"They say a dream is like a river, ever changing as it flows" and so I flowed quiet nicely in Krabi for one night. In the morning I climbed the1260 steps to the tiger temple, just outside of the town. Perspective. From the top of the mountain sits a golden Buddha. Looking out around in 360 degrees to the sea, farm land and the limestone mountains in the distance. As I sat before the Golden Buddha, one of the temple dogs came to give me love and sat next to me as I soaked in the moment covered in sweat. After a photo session with some monkeys in the trees behind the Buddha, I descended step by step back to the Wat (temple) below.
In the courtyard of the Wat was a great statue of the goddess Kuan Yin, the goddess of compassion. She loomed over me with her blue vase ever flowing with limitless compassion for all. Then I followed the signs into the jungle that said "wonderland".
Into wonderland and there I found a half dome cave. One that I immediately recognized for a dream I had years ago. I had the dream over the course of a few nights, and it was so unique that I was transported to the dream again. I felt awakened and saw it in a different viewpoint that before. In the dream, I was with a group of people. It was a time of great flux. My companion and I had gone to the cave for safe harbor. It felt like the uncertainty had to do with a natural disaster, a prophesy coming true. When we got to the cave my companion told me he was leaving. I tried to convince him not to go but, he left. Then there was a big flash of light. And then, I went out into the jungle to find him, but he was gone. I returned to the cave, missing my companion but still with a will that we would meet again.
Back at the cave I realized something I had missed years before when trying to decipher the meaning of the dream. I thought my companion had left me, abandoned me when I needed him most. But now, taking my own path to this cave I came to a realization I have known all along. The Buddha talks a lot about suffering, how the root of attachment is suffering and how no one can save us but ourselves. We alone heal ourselves. We each walk our path alone. We each have our own hole of suffering and no one person can make that suffering less. I've always been around good people who I love and love me, but still at times can feel alone. As I sat at the cave, thinking how much I had grown since that dream. There were expectations that didn't come to fruition, people I let down and people who "let" me down. And as at I sat at the cave I realized once again, it all ok, it's part of me and my story, we just all have our own path and can have a bit of Kuan Yin compassion for each others paths and for ourselves and forgiveness. Then a black cat came up and snuggled with me. The tiger temple, the tiger caves where tigers had once lived with monks. Pretty magical.
From Krabi, I headed to Railay. "Go to the beach, walk through the jungle and you'll find Tonsai." Tired from the Tiger Temple, boat trip and heat, I walked to the beach and began my ascent up into the jungle. Then I met Stan. Stan, being the man offered to carry my bag through the jungle and showed me how to get to Tonsai. My mind and body racing and hot, a bit of overheating I rushed to the beach after finding a place to stay. The water was warm, but I found shade and slept. I needed more sleep, my head still hurt. dehydrated. The next day, I found my second home in Tonsai, a bungalow on stilts more in the jungle. For the next few days I enjoyed the beauty of Tonsai, it's community of rock climbers and hippies from all around the globe. I reflected on life and my path, looked at the emotions I no longer wished to carry. I ate well and got massages, I meditated and did the circle hike from Tonsai to Railay to Tonsai. I swam in the ocean and chose my next destination. Koh Lanta.
Tonsai is a happy village, it's like living in a festival. Artists draw and paint on the concrete wall that separates Tonsai from the beach.The graffiti artists write inspiring, funny or weird messages to one another. The Rock Climbers with their rock solid bodies, torn up and and thirst to summit talk about their climbs and experiences and sometimes complain. But tomorrow is another day, and they will climb higher, they will over come the mountain.
And then after a healing few days in Tonsai and the jungle, I headed south to Koh Lanta. Nicknamed the lucky island because during the last tsunami very few were injured or killed. Looking for the luck of finding a job diving or possibly finding something more.
No comments:
Post a Comment