March 9th: Connections

This morning I woke up at 5AM feeling such a strong connection to my wife. I got up and wrote this meditation for my students:

Morning meditation:
So much about travel inspires a focus on differences,
from the smells to the language,
customs and history.
But somehow, amidst all the differences,
a greater truth always emerges for me,
a truth of the heart - connections.

It can be as simple as eyes meeting,
or a smile,
a handshake,
laughter.

There is a freedom I feel with our national guides Ha and Mike
that I have with no one else.
That freedom is rooted,
and is possible,
I believe,
Because we come from such different cultures.
We can connect from our hearts.

And I believe connection is real.
It is powerful,
and it can be life-changing.

I'll tell you a story:
30 years ago,
before Christy was my wife,
she was my best friend.
On the morning I was taking her to the airport
for an 8-month journey,
she said to me,
"Robert, I think I am falling in love with you."
At one point on her journey,
she wrote me a letter,
quoting a line from a James Taylor song.
At the same time,
I wrote her a letter
quoting a different line from the very same song.
Our letters crossed in the mail.

So here is one of my favorite meditations:
I focus on my breath.
The air that enters my lungs is the same air all over the world.
Everywhere humans breathing the same breath.
The whole planet - one big breath,
One big heart beat.
Together.


After our meditation lesson, we headed out on our bikes to our bamboo lantern making lesson. On the way we passed a group of students playing soccer, and were allowed to join in.

After the soccer game we taught the Vietnamese boys the "hi 5" post game ritual, which they apparently really liked.

We then passed an elementary school. Ha brought us into a classroom. The children sang us a song, so we sang for them "BINGO" and taught them the "Hokey Pokey." Here they are putting "their right hand in." Or maybe it is supposed to be their left.

Matthew with kindergarten students and his camera.

Max concentrating hard on his bamboo lantern.

Our guide Ha with the 5-month old baby of one of the lantern workers.

My students with their lanterns. The lanterns look really good if you don't look closely.

This afternoon we took the students back to the beach. And then in the evening circled up for a class meeting. I asked them to pay attention to connections today, and they would share this evening. The students spoke about their sense of connection to the Vietnamese people in general, the fishermen today, player soccer (with no need for words), the school classroom visit, holding the orphans, the cooking teacher, to their Evergreen friends, and "to myself - paying attention to why I do the things I do."