***
At breakfast earlier at the Anantara Riverside Bangkok I was feeling a bit rocky, perhaps dehydrated from playing tennis the evening before with Gorn, the same pro I played with two years earlier. After downing some electrolytes, I started slowly at the over-the-top buffet: fresh watermelon and cantaloupe. I ratcheted my way up to an omelette: mushrooms, tomatoes, onions, scallions, chili, red pepper. Oh, and a 8-square-inch hash brown patty, cooked crispy.
I was gaining breakfast steam and found some chasha bao (steamed pork buns) and shrimp bao. Then I went back for some French toast piled with melon and dragon-fruit in one-quarter-inch cubes. A couple of slices of brie found their way onto my plate and a small lemon cheese pastry.
As you can imagine, I was feeling a bit better by now. And then something appeared that I had not had in a very long time: a tray of three-inch diameter sugar-coated brown donuts. To the left of this tray was a bowl of condensed milk. I had never even put these two in the same sentence. And after going back to the table and having a single donut, I was called on a mission to put the donut together with the condensed milk. This was the cure for all things. Breakfast complete.
***
At Wat Phou That, at the base of the That (stupa) there are steps leading up to the That. On either side of these steps are statues of Sang Thorani, the goddess of the harvest. When Buddha was near to reaching enlightenment, Mara, “The Evil One,” brought an army to stop him. Buddha, seated in meditation, touched his finger to the earth and from there arose Thorani. She had been washing her hair with all of the water that had and would ever be poured in honor of Buddha. I have taken that to include the water that we pour during the water ceremony when we are remembering Andy. It is one of the most connecting ceremonies that I have found, and it never ceases to inspire and move me with an overwhelming sense of love for everything that is lost and everything that is yet to be found. Thorani carried this love in her hair and with one twist of her hands she rang out a torrent of water so powerful that it washed away The Evil One and his armies and allowed Buddha to continue on the Path.
***
This afternoon, on our flight from Bangkok to Luang Prabang to meet up with Chip and Rosanna and Dustin, we started our descent over the rolling mountainous landscape of our spiritual home. And to the left, bigger than any I can ever recall, was a rainbow, stretching from one edge of the reddish-brown earth over the mountains to a place I will probably never know. We gently touched down, like the hand of Buddha calling on Thorani.
Dear Phil,
ReplyDeleteYou write so beautifully and visually that I feel as if I am there with all of you. Peace and calm reflection to you as you continue your wanderings and approach the dedication of the Library for Andy that you and Disty built with your love and your caring.
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