Notice when your thoughts argue with “what is”. When “what is”, is what you want, the mind will be perfectly clear.
It's 12am., and I’ve just boarded the night bus in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. I'm will be traveling for 19 hours to return to Bangkok, Thailand. From there I will spend another 10 hours on a train, to reach Surittani, Thailand. I have lots of time to reflect.
One of the positive things I'm learning while traveling, is that it’s a good idea to have low (or no) expectations for most things. Odds are that when you’re in a country where you don't speak the language, often you won't get what you asked for. I have come to accept whatever food shows up in front of me. When you pay $7 for a bus ticket, it means you will make many stops along the way. Some of these stops will be at the homes of individual locals.
My new opinion of a luxury guesthouse, is a room with air conditioning and hot water, and without insects. The bed in the dorm room, where I slept for three weeks in Southern Thailand, was covered with bugs every night. There was a leak in the ceiling above my bed, and when it rained, there would always be a puddle next to me on the floor. The toilet and shower were outside, and the shower released only freezing cold water. I nearly stepped on frogs several times while showering. I'm not complaining. I got used to it quickly. Now, staying in a room with hot water, rocks my world.
When I travel this way, I take nothing for granted, and hope for the best. It's all about letting go of how I think things should be, and just accepting “what is”. So, the choice seems to be: accept what's happening or become miserable. I've taken on the attitude that everything is meant to be an exciting adventure, no matter how challenging it may seem, (like trying to obtain a travel visa to India, from Cambodia). I'm still getting used to the whole “drive-all-over-the-road” thing, both here and in Thailand, or to seeing from three to five people riding on a single scooter, with no helmets.
For the past three days, I've been sitting in my guesthouse room, watching films about conflict and suffering in Asia. After visiting the Killing Fields and the S-21 prison in Phnom Penh, I felt compelled to gain more understanding about the history of my surroundings. I was inspired to watch pieces by John Pilger, who has devoted his career to creating documentaries, exposing the atrocities of war and genocide. His stories on Vietnam and East Timor were just mind-boggling.
Watching these films has inspired me to learn more about the people and the land. I wish that I had more time now, to go to Vietnam. Living so far away from these countries, renders the impact of news stories far less profound than actually standing on the soil where these events have occurred. I guess its something about my personality that makes me want to see and feel things to the fullest, (whether I perceive them to be good or bad), rather than just to read about them, or to watch them on TV.
After almost three months traveling, I have experienced so much, seen so much, felt so much. I have been introduced to aspects of humanity, that I may not have even have acknowledged before. It has been said that the people who appear in our lives are mirrors of ourselves. I have seen many aspects of myself, reflected in the different people I have met. Sometimes a profound culture shift is exactly what is needed to introduce the concept of relating differently. We can begin to see outside of our personal and societal bubbles.
I was in love with Thailand as soon as I arrived. The level of human connection, appreciation and friendliness is outstanding there. People look you in the eyes and they smile. They place their hands together in Namaste and bow their heads. I think about how, in the West, we often spend more energy trying to ignore each other than we do in the process of connecting with each other. Consider people standing in an elevator, or sitting on a bus, staring at the wall or the floor so they won't have to make contact with anyone. Here, people engage with each other.
The Buddhist beliefs and culture inspire the deepest parts of me. Buddhists do not believe that Buddha was God. They see him as a human being, just like them. They believe he was important because he gained Enlightenment, and because he chose to teach other people how to gain it too.
What is Enlightenment and Nirvana?
The Buddhists believe that there is a cycle of life, death and rebirth. They believe that unless someone gains Enlightenment, they will be reborn after they die. If a person can gain Enlightenment, then they can break this cycle.
Breaking out of the cycle is called Nirvana, (peace, free from suffering).
The Three Jewels:
There are three central Buddhist beliefs. These are known as the three jewels because they are felt to be so precious.
1. Belief in Buddha
2. Dharma: The teaching of Buddha.
3. The Sangha: The Buddhist community, made up of ordinary people as well as Monks and Nuns. The purpose to is to help others and by doing so, cease to become selfish and thus move forward on the way towards Enlightenment.
My feeling is that we can have moments of Enlightenment every day. To me, Enlightenment is not a final destination. It’s those AHA moments, even if they are fleeting, when we become more conscious, when we feel fully present.
It is 6pm the following day. Sixteen hours later, I am still on the bus heading to Bangkok. I've transferred buses three times, waited at the Cambodian border side for an hour, and on the Thai side for two and a half hours more. I've eaten all the Ichiban noodles I can handle, and I would love to have a shower. Cambodia was a great experience but I feel happy to be back in Thailand. Something feels different here.
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| A Truck Full Of Pigs |
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| This was hard to see as I crossed the border. |
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