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Published: February 20th 2006
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It's the Lit'l things in LIfe
Lemon Mint shake and a good book. Let me start off by saying a belated HAPPY VALENTINES DAY to all the amazing women in my life (both friends and family).
I'm sort of embarrassed to admit that I spent in totally 14 days in the town of Luang Prabang. The truth of the matter is I really liked this town. In some way it reminded me a little of my home in California. Perhaps it reminded me more of a college town than anything else. Just like Davis the town is big enough that you can get around anywhere with a one speed bicycle. One of my favorite activities was renting a bike for the day (10,000kip/$1) riding around the peninsula along the Mekong and ending up at L'Etranger book shop for a fruit shake and some lunch. Their tuna sandwiches are pretty legit.
My Buddhist Novice buddy Keo was really excited that his temple was having a special festival for the full Moon. He invited me to his temple and even bought some flowers,incense and a candle for me to give as an offering. After the monks chanted for an hour the slowl lit their candles, , flowers in hand and led the "lamen people" in
a walk around the temple. We circled the temple three times, while some of the other novices banged this huge Drum. The rhythm was magical and the site was beautiful as the only light I could see was that of the candles as we walked around the temple. As we finished, we entered the temple and each person laid his or her flowers before the massive Buddha statue. All in all an amazing experience.
I was also invited to the temple for lunch with him. We sat on the floor and he brought in this little table full of 4 different dishes along with a bunch of sticky rice and desert. The monks only eat twice a day (7am and 12pm) so they have to eat a lot in order to stay full for the day.
A few days later I said goodbye to Keo. He has been an amazing friend to me. Though he is only 18, I am so impressed by how grown up he is. I wanted to give him a present and wasn't sure what to give him. I had just finished the book "Tuesdays with Morrie" the day before. It was a touching story about
Saying goodbye
I finally got him to smile... a man who rekindles his friendship with his favorite professor two months before the professor dies of Lough Gehrig's disease. I was really touched by this story and I thought Keo could perhaps gain something from the story and practice his English while reading it.
TRAGEDY:
In trying to figure out how much space I had left on my camera I went int a computer shop. Some American guy (perhaps Canadian) offered to show me how to check. As he did this he accidental reformated my card, erasing all the photos i had taken since Vietnam!!! AHHH i just stood their in shock. The guy felt really bad, and said that if it would have been him he would have punched me in the face. I was thinking the same thing. I know he didn't' mean it but AHHHHHH.....Buddhism teaches you that all things are impermanent, thus you should not be attached to material objects. I did put some of my favorite pictures online so it's not a huge deal.
Let me leave you with some of my favorite words from "Tuesdays with Morrie:
"love each other or Perish"
"Devote yourself to loving others, devote
Playing with Puppies at L'Etranger
Mom and Dad wait and get a puppy when i get home. yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to something that gives you purpose and meaning"
"Statue will get you nowhere, only and open heart will allow you to float equally between" the classes.
"Do the kinds of things that come from your heart, when you do, you wont be dissatisfied, you wont be envious, you wont be longing for somebody else's things. On the contrary you will be overwhelmed with what comes back to you."
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Steven
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Great Pictures
Once again, great pictures of Luang Prabang.