Carry On

Greetings,

The Australian nurses leave tonight. They fly "home" to family and friends after three weeks on the ground.

Some, certainly not all, pack their Cambodian "humbling life changing experience" in their hand luggage.

One wonders, "how can I get my entire humbling, lfe changing experience into this very small bag?" Her question may trouble her for a second, minute, hour, day, week, month, year or the rest of her short sweet life. It's her experience.  She knows it's impossible to check it all the way through. She has to to carry it. 

She gets it ready. She assembles it on the floor along with fragrant toilet articles, clothing and soft silk scarves. Her experience contains a poor village near Siem Reap. She knows and loves everyone because she lived there. She took care of the people. She cried herself to sleep every night. In the village are thirsty, hungry, exhausted, sick children, women and men. One woman alone takes care of 16 children. 

She puts this one little village and everyone into her bag. To utilize space she discards everything else. 

She saves weight because there is no clean drinking water. She throws in handfuls of cooked rice to give them nourishment during the long flight to Sydney. 

She doesn't know how many will survive. She's finally ready to take her personal humbling, lfe changing experience home.

Metta.

Yellow Butterfly Guide

Greetings,

Evidence of intelligent life on Earth is greatly exaggerated. It's a rumor. A myth.

I recently wandered Banteay Kdei and Ta Phrom.

Kdei is great for walking through the dust. A sun yellow butterfly was my guide. It led me around the perimeter for a feeling of perspective. Being outside gives you the feeling of space acknowledging deep green forest. I do this at every temple. It's rare to see others explore the outside. Intelligence on Earth is rare.

Tourist ants are in a highly disciplined hurry. They march in, follow others, follow the stone path. They wander around, make a lot of noise, pose for pictures and march out. Their time is limited. Many look serious and sad, especially the Europeans. They are clearly controlled by forces unknown to them. It may be a silent ticking mechanism on their wrist near a pulse. They are little robots.

I remember a Tibetan saying, "I would rather be a tiger for one day than a sheep for a thousand years."

I explored outside slowly inside gentle winds from the forest. It's a very slow walking meditation. I engaged all my senses. Thick dust underfoot is a welcome relief after stones. I am surrounded by light and shadows dancing through leaves. All nature all the time.

Butterfly leads me to interior passages and shadowed experiences. Butterfly shows me mysterious art. Deep interior space. It takes ages to reach the center. 

Prohm is where "possibly the most famous photographed tree on planet Earth exists." It entwines itself around and through soft stones. It's a zoo. Human hoards line up to take a photo. They push and shove and jostle so they can have their picture taken with this tree.

Italian, French and German tongues wag like mongrels in heat. Life is a bitch. The Japanese, as I mentioned in an earlier post from The Silk Worm Farm are total photo freaks, obsessed with posing in doorways, passages, with carvings, plants, ferns and leaves. They feel the experience with their cameras. They behave like the temples are one gigantic amusement park. 

Here's the tree. No humans. Actually there is a tiny tourist sleeping inside the third root from the center.

Banteay Kdei and Ta Phrom galleries.

Metta.

Beng Mealea

Greetings, 

The mysterious and magical temple at Beng Mealea is wonderful. Dating from the 12th C., it was built to the same floor plan as Angkor Wat. At one time it was connected by 10 bridges through the jungle to Angkor Thom and Preah Khan. Nature owns it.

You climb over huge piles of stones between hanging vines, exploring a well preserved library, impressive carvings, destroyed central tower and deep dark passageways. Perfect for exploring. An elevated wooden walk way allows for a higher perspective. 

Metta.

Beng Mealea images...

Clean Water Please

Greetings,

The team of Australian nurses had a medical briefing. The head nurse talked about the biggest problem they've seen in Siem Reap communities since arriving two weeks ago.

"It's dehydration. It's the loss of electrolytes (salt)." 

They discussed primary concerns and physiological assessments. They talked about signs and symptoms. They discussed their progress helping and educating people. They returned to the villages.  

One billion people on Earth do not have access to clean water.

Metta.

Cambodia Statistics:

Total population: 14,197,000

Gross national income per capita (PPP international $): 1,550

Life expectancy at birth m/f (years): 59/65

Healthy life expectancy at birth m/f (years, 2003): 46/49

Probability of dying under five (per 1 000 live births): 82

Probability of dying between 15 and 60 years m/f (per 1 000 population): 314/207

Total expenditure on health per capita (Intl $, 2006): 167

Total expenditure on health as % of GDP (2006): 6.0

Figures are for 2006 unless indicated. Source: World Health Statistics 2008

Ta Som & Preah Khan

Greetings,

Ta Som is a compact temple, with a laterite enclosed wall, well preserved gopuras or entrance buildings. The feeling is intimate. I wander quiet and peaceful. I evaporate into deep meditative silence. Birds sing through shadowed light. Pure magic.

Preah Khan, constructed in 1191 is wonderful. Inscriptions refer to a lake of blood; a story about a battle when the Khmer people killed the Cham king and expelled them. It became a religious university with 1,000 Buddhist monks.

It is one of the largest and most lightly visited temples at Angkor. It is a fusion temple - Mahayana Buddhism features equal sized doors and cardinal directions. The Hindu deities, Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma are present and it feature successfully smaller doors emphasizing unequal nature. It has four main long corridors, a central shrine, ancient columns, libraries, numerous hidden treasures, delight light play, and apsara dancer carvings.

I am a dust collector. I wander quiet and peaceful inside ancient stone stories. Where people made their life, using their energies. Sacrifice. Prayer. Celebration. Ceremony. These carved dancers, dancing images transported by inner visions. Perceiving beauty, celestial serene wisdom. The nature of the process.

Integrate the unconscious into your life.

See more...Ta Som and Preah Khan...enjoy.

Metta.