Dawn; Dawning

“​Sabadee, Noun.” The clock strikes 6am, and I greet the young woman (girl) at Joma, my go-to cafe on “Walking (main) Street,” home to the most generous cappuccino in town.

The morning, here in Luang Prabang, Laos, is sweet, tentative, sleepy-eyed, full of promise. I’m not always up and about, my bed so comfy, my room dark, without windows, a womb. The delight and fascination of dreams and amazing wakeful moments and adventures vie with each other; I’m never quite sure when I lay my head down at night which one will win out in the morning.

But these are my final days here before taking flight to Vietnam. Perhaps it’s wistfulness that calls me out into the early air. Certainly, it’s the alms-giving, this peace-filled time when time stands still, this tradition of several millennia. The year here and much of Southeast Asia is 2569BE, marking the year The Buddha passed into Nirvana.

This morning, as always, one side of the street is lined for a 1/4 mile with low colored plastic stools for the alms givers. They are mostly Chinese tour groups, with a smattering of Europeans, few Americans. 

This morning, I’m a voyeur; sometimes it’s more impactful to watch than to partake. I’ve always felt this way; that I often see the world with greater clarity.

The world is a mess wherever one goes: the 7 deadly sins, 10 broken commandments, 108 Buddhist defilements. We know better - the virtuous life - and most people I know mostly dwell there. And moments like these, in the quiet of dawn, are a reminder of our higher angels, and it is beautiful.


Popular posts from this blog

Amazing Graces

Image
Off to the most amazing start, finding this guesthouse and, today, meeting with Topsi, the Servas host here. She’s amazing and well-connected throughout Thailand. Was the action coordinator for Greenpeace in the early 2000s, flying a hot air balloon and unfurling banners over a coal plant that was a major polluter in Northern Thailand, and leading a flotilla to confront the first Argentinian ship bringing GMO soya into Thailand. Then coordinator for “Ecoversify” in Thailand, and now a director of “Pilgrimage Asia.” Tomorrow she’s introducing me to a monk-friend at the famed Wat Saker (Golden Mount Temple) here, and connecting me with her Chiang Mai friends, in particular the founders of Pun Pun Organic. Not bad for my first 48 hours. We lunched long with a Japanese woman-friend on the banks of the Chao Phraya river — a place a tourist would never discover on their own, called Chaopraya Antique Cafe . Amazingly, you walk a plank since the lower floor (kitchen and living room) has a foot...
Read more

Shokhothai - A Diamond Island in Town Square

Image
I’m moving north from Bangkok with several stops along the way. Perhaps no surprise, but Buddha and Buddhism is everywhere! Oh, the temples! By my reckoning, much more visible than in India and Nepal. Arriving in Sukhothai at orange-dusk last night, I was later washed-over by the brilliantly lit sight of the moated Wat/Stupa in town. You can approach it over four lantern-lit bridges coming from the four directions. It was stunning at night and, after the magic and adventure of morning and checking out tomorrow’s cute little guesthouse (with the weed store next door); and a fine latte with an oat-coca biscuit - and definitely the heat if the day - my trusty shoes walked me over the north bridge to the Stupa where I found a shaded stone bench awaiting me.. It’s a wholly holy peaceful scene. Not a soul about. I wish I had brought my inflatable meditation cushion. Around the far side, there is hubbub. It’s all quietly done, but they’re setting up for an event, rolling out tons of gold ca...
Read more

Tomorrow

​In the wee hours of the early morning a flight from Rochester to JFK then onto Bangkok. Another journey into the unknown that I sense will be familiar in enough ways to find the treasures I seek. 
Read more