July 19

Buddhist teaching:
Nothing whatsoever should be clung to.
Wandered on our bikes today in Hue
once the Imperial City
still full of Imperial architectural marvels
a citadel, palaces
a forbidden city
ramparts, arches
dance, music
easy to get lost if you want to just wander and marvel and ponder
which we did—all of the above.
Pulling up at a Buddhist temple—one of so many—on a little side street
And stepping inside the gate
We were invited to join the prayer ceremony upstairs
Monks at their meal at a table behind the altar
Their movements choreographed to a gong or
The chanting of the men and women out in front
Who were standing, hands pressed together
Or kneeling, head dropping to floor.
Afterwards, we were asked to eat
(Creative soy stuff and a stew featuring lima-fava-type beans)
and it was nothing but an invitation
from people with so little
a welcome to their country, city, temple
nothing asked in return, nothing expected
from fancy foreigners in fancy shoes
(left at the door)
in a place where outside the temple walls
everything is a negotiation
everything is for sale
everything is for profit
an extra penny or two reigns
and we are tempted to bargain up, rather than down
because we can here, because we have so much.
Life’s inequities disturb and boggle me every day
But rarely as intensely as when I travel.
Nothing whatsoever should be clung to.