According to the Tibetans, today is Buddha’s birthday. A prince with everything in the world, he set off on a quest to discover the truth of life. I’m remembering a mindfulness adventure I had this week, fifteen years ago:
Bornean Buddha by A.Ashman
In Borneo, I felt bored and restless at a luxe, manicured Shangri-La resort favored by fugitive rogue traders. Wandering past the watersports shack I asked to go to an outlying island in the South China Sea. No notice to the people I was traveling with, no drinking water, food or cellphone.
The white-uniformed sailor dropped me at the random spot I’d picked from his laminated map. A decrepit picnic bench sagged in the shade of a steep cliff carpeted in greenery, where faceless monkeys screeched. No facilities, no stand selling lunch, no people. Just plastic flotsam and slithery tracks lacing the sand. The hotel boat fishtailed away.
Did they write down where they left me? Lawsuit waiting to happen. Already thirsty. Wait, six-inch wide tracks. From what scaly beasts?
No way I’d approach the trees where those squiggly trails led. I was frying in the tropical sun. Unnerved to cool off in the translucent green water. What if I suddenly ‘had trouble’ swimming, or a shark came? Maybe I could flag down a passing boat to take me back. But these were pirate-infested waters.
Silly overreaching hotel guest, I was going to die on this wild island.
I picked up a 5-liter water jug and started filling it with cones and olive shells glinting among seaweed and garbage. Good stuff. My best vacations were spent shell-collecting in the Gulf of Mexico…Sanibel Island in Florida.
Heavenly new finds here. A true Shangri-La paradise. Zebra-striped scallops. Glossy limpets. Spiky orange coral.
That day as I ringed the tiny island — is that a chickpea cowrie? – I turned the corner on my own nature’s bitter edge.
On this birthday week of Buddha can you name a mindfulness experience you’ve had?
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Anastasia M. Ashman
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Anastasia,
What a wonderful memory to have, the beginning of a Hemingway-like story, gorgeous moments in time. It speaks of boredom, the need for adventure, to be lost and found. I’ve thought before that your time in Asia, although at the time not inspirational to you, is and will be a source of great riches. It’s not always the time in the limelight that give us the greatest material to ponder and elaborate on.
Love the artwork you posted as well, beautiful that superimposed mask on the map. Are you familiar with the work of Vietnamese American artist Din Q Lê?
Thanks Judith, first time I’m showing this illustration I created back in Asia…on Thursday I suddenly had a story to go with it!
The underlying face is a terracotta garden sculpture from Thailand (see more here) and an antique map of the region I handcolored.
I wasn’t aware of the Vietnamese-American artist you mention, thanks for pointing him out.
You’re probably right, my time in Asia was very trying but also great material and conditioning for the future.
This year I had joined a full-day event reading sutras with a group of volunteers – we practice qi-gong, meditation, and study Tibetan Buddhism together. It was the first time since elementary school that I blindly read texts aloud for hours. How boring can it be? But that was immensely satisfying.
Because it was a volunteering activity (I even took a day off from my work), I poured my heart and (hopefully) my soul into the mundane reading, and there I realized again that the real power of experience exists in what we bring to it, not what is given to us… No I didn’t have any enlightening moment, but it was nice to have that insight (and muscle ache and sore throat).
Thanks for sharing Isao. I’d say that moment of insight counts as enlightenment!
Chanting (or reading sutras) generates an energy field/vibration of its own, both in you and your environment….never thought I’d like it until I tried it.
Talk about a cliffhanger! So what happened? Did the dude come back and get you? Did you have to swim to shore? Sharks? Smoke monsters? I’m on pins and needles!
I agree with Judith, this is beautifully written and so evocative. A word snapshot of a moment of your life. I’m looking forward to many more of these.
As for me, re: mindfulness. After my friend Wendy’s death I went into a horrible downward spiral, especially after testifying against the murderers. When it finally came time to start on a healing path, a book about Buddhism made its way into my hands and I started meditating twice a day. At the time I was attending the Commission on Human Rights in Geneva and if I hadn’t been meditating I don’t know how I would have dealt with all the human rights horrors and ghosts people brought in with them.
I haven’t meditated in years, but the Buddhist idea of mindfulness has stuck with me in small daily actions. Like, being mindful not to rub my eyes or touch my mouth after being on a tram. Being mindful of the children I care for, being patient, being careful how I speak with them and to them if they are naughty. Being mindful of the people around me and spending time with people who make me a better person instead of those who drag me down. I’m not always successful being mindful, especially if I’m stressed out or travelling (oh man, how I detest travelling now!), but I still do my best.
Thank you for sharing this gorgeous post, and Happy Wesak Day.
oxox