kwanyin (boddhisattva of compassion) in neon

i had written this on the night of arriving at Kieu Dam temple. we were to stay another night but our plans had to be changed. i hope to return there and spend a couple of days with the children there as well as the wonderful people who run the temple before i leave the country during this trip.

kwanyin in neon
Originally uploaded by equusignis.

20:53h 1 July, 2005. Chua Kieu Dam, Van Hanh Village. Vietnam

So I have wondering for a long time what it would be like to be at a monastery and here I am. Chua (temple) Kieu Dam is a temple/monastery about 70km to the east of Saigon on the way to Vung Tau. We arrived here about an hour ago. It is dark. The air is pungent and sweet in parts from the rain. The night is alive with life. Sounds of insects, birds and toads are a symphony beneath the unspoiled sky. The rain has lifted and there are bits of inky sky dotted with glittering stars upon the earth's ceiling. One of the benefits of being in a third world country, especially out of the city is the lack of light pollution.

Coming through the temple gates, the first thing I saw was a glimpse of the altar hall. It was lit inside and what I saw was very beautiful. The setting of the foliage grounds was a little like being on a forest path and serendipitously finding a thing of wonder behind a wall of trees. I have yet to go inside that building. That is to be saved for the early morning chant. I understand that begins at four AM. When I asked what time I ought to get up for that, I was told that I would hear the summoning bells and drums. Quyen tells me it is not something to be missed if you have never experienced it before. Surely I will not miss it.

The quarters I've been given are spartan and serene. It is a cottage about four meters wide and 10 meters long divided into two rooms. At the front room there is an altar for prayer and meditation, in the back room there is a sleeping platform (no mattress here, a wooden deck topped with a straw mat and a blanket) and cubicle where the toilet is and also a back door. There is no glazing here. In this humidity the doors are shuttered and the windows have scroll ironwork with outside storm shutters. The only thing between you and the mosquitoes is a gossamer veil dropped down and tucked under at the edges of the straw mat. The floor is tile and swept incredibly clean. This is one thing one notices in the details of daily life here. Even in the poorest of houses, the floors are always kept as clean as possible and shoes stay outside. If you don't walk barefoot inside then you have a strictly indoors pair of slippers. It is an important detail, especially on hot days there is nothing quite so pleasant as a cool tile floor to relax on - forget the chair or the couch.

I joked with Ivy and Quyen earlier that if you didn't know you were at a temple, the grounds, the buildings and layout of this place has the feel of a tropical resort. I will leave it to the pictures to tell that part of the story. It has settled down here and I think most are asleep. The only sounds outside are the crickets and the occasional toad. If I close my eyes, I could be in a tent in the middle of the tropical forest. 10.82 latitude north and 106.2 longitude. This is the place where sunlight rests.

the place where sunlight rests

the place where sunlight rests

it is the place where dew rests
in the too warm morning.

ten degrees latitude north
but far enough south for
painted clouds to convene.

it is the place of legends where
the celestial and earthbound

congregate against counsel.
heaven hungers the sensual
flesh desires tranquility.

where sunlight rests
is the dusk and dawn

of human experience.
just short of paradise
distanced enough away
from sweat and toil,
the body's tears,
the heart's aches.

warm summer rain

this afternoon we were blessed with a brief set of showers, cooling off the city streets of saigon. with each day passed running around the city, parts of it start to become familiar. on some of the streets, there are still strong residual feels of the french colonial history. it is strange to realize that this city located in southeast asia shares the layout and city planning of a place like paris. there are some good remnants from those days like long tree lined boulevards and gigantic roundabouts.

i have to say that the experience of saigon traffic still mesmerizes me. i've decided the best description i can think of is brownian motion. yes, it may sound a little strange but it is pretty accurate.

today, i had an interesting encounter with a little boy named Lam while out at breakfast. he is just a little kid trying to help support his family. the thing is he is only eight years old. one can't help but be touched on different levels after sitting there talking to him. it makes you reconsider things. once you understand something, it is impossible to turn away.

For Alexander Calder
by Erin Lambert

We are more ourselves than earthbound, mobile birds, sculpted shadows.
I had an orange bike once I had a cold and then a life around my someday
circus, glass bells. With wire, I found means to quit electricity, speak softly
to a row of cucumbers, but my distaste for office light remains as a series
of unfortunate hands cramped over keys. For I used my own to rescue
buildings, to demonstrate in red with human touch how one's presence is
a series of connections all at once — gone, like a spark — drawn through air.

bodhi leaves

bodhi leaves
Originally uploaded by equusignis.

Poem by Czeslaw Milosz

Love means to learn to look at yourself

The way one looks at distant things
For you are only one thing among many.
And whoever sees that way heals his heart,
Without knowing it, from various ills -
A bird and a tree say to him: Friend.
Then he wants to use himself and things
So that they stand in the glow of ripeness.
It doesn`t matter whether he knows what he serves:
Who serves best doesn't always understand.

life in motion II

life in motion II
Originally uploaded by equusignis.

life in motion

sitting in a car moving through traffic in vietnam, especially saigon can be a zen experience.

there are lanes yet no one pays attention. there are no manners of making turns from a particular side of the road to another.

crossing the street for a pedestrian from the viewpoint of an outsider seems as perilous as walking across a freeway in the states. however, there is an organized chaos to it all. if one watches the traffic from above, it will look like water flowing down a stream in particles made of people, mopeds, cars and the occasional bus. but unlike water it doesn't all flow in one direction. it flows closer to the way ants flow. they go in all directions and seem to bump into each other, sometimes catastrophically but rarely do.

as someone riding in a car, your first instinct is to cringe but after a couple of deep breaths you can relax and just watch the motion. strangely enough, it occurs to you that everyone on the road has the same expectation that everyone will figure out a path to get where they are going without careening into one another. at first it might seem like inattention then later you realize that it is some sort of faith, or something like that...in any case, there is a lesson there i think. it may not be obvious but there is definitely a lesson there.

view from hotel, hanoi

view from hotel
Originally uploaded by equusignis.

view from the hotel. from sixteen floors up, the moped traffic is akin to an ant farm with thousands of little creatures moving about like water flowing around stationary objects

flags in temple altar room

flags in temple altar room
Originally uploaded by equusignis.

at a temple in Hue. see more pictures from this set at http://flickr.com/photos/horselatitudes

95 degrees

yesterday was the grand opening of Tue Tind Duong free clinic in Hue, Vietnam. we attended the ceremony and it was a success. the show of support was incredible. standing room only. standing on the balcony of the third floor looking at people arriving, one can't help but be moved by visions of old monks and nuns making their way to attend the opening in 95 degree heat and close to 100% humidity by foot, bicycle or moped. the staff who were helping out ranged from the young to old from various walks of life. in the back area being used as a kitchen, women stooped over huge baskets of vegetables, slicing and dicing away. at another corner, there were portable burners set up. all in all the logistics going on in the porch there would have rivaled a modern resto kitchen able to serve a hundred people at a time. in fact, there would be aboout 350 people eating this afternoon following the ceremony. it was amazing to walk through the building and photograph room by room. they were currently brand new, unused. i thought to myself that in months if i came back these rooms would be filled with patients and caretakers. there would be a different kind of bustle going on here. perhaps not quiteas festive as today but in the long run, much more important. for many people, this free clinic is their only option of getting medical care of any sort. in a country of 80 million people, there are only about 825 hospitals. i am reminded why this is good work.

fulfilling wanderlust

P6210507
Originally uploaded by equusignis.

first leg of trip over, taipei intl airport just after sunrise. i survived cramped conditions on an airplane full of kids but survived intact. even slept most of the way. i gave thanks for having a small frame and being able to stretch out even in economy class!

another leg and i shall be home...

almost home again
strange place but somehow familiar
it’s either the faces or something in my chest

a feeling like the swell of the ocean
in a space the size of one’s fist

there is no fear of the ocean’s depth
it’s a place something could drift forever
and never quite touch bottom

but when on land and oh so close
to the deep blue’s sanctuary

one never asks why but dwells on how
it’s a pull to origins
the mechanics of reason are left on the sand

rain drums

this season’s rain
comes to me like angels
striking bronze drums.

pre-iron age staccato
striking old rhythms
still looking for answers
from so long ago

eons pass but the struggle,
the same. purposely, i ask
questions without answers.

answers aren’t resolution,
only skeletons of desire.
metallic artifacts buried in silt.

making the world nicer

my horoscope for the day:
"Even in your grubby errand-running clothes, you're undeniably appealing. Yes, they're looking at you, so don't just stand there -- smile and say hi. Make the world a nicer place, one person at a time."

oh dear, here it goes again. that constant struggle between being intelligent and useful vs being an ass. heheheh

it is a mystery

life is full of mysteries and when i think i'm finished with being confused by one, it gives me another. firefly says i'm confused about being confused. how on the point is that?

spiky

spiky
Originally uploaded by equusignis.

so i'm walking around a street corner and see this beautiful old asian woman standing there. it is late afternoon and she has a straw hat on. i notice in her hands she is holding four maple seed pods with stems intact. my first thought is i've never seen anyone collect those before. they are sharp and mean looking and as a kid they are what you avoid cause stepping on them barefoot on a lawn is very painful.

i smile to her as i pass and she says something to me. i do a double take cause i didn't understand a thing. she tilts her head and says it again very gently but direct. ah, it's japanese. no wonder i don't understand. she points south across the street and asks something but my japanese is so long gone i can barely order sushi. all i can make out is "ikimasu" and then she pauses and looks at me and says, "anata wa wakarinaidesuka?" i don't know what happened but i understood her. something clicked. i nodded and motioned for her to come over to where i'm standing and show her the crosswalk light button and then point across the street at the light. i press the button and then stand next to her and wait. when the light turns, i point and say, "ikimasu yo..." she looks up at me and replies, "arigato, arigato!" i nod, smile and she crosses.

it's moments like these that can make your worst day turn...

blueberry

blueberry
Originally uploaded by equusignis.

jane's new blueberry clogs. composition à la leslie williamson

chloe, semi-nautilus-sasana

chloe, semi-nautilus-sasana
Originally uploaded by equusignis.

it's easy to find your center when you are close to the ground...

Phap Chon et al

Phap Chon et al
Originally uploaded by equusignis.

My Sensei, second from left at Vesak day celebration. San Jose, CA. May 14, 2005

trained behavior

early morning tv news.

the guys are sitting there barely awake yet transfixed to the tv and all its shallow and irrelevant stories such as the "finger in the chili at wendy's woman's court case." believe it or not, some people try very hard to turn such a subject into socio-philosophical discussion.

the next story that comes on is one about pit bull owners and the usual controversies surrounding them. pedro gives a sigh. someone else says, "they are just dogs. it is all dependent on how they are trained when they are young." another disagrees citing some horror story. i glance at the faces and stand up as i slip the ibook into its sleeve and prepare to leave the room, "they ARE trainable, of course you can train them. they are dogs. if you guys can be trained to wake up and lose yourself into the banality of the local morning news every single day then i can sure as hell train a pit bull to behave any way i'd like it to."

faces momentarily glance at me, trying to absorb what i just stated. there are no voices behind me except for the meteorologist saying that there is a good chance of rain today. i look through the kitchen and out the back door. there is a drizzle coming down. duh!

mike

mike
Originally uploaded by equusignis.

5:45 AM Philosopher sans caffeine

sunrise & clouds

sunrise & clouds
Originally uploaded by equusignis.

"only god makes stuff like this!" – mike

CowboySon

CowboySon taken by AeroDan
Originally uploaded by equusignis.

Dan assured me this would look cool, especially with the folded Buddhist prayer amulet...yeah, right!