India Crossing

This remains one of my favorite images.

It was taken on the road from Dehra Dun to Dharamsala, not the main highway route but that off track route further to the west.

This crossing is actually over a dried up river bed for the bridge had collapsed. The lorry people are washing their trucks on the river. Basic as their livelihood may be but a lot of pride is present. Just as the cow is sacred because they are partners in eking out the land, so are trucks as they are part of the sustenance of life.

As the sun sets, it tells of the sweetness of rest and a meal at the end of a long hard day. It offers peace and recovery for the toil of the next day.

My first fig fruit

One morning after the rain, I saw this beautiful fig hanging from the fig tree in my garden.

Strange how it managed to grow to such a size without me noticing it.

This fig seemed to be a much sought after fruit for its medicinal properties. The chinese called it "Mo Far Go"

Creative Advertising

Saw this on the Batu Caves-Kepong link.

See the flags atop the mast of the crane? Methink it is an innovative way of advertising their cranes.

What are we?

A quote from this book (I have not finished reading it so am unable to provide a review...later)

"The ship is safest when it's in port, but that's not what ships were built for."

Dying and Dreaming

I lost a few friends this past few years to death. The day will come when I will lose all of them when I die.

I dreamt that I was walking along a path. This path used to be one of those that as a young boy I had often used when running about with boys from the same village. The shrubs that lined this path had leaves that were prickly and tend to cut our skin if we were not too careful which often happens when we became too engrossed in our games.

In this particular dream however the leaves were green, fresh, young and new growing off their long stems. I take this to be a good sign.

Within the same dream was another aspect. It got me thinking about how we are so much a slave to attachment and emotions. For example a young boy will forgo the opportunity, excitement and experience of studying in a foreign land simply because he has affections for a girl and being apart becomes something unthinkable.

As grown adults we too have moments when we pine for those we love. Very often we miss our family when we are away from home. Sometimes it is just the knowing that they are near that makes us feel good. Each may be going about their own individual activity.

We are very attached and emotional animals. Perhaps, the solution lies in us being able to move a plane higher by “feeling” on a mental level. That way distance and separation does not become an issue as when we are all mentally connected there is no separation. Of course, the teachings tell me otherwise. It tells me that as long as there is one iota of craving, a thought such as the one I have just talked about is but one distraction that will lead me astray.

The true path should be one that leads me to rejoin the great ocean, just like the droplets of rain rejoining the sea. That way all becomes inseparable and free of ‘you’ and ‘I’.

Borobudor

I remember Borobudor.
That ancient ruins
A monument from that era
of flourishing Buddhism
vajrayana Buddhism

why did it die?
simple
as all things must come and go
so too must structures and things once permanent
so died it did

religions and philosophies too
will follow this same fate
that is what the Lion of the Sakyas said
and I believe him
yes I do I do

I enter
From the low of the prambunan plains
The mural walls dark and grey
Like life
Mired in ignorance

Mong cha cha is life
murky and confused
So apt this
Of life
Blindly plodding on to nowhere

As I climb
There is some glimpse
Of the sky
And light
So further I climb

Then
Lo and behold
A rush of cool fresh air
The view stupendous
As the valley below unfolds

Endless the sunlit plains
Stretching to meet the horizon
Farmers toil the fields
As we churn in life
Endlessly

Magnificent
This ruins of borobudor
Learned its architect
But this other architect of no happiness
One day I shall defeat!

Faith !

The news say that Tibetans are fighting for their homeland. There is karma between Tibetans and I. My heart goes out to them. May they one day regain their homeland. May that day be soon!