What follows is perhaps,
almost certainly, the least pleasant interaction I have had with a human being,
indeed any sentient being, whilst in Ladakh. And yet, as I have reflected on it
since it happened this morning, I have thus come to realize this incidents
value as a quite profound teaching as I attempt to walk the path of the
Buddhas. It unfolded as I was going for kora, ritual circumambulation, around
the Chokhang Vihara, also known as Gompa Soma (New Gompa), which is the main
Buddhist gompa (monastery) and lhakhang (temple) in central Leh. To the best of
my memory, this is how it unfolded.
I walk into the
Chokhang, and as I begin my kora, I notice on older Caucasian woman, European
by the looks of it, attempting to light up a cigarette. I can stomach and
ignore tourists being loud, or rude, walking the wrong directions, wearing
shorts and other revealing clothing, and most of the other disrespectful things
they do while in Buddhist gompas and sacred sites, but not this. This was
intransigence at its highest. The Ladakhis might be too nice to confront her,
but I am not.
Doug: Excuse me, but you cannot smoke here.
Old French
Woman: [Looks up in annoyance]
D: I don’t mean to be rude but…
OFB: Go away [gives slight wave of hand, by which she
clearly means ‘fuck off,’ and resumes attempting to light cigarette]
Realizing that this
woman is far more determined to smoke her cigarette and disrespect this sacred
place than I am to stop her, I continue with my kora and leave this foul soul
to wallow in carcinogens and her even more noxious personality. Having finished
my circumambulation of the Chokhang, I stand on some stone steps shaded by a
few trees near the front of the main lhakhang, reciting some last few mantras
of OM MANI PADME HUM (HRI), when the Old French Woman, walks up to me.
OFW: You cannot talk to people like that.
I attempt to be
conciliatory, and indulge her with an apology that she does not deserve.
D: I am sorry. I didn’t mean to come across as
rude, but I realize that I did.
OFW: You cannot tell people what they can do.
D: I know, but really, you cannot smoke here.
OFW: [Clearly perturbed that I will not give up my
admonishment] According to who, to you?!
D: According to them…[I motion to the Ladakhis
behind her and the literal writing on the wall behind them which states in big
bold letters ‘YOU ARE SITTING IN A HOLY PLACE, DON'T USE ALCOHOL, TOBACCO IN
ANY FORM’]…it’s actually written on the wall.
OFW: [Boiling with anger] You’re from the States
aren’t you?
D: Yes.
With my affirmation, I
have virtually no doubt as to the vitriol that is to follow.
OFW: You know you should just stay there, closed.
She pauses, so consumed
by her spiteful emotions that she is clearly at a loss for words; unable to
convey in English the disgust inside her that only knows the language of French
as a vehicle.
OFW: You truly are an unbelievable country!
Shaking her head in
utter contempt and disgust, she turns around and walks away. Now I am at a loss
for words, so taken aback by her odiousness. As she walks off towards the side
exit, completely failing, as do so many other foreigners and Indians, to walk
about the temple properly—in a clockwise manner, I manage to get in the last
words, which are the only words (other than expletives) which suddenly pop into
my mind.
D: [Somewhat sarcastically] Have a nice day.
If I am the protagonist,
and I self-righteously assume that I am, then the antagonist is an old French
woman, particularly bitter in character. This old French woman was, or is,
gripped by a state of mind that I have thus far encountered in several, but by
no means a majority, of the older Europeans I have met whilst abroad. This
mindset is the rather unfortunate combination of Eurocentric cultural hubris
(Europe is still very much a White-Christian and White-Atheist Gentlemen’s club
in which religious and racial-ethnic intolerance is just as endemic if not more
so than in the United States) and what is basically an old Colonialist
mentality. This attitude manifests not as the Noble White Conqueror from the
glory days of Empire, but as the Noble White Traveler, who having skimmed Lonely Planet: India, now fully understands the infinitely complex
histories, cultures, and beliefs of this nation of 1.2 billion (and counting)
souls, 28 federal states, 23 recognized languages (as well as thousands of
unrecognized languages and dialects), nine major religions and their numerous
iterations, and hundreds if not thousands of distinct cultures.
These individuals have
come to see the ‘simple’ and ‘antiquated’ cultures of Asia, but not to interact
or engage with such cultures, and certainly not to respect or meaningfully
internalize them. They take some pictures; buy some shawls, jewelry, and maybe
a thangka or statue whose meaning and symbolism they are completely ignorant
of; and visit a few of the places recommended in Lonely Planet.
Physically, they may have left the West, but mentally they have not. Their
minds are encased, trapped in the framework of the “First World,” of
“Developed” economies, polities, and societies.
Developed in what sense?
Physically and materially yes, but spiritually, metaphysically, and mentally
we, by which I mean Western Judeo-Christian civilization, are infants; but
seeds that have yet to be germinated. What arrogance! We grasp at the mundane
world in front of us, taking the deceptions of our senses to be ultimate truth.
Blindly, we ascribe permanence to form and appearance when their transience and
emptiness, our transience and emptiness, is the true nature of existence. From
the very instant they are completed, even the most fantastic buildings have
begun to deteriorate and will eventually collapse and return to nothingness.
Even the most complex, powerful machines, from the very moment they are
assembled, have begun to rust and will eventually breakdown and be turned to
scrap. No matter the height, the architectural complexity, the beauty,
the power, the cost; the flow of time, the vibration of electrons, and the
decay of subatomic particles make no exceptions for the vanity and whims of
human beings. The massive skyscrapers being constructed in the Middle East, in
China, in India and elsewhere, will eventually be reduced to dust. Everything
created must be destroyed. Anything born must eventually die, though the
finality of destruction and death is itself mere illusion and similarly lacks any
sort of permanence.
Impermanence is the
defining reality of the physical world, the sole constant in an otherwise
completely uncertain existence. The West denies, or perhaps has simply
forgotten such fundamental truths. To quote the great Tibetan Poet-Yogin
Milarepa, perhaps the single greatest example of a Buddhist practitioner since
the Buddha himself, “All worldly pursuits have but one unavoidable and
inevitable end, which is sorrow; acquisitions end in dispersion; buildings in
destruction; meetings in separation; births in death.” Spiritual
accomplishments however, do not decay, because they are timeless. The
illuminated mind never fades in brightness, because the true nature of mind is
primordially, innately, pure resplendence. It is unconditioned, neither
dependent nor based upon anything else; therefore, nothing can add to its
brightness, nothing can take away from its radiance, it is infinite having no
beginning or end, it is self-so. The poisons of anger, desire, and ignorance
may obscure it, block its blissful rays from emanating forth, but they cannot
change it, damage it, or darken it. Like dirt on a mirror, dirt may alter or
block what is reflected, but the mirror itself never ceases reflecting, and
once cleaned, the mirror reflects with same pristine clearness that it did
before becoming soiled. The mirror of luminous mind is within every single
sentient life form. It is in me and you. It is in the Ladakhis, the Kashmiris,
the Indian tourists, and the foreign tourists. It is the essential nature of
all living things. It is even in the grumpy old French woman I encountered this
morning, who strangely enough, I now owe somewhat of a debt of gratitude, for
it is thanks to her, her cigarette addiction, and her foul attitude that caused
me to reflect so intently on this episode of unpleasantness. And in my
meditation, of which this is a byproduct, I have progressed beyond the obvious
negativities of the incident, to realize the more subtle truths, and as is so
befitting of Tantric Buddhism, turned this obstacle into a vehicle of greater
understanding and compassion. The Dalai Lama has often said that enemies are
the greatest teachers we have, because they teach us compassion and how to
adapt and learn from disadvantageous circumstances.
As such, if I happen to
again cross paths with this sour old French woman, I hope to tell her the
following, “I’ve been reflecting quite deeply on what transpired between us
this morning, and I have to say, I’ve come to some very lovely realizations
because of it. That being the case, I’d actually like to thank you for
confronting me as you did and saying what you said, since I’ve managed to learn
some important lessons as a result. So, merci…but really, you can’t smoke in
the monasteries and temples."
The Frequency is
Courage,
Doug B.
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