Settled In, Pretty Much
Uninvited guests
pesky demanding habits
give kindness, not tea
Tomorrow will be two weeks, and I’m willing to say I’m feeling pretty much settled in. Right on schedule for my rhythms. Some good news is that, unlike on previous trips, I haven’t gotten the cold I usually get as part of this settling in process. Anything can happen of course, but I’m happy to be able to report this thus far.
I got my bike looked at by a local mechanic who said he could fix the gears, but after two visits to him they only work a little, leaving me with maybe 7 of 21 possible gears available for use. Good enough to get me to the beach, and to Saphli for various things, but I’m hesitant to attempt a longer, say 20 mile ride into Chumphon and back with Aek and Kun Lee, his friend whom I’ve met and ridden with on a couple of previous visits here. She’s a daily rider and likes to take longer rides, but I want some additional gears available to me before I do that. With luck, I’ll manifest a lift into Chumphon to an actual bike shop to get the thing working properly. My notion is that, for someone who does know what they’re doing, it’s a 15 or 30 minute job, adjusting the front and rear derailleurs, assuming the junk quality of the bike allows for real adjustment.
Be flex, be prepared
torrential rains or sunshine
the frogs know the score
I visited my favorite Wat just outside of Saphli today. It’s my favorite because it has various outside statues on the spacious grounds of different deities and goddesses and such, including another version of Qin Im
and best of all, a mixed deity sculpture including Shiva, Ganesha, and a female deity called Phra Mae Ma hanging out together. It turns out that Thai Buddhism in particular has an historically intimate relationship with Hinduism, which I discovered during our first trip here, and a little online research. So, it’s not uncommon to find Hindu imagery and statuary at Buddhist Wats and other places.
The Thai inscription above translates as follows:
Lord Shiva incantations, Om Nama Shivaya, the incantation of Phra Mae Ma, Om Parawat Tayo Nama, the incantation of Ganesha, Om Sri Ganesha Namaha, the incantation of the Murugan, Om Sri Karawan Phawaya Namaha
Those of you who’ve known me for a while will know that these kinds of juxtapositions and overlaps are right up my alley when it comes to spirituality, since if I have to identify myself along these lines, I like to quote early Ram Dass who famously answered a question about his spiritual or religious affiliation by saying: “I’m a Sufi Buddhist Christian HinJew”.
May All Beings Be Happy.
Kind and relaxed here
welcome to the Land of Smiles
grief for USA
