My Post-Sabbatical Year(s) in Asia (or wherever): 5/5: Meditation lesson and "Hanoi Hilton" prison

Evergreen group in front of the main temple at Bo De Pagoda

Bo De pagoda was built in the 14th century. We are the last group to have a meditation lesson at this temple, for it is going to be rebuilt.

Monk Dan Lan with her orphan children

Dan Lan, the head monk, has been here for 40 years. She started taking in orphan children in 1989. There are now 96 children. She told us that there are three reasons for the orphans: 1) children of parents with HIV, 2) parents who are homeless and can't take care of their child, and 3) children with birth defects. The pagoda also cares for old people who are homeless.

My students in the temple before their meditation lesson

Dan Lan led us in a guided meditation, and then a silent meditation. After a while I started thinking that this was a long meditation, and after some more time, a really long meditation. I was thinking it was much too long for my students, who are used to two to three minutes of silent meditation, and too long for me. My ankle started to hurt. My knee hurt. I counted my beads to distract me. Finally I opened my eyes. Everyone was waiting for me, having stopped a long time ago, but were too polite to interrupt my meditation. I had no idea. I thought Monk Dan Lan would tell us to open our eyes, but she had stopped a while ago as well, and had already left the temple. All in all, it was a 45 minute meditation.

This little girl loved taking pictures. The next five pictures were taken by her.

Helping the little girl with her photography

Chaperone Tom with one of the children

Monk Dan Lan with the cutest little boy

After the visit to the pagoda, we went to the "Hanoi Hilton" prison, where John McCain was imprisoned for five years. His uniform is still there.

The caption says, "Some photos represent the solidarity of American people with Vietnamese people in the Vietnamese struggle for independence and unification of the country."