Advertisement
Published: April 20th 2006
Saturday, April 15
2:03 - 2:08PM
I see him from a distance walking down the aisle, and I hope he finds his way to me... PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE? YES! Who walks by everyone else on the bus and sits right next to me on a 4 hour ride from Hue back to Hoi An is a lovely little buddhist monk, a REAL live one. The full gear, bald head, cool garb and sandals, maybe about 40 years old, very small.... half my size (really!), with a deep ruby red toga-like tapestry wrapped around him in a method that seemed haphazard yet perfectly placed. He slips off the sandals and situates his little self comfortably, Indian style. OOOoooooo, I just know I’m going to get some good energy here. Maybe he's going to meditate, or say something profound or read my thoughts, or just give me a nod when I think of a yes or no question or he’ll just breathe zen-ness out into the air I am breathing to help reimburse my depleting energy resources. Thanks Universe. What a cool gift. I’ll just sit patiently and see. Within a minute he reaches into his bag, a bag meticulously detailed with a beautiful and ornate gold embroidered floral mandala design. What’s he getting, WHAT'S HE GETTING?! I strain my peripheral vision to see as best as I could without seeming noosey. Is he going to light incense? Perhaps site a chant from an ancient scroll? Wow, something is catching the light and it’s a small...silver... shiny... CELL PHONE? to play VIDEO GAMES??? Which he proceeds to do so on a very high volume while bursting into loud fits of laughter every 15-20 seconds. What a disappointment. This high-pitched Japanese techno beats were not the vibes I was hoping for. And yes, it also was not a good idea to drink one very strong Vietnamese coffee and 2 Vietnamese teas before getting on. This is not because there is no toilet, this is because...and anyone who knows me can attest, that I might as well have taken speed when I drink caffeine. Now not only was I caught in between an annoying little monk and a foggy bus window, but one leg was beginning to do the coffee jitter shake, then both, full throttle... and I just knew that if I jumped off the bus I could run faster back to Hoi An, 100mph seemed so SLOW.
My buddha-bubble-burst was the first 3 minutes of the journey. The next 2 minutes I decided to write everything down as I thought it, 2 minutes of unedited caffeinated brain wave function:
my favorite bottle of wine was with dinner on Easter 2002 in Italy and if I ever choose to be in a long term commitment I want that person to have an appreciation for Bruce Springsteen (at least his older songs) and our Vietnam Vets have it just as bad as Vietnam and what is Mr. Harper doing today and why did Brigantine Castle in New Jersey sink and I really like that Don is always so honest and I really didn’t like the squid served at Thong’s mom’s house for lunch last week and what is the word for blue in Vietnamese again? And Chuck from ECRI’s bellyroll was one of the funniest and scariest things I ever saw and I made some of my best photos from a pin-hole camera oatmeal carton in college with Judith and are the blogs I am writing too heavy that people will not read them anymore? I have not filled one page of my sketchbook since I have been here and if there is a Buddhist video game wouldn’t it go on forever because instead of dying you would just keep reincarnating?
Advertisement
Tot: 0.152s; Tpl: 0.01s; cc: 6; qc: 55; dbt: 0.0633s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Shannah
non-member comment
Spread the ZEN!!
I will forward this experience to all I know! I am laughing aloud at work (but not sure at which - you caffeinated or the 21st century monk). What a story!! I will never stop reading. I stalk you. Don't be silly.....we live vicariously through each other (you know what I mean sista friend). Are you sure it wasn't a fashion statement?