My trip;
Don't we all love going on holiday? Do we need a reason to go?
I go for a number of reasons.
In fact I really don't need a reason, as I will go at the drop of a hat.
This trip I am going to
re-do my vows and put my monks robes back on.
That's a really good reason.
In total I will be away for eight weeks and when I get back I will have a revived out look on life.
My friends Carlo and Salmiah are also in Thailand and we are staying at the same place for the first three weeks of of my holiday.
There is a chance my friend Bhante Nanadhaja Bhikkhu may also come to Ban Krut.
Bhante is presently in Kuala Lumpur attending private matters on a quick trip from Sri Lanka. I hope he does come to the beach as I would be honored to have him be my preceptor.
Last year in Wat SriBoonRuang in Fang,
in Northern Thailand,
Bhante helped me with my meditations and in this area he is an expert.
This morning I made enquiries at Wat Tang Sai if they would allow Bhante to stay awhile.
The Wat is nestled at the base of a small mountain on a bay, overlooking the ocean. It is paradise.
There is a major Temple of the same name, at the top of Mt Thongchai, overlooking the South China Sea looking towards Cambodia and Vietnam.
The head Monk, who speaks a little English, said Bhante would be welcome.
Sent from my iPhone and
http://www.dharmamaster.com
With love
Thursday 6 February 2014
My dear friend Han-Shan,
My dear friend Han-Shan,
or in English "cold mountain," lived during the Tang Dynasty. He lived around 720 to 830AD or so.
He lived a simple life,
in the mountains,
by a stream, eating wild fruits and vegetables.
Every now and again he would go to a local temple to make fun of the monks and write his poetry on the walls.
Some thirty years after his death his poetry was collected from various places and written down.
His poetry was found on walls in temples, houses, toilets, rocks, trees, in fact all manner of places where one could write.
We are blessed now to have many poems from this great man and even a film about his life.
As I am about to leave for my personal retreat into the hills, I share my favorite poem of
Han-Shan;
"Cold cliffs,
more beautiful the deeper you enter--
Yet no one travels this road.
White clouds idle about tall crags;
On the green peak a single monkey wails.
What other companions do I need?
I grow old doing as I please.
Though face and form alter with years,
I hold fast to the pearl of the mind."
When I am sitting in the forest, alone with my thoughts, I will remember that my mind is a pearl.
My breath, the string that ties the pearls together.
This body is the clasp that makes sure the string of pearls stays firm and even.
The earth, trees, shrubs and stream enable this body to function.
Ah, happiness you are the feeling of contentment, the joy I am sure Han-Shan felt when he sat,
as I do on this very same spot.
Thank you to the universe for providing such enlightenment.
Nathan
Sent from my iPhone and
http://www.dharmamaster.com
With love
or in English "cold mountain," lived during the Tang Dynasty. He lived around 720 to 830AD or so.
He lived a simple life,
in the mountains,
by a stream, eating wild fruits and vegetables.
Every now and again he would go to a local temple to make fun of the monks and write his poetry on the walls.
Some thirty years after his death his poetry was collected from various places and written down.
His poetry was found on walls in temples, houses, toilets, rocks, trees, in fact all manner of places where one could write.
We are blessed now to have many poems from this great man and even a film about his life.
As I am about to leave for my personal retreat into the hills, I share my favorite poem of
Han-Shan;
"Cold cliffs,
more beautiful the deeper you enter--
Yet no one travels this road.
White clouds idle about tall crags;
On the green peak a single monkey wails.
What other companions do I need?
I grow old doing as I please.
Though face and form alter with years,
I hold fast to the pearl of the mind."
When I am sitting in the forest, alone with my thoughts, I will remember that my mind is a pearl.
My breath, the string that ties the pearls together.
This body is the clasp that makes sure the string of pearls stays firm and even.
The earth, trees, shrubs and stream enable this body to function.
Ah, happiness you are the feeling of contentment, the joy I am sure Han-Shan felt when he sat,
as I do on this very same spot.
Thank you to the universe for providing such enlightenment.
Nathan
Sent from my iPhone and
http://www.dharmamaster.com
With love
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