruins, and the little bit of shade was a welcome respite.

Clean, Paint, and Gild

Two of four women sitting in a shady corridor at the Imperial City (see Imperial City and Reflections) in Hue and patiently restoring a large, red door that is over 200 years old. First they clean out all of the little nooks and crannies, and then they carefully touch-up the red paint with a small brush, and finally, they rub on the gold leaf with a simple burnishing tool (which looks very much like a stick). [NOTE: I know this sequence because I spent quite a while discretely observing their work - and enjoying the shady breeze]. 

La Chapelle Rouge

Interior shot of the Haw Tai Pha Sai-nyaat temple at Wat Xieng Thong (see Painting) in Luang Prabang, Laos. The temple is named for the rare reclining Buddha (shown above) that dates back to 1569; the French call it the Red Chapel because of the brightly painted and intricately gilded walls.  I find the whole scene strangely reminiscent of the cover of Sgt. Pepper's.

Buddha and Palms

N11°33.326'
E104°55.481'

It was scorching hot the morning we went to the Royal Palace (see Call Me By My True Name and Ganesha II) in Phnom Penh. To find a little bit of shade, we climbed the stairs to Phnom Mondap and encountered exquisite Buddha statues wrapped in golden silk, a peaceful glen of palms, and a cool breeze. [NOTE: Phnom Mondap (library) used to house an extensive collection of sutra books written on palm leaves. The palm books are now archived in an air-conditioned facility].