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Published: November 19th 2009
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Jungle safari
on back of elephant I am in Chitwan, the rainforest part of Nepal! I had a full day activity with elephants. They are so fat and peaceful. They never cause any harm to others even though they are the biggest. I went to a jungle safari on the back of an elephant and we got so close to other animals because they weren’t afraid of the elephant. Deer and rhinos were just relaxing around us. Then I went elephant bathing with them in the river. The elephant was having so much fun taking a bath. Afterwards I went to an elephant breeding ground where there were these twin baby elephants who walked up to us and played with us. Then they started play fighting with each other. Haha, and who says the lion is the king of the jungle? Lions are feared dictators whereas elephants are the peaceful kings. They are the smartest animals and also the most peaceful. So big with so much power, I’m grateful their not mean or else homes could easily be destroyed!
A tiger no more All of my life, I’ve always wanted to be a tiger. It was beautiful and ferocious. Graceful with her kills
and elegant in her speed. But that changed today. I went to a Chinese restaurant (I finally had Chinese food after 2 long months!) and there was this fun horoscope for the Chinese Zodiac that describes the personality of each animal. My Chinese zodiac is a tiger, born in the year 1986 and so I’ve always had an adoration for tigers. As I read through the description, I realized all of the characteristics it was saying matched my own. And so I was like
Yep, just as I always thought, I’m a tiger. But then I read all the other 11 animal’s horoscope and they all matched my personality as well. Strange… maybe I’m just hearing about the good parts I like and relating that to me and forgetting about the bad things it says? As I was younger, I didn’t bother with the other horoscopes, I only read the horoscope for tiger and believed them to be so true about myself that I unconsciously started loving the tiger. But today, as I finally wise up to read other horoscopes, I realize that they are all the same about me.
Then I started thinking, why do I even like
Saw a Rhino
and his butt the tiger? They are mean creatures who kill on a whim. They have so much anger and aggressiveness built up. I’ve never even been close to a tiger nor have I pet one before. So what made me like them so much in the first place? The tiger looked so cool on the Kellog’s frosted cereal box, there was that cute tiger in the movie Aladdin, there was that hyper friend of Winnie the Pooh and then there was the martial arts tiger in Kung-Fu panda. All of them were portrayed as the cool and cute animal that I loved as a kid. And now I’m starting to understand my unconscious mind where it just developed this admiration for tigers without any rationalization. Just heard what I wanted to hear and then created a blind devotion to it. This goes for other things like my patriotism to Taiwan, my love for Lakers and even politics. I’ve created such an attachment to my childhood self that I justify what I like or not like at the present moment by saying, “I’ve always liked it as a kid.” I’m always tying myself to the past that I forget that I’m a completely
Mama and baby
They weren't afarid of the elephants at all different person as I was 20 years ago.
Blind devotion to the ideas that I grow up with make me who I am today, right? Well, maybe… but I’m starting to think it’s just a strong attachment I have with the past to make me think my present moment should be affected by it. Trauma, for example, is a mental connection that I tie my present self with my past self. I was traumatized by cactuses all my life because when I was 4 years old, I fell into a bunch of cactuses. Ouch, indeed. So if I see a cactus, I develop an unpleasant reaction to it. But now, I’m learning to be ‘equamanent’ and nonreactive to any pleasant or unpleasant emotions and just be aware of them. And as I’m writing about it now and developing awareness for my trauma without any unpleasant reactions, I feel the trauma slowly dissolve. I realized that was a completely different cactus and that I'm a completely different person now as I was 19 years ago. Why should I make such a strong connection with my 4 year old self, anyway? He’s not me, right?
Buddha said, “Love each day”.
He was the pure definition of this phrase. He woke up every morning seeing the world for the first time. He lived so much in the present that he doesn’t draw any attachment to the past. He gave each and every day a clean slate to begin with and he was so happy for it. It’s as great as having short-term memory loss and looking at the Taj Mahal over and over again. I think I have to slowly learn how to let go of all my experiences in the past so that I can give all the new experiences a equal and fair trial. This way I won’t have any expectations but only a newfound appreciation for every experience. For instance, I’m one of the very few Taiwanese that don’t like eating taro… not a ‘taro type of guy’ I would say. But there was this one time where I gave it another shot and it was deeelicious. From then on, I would always try taro if it was offered to me. And most of the time, they tasted horrible but I would always give it another shot because it’s a new day and this could be the taro
that I might like. I have to apply this mentality to more than just food, haha, but it’s a start.
So now, I am finally going to cut an attachment I have with my past and think for myself. A big step. I, Victor Chang, am officially changing my favorite animal from a tiger to an elephant. I’ve loved the tiger for 23 years without really knowing why or ever playing with one. But today, as of now, the elephant is my fav!haha. I’m a little bit embarrassed to say this but it was only after this year that I realized for myself that elephants can’t be defeated by rats. Ever since I was small, I always had the idea that the elephant is scared of the rat because the rat can crawl inside its trunk… Now, after being more detached from my past self, I’m thinking
Wait a second… that doesn’t make any sense It took me 23 years to finally figure it out, stupid… haha, but that’s what I get for tying myself to the past and not thinking for myself in the present! I'm striving to see reality as it is now and not how
I want it to be because of my past experiences.
-Love each day
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John Clark
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Classic.
Elephant bath time. Cannot beat that picture.