3/16

Chaperones Matt and David, enjoying a delicious banh my (Vietnamese sandwich)

Alicia, one of the trip leaders, loves banh my (pronounced bawn mee). She didn't realize how much she loved banh my until she tasted one in Hoi Anh. Now she is on a mission - banh my where ever she goes. Alicia is worried that she will never be able to eat banh my in Seattle again, now that she has had the real thing. Last night Matt, David and I went searching for a late night snack and found a little "hole in the wall," complete with little metal tables, very little plastic chairs, and so small I had to move my seat every time the waitress needed something from the refrigerator. We had never eaten anything like the sandwich they served, with fried egg and beef. I cannot pass up an opportunity to tease the students, but here was an opportunity to tease an adult. After our meal, we bought a sandwich to take back to the hotel for Alicia, though we kept it hidden from her. Only after describing how delicous the sandwich was, and showing her this picture, did we take the sandwich out of hiding. She was sort of mad at us, but then grateful.

3/16: Meditation lesson

Offerings of oranges, a water bottle and a bunch of coca cola at Bo De Pagoda

In the morning we went to Bo De Pagoda for a meditation lesson. We were met by the head monk, Master Lunh. Before actually meditating, Master Lunh talked to us about spirituality, Buddhism, and health. What he mainly focused on was "mindfulness." He did not use this word, for he used Ha as a translator. "When you are walking, you should focus on walking. When you walk, you should know that you are walking. When you stop, you should be aware that you stopped. Meditation is the simplest thing - you just focus on what you are doing. When you are sitting, focus on sitting. When eating, focus on eating. When talking, focus on talking. When you are eating, you should hear the sound of chewing. It is like music. Eating a meal can be the same as meditating in the pagoda. Meditation is the most simple thing, but it is not easy."

During the first two Evergreen trips to Vietnam, in 2004 and 2006, we went to a different pagoda for our lessons. There too was a focus on mindfulness. We learned walking meditation, and then ate a meal, completely in silence, which was quite a unique expeience. I decided to try and continue the lesson, or at least, put the lesson to practice. On the bus ride to a restaurant for a group lunch, I spoke to the students about mindfulness, about attempting to do just one thing at a time and to pay attention to that one thing with all of our senses. I also talked to the students about our "monkey mind," always jumping about. I asked the students to try to get in touch with the "observing self," not to try and stop the monkey mind from jumping about, but to just observe it, acknowledging the place it goes, and then letting the thought go, getting back to the single focus on eating. It was an interesting experiment, though only partially successful. I learned there is a quite a difference between a quiet reflective act, and non-verbal communication, for though the students did an excellent job of not speaking, there was quite a bit of non-verbal communication going on. We did a sharing afterward, and the students had some interesting things to say: noticing that we taste the food the first bite, and then forget to pay attention to the food from then on, paying attention to all of the sounds, or the colors of the food, slowing down, being more aware of where we put our hand, being aware of our great need to communicate, whether about what we are eating or what is on our mind, the discomfort with silence, and how difficult it was to remain attentive to just one thing - eating. I think that a little difficulty every once in a while is a good thing. It puts things in perspective. It give you the opportunity to see things differently, the opportunity to observe your own process, and the opportunity to appreciate things taken for granted.