A PASSAGE TO INDIA

101. THE ROAD TO MANDALAY

2011-10-03T09:12:00.362+08:00

Mandalay

By the old Moulmein pagoda, Lookin' lazy at the sea,

There's a Burma girl a-settin, and I know she thinks o' me,

For the wind is in the palm trees, and the temple-bel....

Is they say - 'Come you back you British soldier, come you back to Mandalay'

Come you back to Mandalay, where the old flotilla lay,

Can't you 'ear their paddles thunkin's from Rangoon to Mandalay.

On the road to Mandalay, where the flyin' fishes play,

An' the dawn comes up like thunder outer China 'crost the Bay.............. Rudyard Kipling 1890

This is the 1st verse of a lengthy 6 verse poem, adapted into a song sung by Frank Sinatra in a Big Band tempo as befits his time and more recently, by Robbie Williams in a raucous version.

The Brits (and I too) have associated Mandalay with romanticism. Mine was based more on a novel I've read by Daphne du Maurier. The most romantic thing on this trip was having dinner under the stars on the hotel's lawn next to a replica of the ruins of a stupa - with my girlfriend. We enjoyed our girl talk nevertheless.

The Shwedagon Pagoda at dusk - Yangon's iconic landmark. Shwe in the their language is 'gold' and it's everywhere.

This one's looking like some castle in Disneyland

This stupa is like something from right out of India (left) with a storyboard too.

The topmost summit of Shwedagon Pagoda (left) encrusted with diamonds and rubies. This part of the pagoda is referred to as 'the umbrella'. The 'umbrellas' of most pagodas have been rebuilt into something golden, reason given has been the old ones toppled during some earthquakes! This country is so extremely rich in gemstones they can decorate their pagodas so fancy, turning them into huge attractions for their people, the Shwedagon in the heart of the capital Yangon - the former Rangoon - is marketed as a must visit pilgrimage spot at least once in their people's lifetime. Sounds like Mecca. Sigh! What poverty? There is'nt any. What oppression?

Chaukhtatkyi Pagoda has the prettiest looking buddha image complete with full make-up.

I liked most the beautifully crafted robe with glass work details, on its feet, a sutra of some sort - as in Thailand and Tibet, Buddhism here is corrupted by big bucks - but their night life is still tame without the sleaze of Thailand's

Left - ceiling details. The Burmese do beautiful fine art work. It was clear from what I saw at the lacquer factory, their jade, marble and woodcarving workshops and their wonderful tapestries and embroideries, that these are a truly creative artistic people. On the right, a group of Korean Buddhists. It was a refreshing change to see Koreans chanting the sutras instead of a fanatical Christian group on their endless retreats in Singapore and Batam Island

There are 7 such altars for the 7 days of the week. This was a photo opportunity - bathe the naga (dragon) that guards and protects those born on the 6th day.

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The entrance to the Ananda Temple (1090) is guarded by 2 deities. One look tells me there's no mistake about their very Hindu eyes, dress and headgear. It seems the king of that period had close ties with Indian kings and merchants...........

More golden monstrosities - there are several buddha images in the Ananda Temple, many were small, simple ones rebuilt into huge golden ones, the common excuse was, they were badly damaged after earthquakes!

Left, wall niches, each housing a buddha image in different hand mudras. Right, a huge solid teak carved door. Many older pagodas have arched ceilings and remind me of cathedrals, like this one here. Lest we forget, Buddhism is older than Christianity.....

The Ananda Temple in Bagan (below) - the old and the new.........

Looking like some gothic medieval castle........

Bagan - in the distance, relics of pagodas & stupas (right)

Those closer to this tower looked new (below).

Myanmar had applied for Unesco World Heritage Site status for Bagan but was rejected due to 'too much tampering' with the buildings. I agree for it was quite obvious in the buildings I saw.

Bagan - pagodas & stupa relics are scattered across a 42sq km plain that includes 1000's of sites. Quite a few looked recent....

They 'plant' stupas here the way we plant trees in Singapore!

Umin Thounze Monastery on Myanmar Hill, Sagaing, where we saw the sun set over Mandalay. The most attractive feature of this place was the glass work which covered almost every inch of the walls and pillars

Kuthodaw Pagoda, Mandalay

........there are 729 of these Pitaka pagodas (right), each housing a marble slab......

........on which is inscribed the entire Buddhist canon. (right). The language used is Pali, this place is best known as a center for Buddhist studies.....

The Golden Palace Monastery - Shwe nan daw Kyaung - is older than most of the rest I saw, being carved entirely out of wood. Known as Mandalay Palace before, it's now a monastery but I did'nt see many monks.

The Mahamuni Temple is decadent. The layers of gold leaf stuck on this Buddha image over many years is 2 tons worth of gold, so much so, the image is out of shape. Talk about obesity...It's in the cities of Yangon and Mandalay that such ostentatious wealth is displayed for that's where the business people are, outside of these cities there's a lot less of such mousetraps.

U Bein bridge, outside Mandalay, is the longest teakwood bridge in the world, spanning Taungthaman Lake. Like the Tonle Sap of Cambodia, (Post 93) this is a floodplain - farmers till the land in summer and during the monsoons the same farmers become fishermen when the land around the bridge is flooded by the Ayeyarwady River (the Irrawaddy)

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Feeding time at Mahagandayon Monastery, Amarapura, Mandalay. It houses more than a 1000 monks. This is a daily ritual. Donors are local business people and wealthy families. Many are Sri Lankans running businesses here. The Sri Lankans have a long tradition of trading and religious ties with Myanmar.

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These are clay water pots for drinking water (left). They're covered in moss. They must be quite old but the sieve hanging there says 'New'! Such pots are seen everywhere and it's for community use.

On the right are snowmen in a public park, which was been decorated for the coming holiday season...

Myanmar's been quite a surprise. They have everything here. Their supermarkets are well stocked. There's personal freedom. It's clean and green and safe. Eating places are full of locals. They aren't doing badly. Not having political freedom is an issue only to the Americans it appears.....

I'm glad I'm visiting before the country opens up fully to foreign investments. Very soon there will be fancy condos, industrial parks, megamalls and traffic jams. And of course, Christian groups looking to 'invest' too.

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The making of lacquerware. I have to record this for posterity as I fear this will vanish once the country opens up more and more. Left, Start with very thin, pliable bamboo strips to weave into a bowl or plate. Horsehair is interwoven into some models for a more rustic, ethnic raw look (right). These will have little or no gold leaf on them but are equally beautiful

Resin is applied before several layers of lacquer are painted over that.

Designs are scratched on to the pieces. Others are painted on. It's a labourious process with multiple steps.

Gold leaf being applied on a tray and the final step is to wash away any excess gold. The water is passed through a sieve and the excess gold is recycled.

Manual labour - they beat the gold leaf to a flat tissue. Many layers of gold leaf is packed between deer skin and it's beaten till they're extremely thin. Gold must be cheap here as a thick wad of these tissues sell for so little. The locals must buy lots as they stick it on nearly every inch of their buddha images.

The powder used on their faces (thanaka) come from the juice of these branches. It's an all-purpose sunblock and mosquito repellant, cosmetic all-in-one obtained by grinding one end mixed with a little water on a grinding stone. It felt cool on my face.

These marionettes have a strong Javanese influence in their costumes but it's probably very typically Myanmar. Some may say it's more Thai. It's hard to tell what with the close links amongst peoples in the region back in the old days.

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Long before I came across this quote from Osho, I had realised this. When I started this journal in 2004, under its title I included - A Traveller is but a Pilgrim on a Quest.

We go out as tourists and gradually become travellers. Traveller eventually becomes a seeker. Travelling is essential to one's inner journey. Travelling teaches that which no classroom or the four walls of a house can teach..........Osho

I'm an invitation to take a courageous jump into the Ocean of Life. Lose yourself for that is the only way to find yourself - Osho, The Invitation

100. THE SWASTIKA - Sanskrit - SVASTIKA

2011-09-26T21:30:00.208+08:00

Being a universal symbol, the swastika cross is present in the symbol of the theosophical movement

a shrine in Nepal

Mdm. Helena Blavatsky (post 95: The Theosophical Society) had this to say on the Swastika in her Theosophical tome The Secret Doctrine:

“Few world-symbols are more pregnant with real occult meaning than the Swastika.

It is symbolized by the figure 6, for, like that figure, it points in its concrete imagery, as the ideograph of the number does, to the Zenith and the Nadir, to North, South, West and East - one finds the unit everywhere, and that unit reflected in all and every unit.

It is the emblem of the activity of Fohat,* of the continual revolution of the ‘wheels,’ (the Dharma wheel (left) - the Natural Cycle of the Law of Life)) and of the Four Elements, the ‘Sacred Four’ in their mystical and cosmic meaning, further, its four arms, bent at right angles, are intimately related, as shown elsewhere, to the Pythagorean and Hermetic scales. For one initiated into the mysteries of the meaning of the Swastika, can trace on it, with mathematical precision, the evolution of the Cosmos and the whole period of Sandhya (twilight)"

*FOHAT

"The essence of cosmic electricity. An occult Tibetan term for primordial light ( Daivi-prakriti ) and in the universe of manifestation the ever-present electrical energy and ceaseless destructive and formative power. Esoterically, it is the same, Fohat being the universal propelling Vital Force, at once the propeller and the resultant." — Theosophical Glossary, p. 121

The representations of Buddha with the Swastika cross on his chest, being called the ‘Seal of the Heart’ are well-known.

The swastika is also present in many ancient Christian relics. About its universality, Mdm. Blavatsky states: “ The Egyptian cross, or tau (left, below) the Jaina cross or Svastika (right), and the Christian cross have all the same meaning.”

Bahai temple

Balinese temple

a temple (L) in Taiwan with the esoteric symbols of the Swastica and the Dharma wheel - the radiating points of the wheel symbolises the noble 8-fold path as taught by the Buddha

the Swastika is a symbol of cosmic evolution, an image represented in many temples in India, Tibet, China and other countries with Hindu and Buddhist traditions. It is the very symbol of Esoteric Buddhism.

Over the years, the meanings and significance of many esoteric symbols (post 98: Ida & Pingala) have been blurred or erased from our consciousness often by those who've hijacked these symbols and made it their own - after Hitler, the Swastika became associated with everything negative (the work of Jews, no doubt, Christians and other clerics)

Despite these facts, or maybe because of them, Christian missionaries did their utmost to classify the swastika as 'diabolical', in an attempt to destroy one of the oldest sacred symbols, which is also the origin of 'their' own Christian cross. Yet to honestly recognise the evolution of the cross as a symbol would be like accepting that Christianity illegitimately adopted religious images belonging to much earlier traditions.

The crimes committed since the 3rd and 4th century by Christian fanatics, and later by the Jesuits from the 16th century were, in a sense, intensified in the 1st decades of the 20th century by Nazi and fascist regimes.

'Christian' authoritarianism has submitted and persecuted Christian nations and tried to suppress the mystical and authentic Christianity while also making war on other religions. The same disrespect for life was adopted by the Nazis.

Accordingly, the Vatican gave implicit political support to nazism and fascism.

- in Singapore, is a SAP (Special Assistance Plan) school for students strong in the Mandarin and English languages.

The Red Swastika Society
is a voluntary association founded in China in 1922 as the philanthropic branch of the Daodeshe - Society of Dao and Virtue, a Taoist school, which than changed its name to Daoyuan. It was one of a number of new transnational world redemptive societies, drawing on examples such as the Red Cross, to build charitable institutions grounded in religions such as Buddhism and Taoism.

Generally, its mission was a broad based effort of philanthropy and moral education. It ran poorhouses, soup kitchens, hospitals and relief work at disaster sites.

Perhaps its most storied contact with history was its role in the Nanking Massacre. The rampage of the occupying Japanese forces through the city, left thousands dead in the streets. The Society stepped in to assist in burials. Records of these activities from the Society have provided important primary resources for research into the scale of the atrocity and the location of mass graves.

Although it seems to have been suppressed during the Maoist rule, the Red Swastika Society continues today as a religious organisation focused on charity. It has branches in areas of the Chinese diaspora with a HQ in Taiwan. Besides its charity work, the Society runs two schools in Hong Kong and one in Singapore.

99. THE FATHER, THE SON & THE HOLY GROSS

2011-08-06T19:47:00.022+08:00

See Post 36 - The New Colonialists

C is for Corruption
C is for Collusion

What more can I say?

Over the years, the International Herald Tribune, Far East Economic Review, Asian Wall Street Journal, Asiaweek, to name the bigger publications, have been sued for defamation by several Singapore Ministers. They won all cases and money awarded were given to charity. So they called our judiciary compliant. All these publications are Anglo Saxon.

They hate our guts......but they'll give their right arm to be able to live and work in Singapore.

Sarah Ferguson, former Duchess of York, made headlines around the world after she found herself in the middle of a notorious pay-for-access scandal. She was caught on hidden camera accepting money from a tabloid reporter posing as a business tycoon and portrayed as selling access to her former husband, Prince Andrew.

98. IDA and PINGALA

2011-05-28T15:47:00.082+08:00

See: Post 91: The Shiva-Shakti

I had this piece in draft when I received a forwarded mail on the Ida and Pingala which said it better than I did, so I've reproduced parts of it. The source was not stated in that mail.

These are the two main energy channels that run through the body. They carry the life force (qi or prana) to various parts through sub-channels. They can be likened to two main rivers supplying water through various tributaries.

These two main channels represent the two primary aspects of ourselves.

The polarities........

Ida	Pingala
Feminine	Masculine
Left Nostril	Right Nostril
Right Brain	Left Brain
Sleep	Wakefulness
Energy	Consciousness
Night	Day
Moon	Sun
Cool	Hot
Melody	Rhythm
Yin	Yang
Introversion	Extroversion
Inaction	Action
Shakti	Shiva

Normally, one of the two channels is dominant. The goal of Yoga is to equalize or balance their flow. This balance brings about meditation, mindful relaxation and good health. Imbalance promotes disease. (dis-ease)

There is a third channel that starts operating when the flows are equalized. This third channel is the Sushumna - the central shaft. Sushumna represents the balance between Ida and Pingala.

For example, Ida represents night while Pingala represents day. Sushumna represents the time between the two - dawn and twilight.

Twilight has special significance in Kundalini Yoga. The particular style of Sanskrit used in most of these related ancient texts is called "Sandhya Bhasha", or literally, the "Twilight Language".

Typically, Pingala dominates during the day, while Ida during night. Pingala produces wakefulness. To balance this, Ida must dominate during the night thereby producing sleep. If the balance is not there, health problems and diseases will follow.

During dawn and twilight, the flow changes from one to another. Therefore, briefly Sushumna starts operating. These are the best times for spiritual practices and meditation. Those who are sensitive can feel movements in the perineum and a natural proclivity to perform the Shambhavi Mudra (focus on the space between the eyebrows)

The Yogi maintains prolonged flow of Sushumna for most of the time. Great Yogis require very little sleep and turn out incredible amounts of work.

Smooth, efficient operation of Sushumna also reduces aging. Death and aging occur when prana withdraws its flow or is reduced in Ida or Pingala. If the flow of prana in these two channels can be stopped and forced into Sushumna, then the Yogi 'cheats death'.

The three main nadis (Ida, Pingala and Sushumna) are Sanskrit in origin.

The 2 snakes symbolise the kundalini or serpent-fire, when set in motion along those channels, while the wings typify the power of conscious flight through higher planes which the development of that fire confers.

In a certain bible story, the snake was depicted literally and given a bad name as symbolic of satan the devil when what it tried to depict was all of the above.

Kundalini means 'coil' signifying 'snake-like' for this energy does lie coiled up in the 'cave' that is the pelvic floor. During certain yogic practices, this energy is awakened and it rises crawling snake-like up and along the spine.

The Greeks 'hijacked' this and the symbol was widely used in Greek mythology, is depicted most often as the carduceus of Hermes, it was later adopted for use as the symbol for the healing arts and medical science.

It's interesting to note here that kung fu - so very Chinese - is Indian in origin. So too the various forms of martial arts traditional in South East Asian countries, in which the Indian martial arts form were fused with the indigenous martial arts and dance styles.

97. QUILIN

2011-05-20T19:20:00.058+08:00

To get to scenic Quilin, we had to fly into Nanning, the capital city of Guangxi Province. Nanning is a typical old Chinese city - grey, dusty looking, trying hard to be another typical new Chinese city, with spanking, shiny new malls and 'obiang' condos for the newly rich.
For a long time under Communism, the country has had frugal and practical ways. Their buildings were rectangular white washed blocks, very little new or modern developments of any kind were allowed or encouraged. Now, with the country opened to the world and the mighty tourist dollar, practically every Chinese city is in a hurry to erect new shiny buildings.
Their 'old' temple buildings have all had new coats of paint on the carved roofs which are too bright and fresh to look 'old'.
Only the natural scenic countrysides are worth visiting, particularly the caves, waterfalls, mountain scenes and such for they can't do much to 'develop' these places. Such sites are more often than not, miles away and might be prone to quakes. I will need to be more selective about where I will go next time in China.

Detian Waterfall, about 4 hours by road from Nanning. It's a huge 3 tier waterfall which merges with Banyue Waterfall of Vietnam. North Vietnam is just across this shallow creek which acts as the border between the 2 countries. The Vietnamese move freely around this area and have stalls selling souvenir items on the Chinese side. They operate the rafts (below) which ferry tourists close to the Falls.

Dream of Lijiang (below)
This ethereal production conceptualised and produced by an award winning Chinese film maker best known for his lavish sets, deep rich colours and casts of thousands. It was brilliant. Performed from boats and possibly platforms just under the water surface, it had as its backdrop, the limestone cliffs Guilin is best known for.
This outdoor performance went on despite a drizzle and we were provided with a disposable raincoat with hood. It was early Spring and it dripped everyday for the 4 days we were in Guilin which made it quite chilly.

Cormorants fishing is now put on as a show for tourists.

This Elephant Trunk Hill has become quite iconic but somehow, looking hard at it, it looks more man-made. This place is a narrow river not some open ocean where the rock might be subjected to endless battering from the waves and very strong winds. The opening was too perfect, too smooth......ah well.........

China's public toilets have an open-door policy.....part of the cultural experience.

see: post 62: China - Here I come!

Wuxi water village, Ziangnan, on an earlier visit

96. BABA

2011-05-10T09:26:00.031+08:00

Baba's appearance is unique. He's easily recognisable even to those who do not know him well. This is an old pic, even in his 80's, his hair has never turned grey, never bald, just got thinner. I could recognise him when in my 20's after briefly setting eyes on him for the first time as a young girl of 10 when I looked through a classmate's ring (Post 9)

Baba is most often seen in an orange robe - orange is the colour of the chakra at the solar plexus that controls emotions. Emotions has been the bane of many, those strong and weak, male or female, young and old. Baba has many discourses on control of one's emotions and moods.

Link: Post 9 - Sathya Sai Baba

Baba is gone from the physical plane but I know he's not 'gone'. When Paramahansa Yogananda came into my consciousness in 1998 (Post 4 - The Journey Continues), he had been 'gone' from the physical plane since 1952. When I found my way to Osho's ashram in 2001, he had been 'gone' since 1990 (Post 5: My Masters ). When I was led to the Theosophical Society in Singapore (Post: 94), the 2 Masters associated with it were 'gone' for more than a century.

Baba's detractors are totally ignorant about him. They criticise because they fear him, his power and his influence. So many millions all over the world can't all been duped by 1 man, many of whom are intelligent thinking folks. He did only good, he dose'nt need sex or money - he's way beyond that. His legacy is there for all to see. For those of us who have spent time in his ashrams, been to the schools and hospitals he set up, been to the villages where his Trust had put in place a water project to bring running water to villagers in and around Baba's home town, all unsolicited donations were put to good use in the service of others. Education up to university level is free. Medical care, including major surgery is free. The schools and hospitals are manned by volunteers from all over the world.

Absolutely nobody pays tithes here, nor in any Sai centers in Singapore. No donation boxes are placed anywhere throughout any of his ashrams. All unsolicited donations are handled by the State Bank of India, which has a small office inside the ashrams. Donors are required to fill in their full personal particulars, show their passports or driver's license, tick what they want their donations used for - education, medical care, water project, feed the poor, housing.
The 4x I've stayed in his ashrams in 3 different locations, I met people from all over the world, some from places I never expected - atheist Russia, Catholic South America, Muslim Iran and Indonesia. When we do talk, the usual question is 'What brings you here?' For many, it's a loooong way to travel and rough it out in uncomfortable conditions.

I once had a chat with a Malaysian Indian man who told me that he's a chain smoker and in the quiet afternoons he would have some puffs in the dorm when nobody's around. On one such afternoon, when he pulled out his matchbox from his pocket, he found the full box empty of all matchsticks.

2 young Aussie males would pop out of the ashram for their evening meals instead of dining inside the ashram where the food is recommended by Baba for being satvic. They could smoke and drink in the eateries outside. During morning darshan, Baba would stroll among his devotees in the huge mandir. He stopped at these 2 young men seated on the mandir floor to ask if they had enjoyed their beer 'last night'.

A man from Sao Paulo, Brazil, related how he got to discover Baba whom he had never seen or heard of before.
In his house one night, he was writing at his desk under a table lamp. The rest of the large room was not lit. In dim lighting, he saw this person in an orange robe smiling at him. In a panic, he called the police to report of an Indian thief in his house. (he meant a Sth American tribal native).

When driving in the streets of Sao Paulo, he was diverted into a lane by bad traffic where he came across Baba's picture outside a building, a Sai Center. The face and smile was unmistakable. He went in to check out the place and found out who this 'Indian thief' really is. He made immediate plans to travel to India.

On the mandir floor, devotees sit on designated places leaving a path for Baba to walk among them. Baba veered away from this path and cut through the devotees who made way for him. He stopped at where this Brazilian man sat at the far end of the mandir and said to him, 'You've come - you have a very nice house!'

Baba has leveraged on those who are in a position to serve others through their wealth, influence and power. He's able to see that they have it in them at a deeper Soul level to serve with love. Such devotees went on to establish charitable Foundations in which they work tirelessly to help large groups of people, not just a handful of individuals or small groups.

Although physically in India, Baba has been experienced by many people from all over the world. My very own phenomena with Baba took place in Singapore. (Post 9). The phenomena I've read about in spiritual literature pertaining to evolved souls isn't just book knowledge, I know it's for real and such Beings walk among us. I'm at peace with myself, secure in the knowledge that I've had the chance to sit at the feet of a Master.

Love All Serve All - Baba

95. THE THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY

2011-04-30T21:31:00.134+08:00

Suburb of Adyar, Madras

After a 3 day sojourn in Pondicherry (Post 94), the group headed to Madras for the 135th International Convention of The Theosophical Society (TS), the purpose of my 11th foray to India. I last attended such a gathering in year 2k.

The TS holds a special place in my heart. Almost 15 years ago when I got really earnest in my research on the purpose of existence, I read a book on Baba, given to me by a devotee I had just met at a Sai center. It was written by an Australian devotee in which he related his personal encounters with Baba. In the book he mentioned in just 1 sentence, the TS, in which he was a member and he was in Adyar, Madras, to attend a convention before heading to visit Baba. I gathered the TS was a spiritual organisation but made no attempt to find out more.

That same period in time, as I flipped through the day's papers, a very small ad caught my eye - The Singapore Lodge Theosophical Society was conducting its 1st basic Theosophy course, initiated by it's newly elected Committee. I was most surprised that a Lodge exists in Singapore and has been for more than a 100 years. If I hadn't read that book I wouldn't know this Society's name. Intuition told me Baba was pointing me to a direction.

Theosophy resonated with me - it was esoteric science, it was spiritual science, it was profound, it was abstruse, it blew my mind.

As a new member, I explored its library. I discovered that behind this Society were 2 Indo-Himalayan Masters, Kootumi and Morya, who had the task of bringing the knowledge of Theosophy to westerners. Their conduit was a Russian woman, Helena Blavatsky. Together with some western founders, they had the unenviable task of bringing forth this precious Knowledge to many Doubting Thomases at a time in 18th Century very Christian England, Europe and America when people were highly prejudiced, egotistical and bigoted towards women (and a Russian woman at that) and what they assumed, were 2 'dark skinned' Asian 'barbarians' living in some mountains who never showed their faces.

I've been a member 10 years now and am convinced my source of learning is derived from Vedic science and my Teachers are all from the Indo-Himalayan region - as related in earlier posts.

The Master Koothumi (l) and Master Morya (r)

The Adyar River - the International HQ of the TS sits by the banks of this river. The local government and developers are eyeing this property in the suburbs of Madras. Across the river are new condos. The corridors of Leadbeater Chambers overlook this river, this is where we stayed.

St.Thomas Basilica - Thomas was one of the original apostles of Isa(Esa) (better known as Jesus). Following in the footsteps of his Teacher, he travelled into India and spent some time there. His original tomb lies beneath the foundations of this Basilica. For an original apostle of the Master Isa, not much or none is mentioned of him by churches and other Christian literature perhaps because of his link to India.

The Adyar museum has a wonderful collection of knick knacks associated with the Masters and the founders who have all spent extended time in Adyar, writing and researching. They were handpicked by the Masters working through Helena P. Blavatsky (HPB) and were all dedicated Light Workers.
The location of Adyar was picked by HPB who was led to the place very likely by the Masters.

The rooms have these few pieces of old furniture with really interesting shapely legs (above). They don't make 'em like this anymore! This daybed (right, below) has a writing bureau attached. The founders wrote tomes and more tomes and will definitely need to stretch out to rest!

HPB was Russian but she wrote volumes in English on such abstruse subjects as cosmology and cosmogenesis and other topics on metaphysical science and anthropogenesis, much of which I'm still trying to grasp. Such insight would have come only from those in the know.

Adyar's a huge sprawling estate pretty much left to grow organically. The flora and fauna is varied and diverse. It's like an oasis to come back to after braving the noisy sooty streets.

The compound has one of the largest, if not, perhaps, the oldest banyan tree in India, spreading out wide and continues to grow over the grounds. Our dining area is surrounded by its wonderful roots and branches spreading over us like a canopy.

My love affair with majestic old trees continue and thankfully the Indians know and understand them to not cut them down. They can be spooky too and movie makers make use of them for good scary effects. These 2 on the left look like something from Harry Potter.

At dusk when the birds return to roost, the bats (r) get ready to party

The convention was over Christmas 2010 and New Year's Day 2011. Here they prepare rangolis on the pavements wishing everyone a good year. The Indians use their right brains a lot, their many artforms show this. Their thinking can get complicated too....it gets exhausting sometimes when a 'yes' can mean 'no'.
The festivals of Christmas and New Year are not celebrated in a big way here, definitely not as commercialised but our group created our own party on the terrace rooftop of our chambers.

The glorious colours of the Holi festival. The Indians are not afraid of colours but when it comes to cars, they pick them in black or white.

Free range pigs (left, below) - the Indians do not eat pork and these roam free in the compound of an ashram we visited of another enlightened soul - Vallalar. He left his earthly existence by disappearing without a trace from a windowless room its door bolted from the outside. He had prophesied the coming of HPB and a co-worker Col. Henry Steel Olcott, who will work tirelessly to found the TS.

When the heat gets too much, just take a skinny dip (r)

Some colonial buildings in Madras used by the government or Indian Railways

After work this is the way to get a ride home. Water rationing (r). We take so very many things for granted and complain endlessly and just keep wanting more.

This kitsch castle is for a fair. Smack in front there's the inevitable face of a politician - this is the Indian way....or else

Chidambaram Temple, has 1600 years of history. It's complicated facade is testament once again to the right-brain complicated way of visualising artforms but it does produce beautiful art. It's the 2nd visit for me having been here 5 years before but I couldn't remember all the temples' names as I've been to so many. It seems only Hindus are allowed into the inner sanctum but a generous tip changed that and we were blessed many times over in an hour long ceremony and we left looking like Chinese Hindus complete with sashes and garlands and ash on our foreheads.

In Adyar, the laundry service was efficient, Just overnight, our washed and pressed clothes were returned in one piece folded neatly. Note the iron which works on charcoal power - so nostalgic - still working beautifully in such countries. I don't want to know where my clothes were washed, it could have been a river where they were beaten on the rocks, or some drain. There have been instances on other trips where my clothes were missing buttons after they got back from a dhoby.

Despite limited resources, buildings within the Adyar compound are well kept. On the right - Leadbeater Chambers were we stayed, just across from here is the dining room which is opened on all sides so it's very close to Nature. Ashrams which receive many foreign visitors are usually maintained, with toilets with seats and flush, a lift has been added here and lights along the footpaths.

Annie Besant lived here, it says. So did HPB, CW Leadbeater , Col. HS Olcott, J Krishnamurti, AP Sinnett - the main Workers of Light associated with the TS. Their tireless effort brought Ancient Wisdom to the world and particularly to westerners. The Masters Morya and Koothumi carried out their task and now watch quietly from behind the scene as Theosophy gains momentum, particularly in America.

Annie Besant

Alfred Percy Sinnett

Helena P Blavatsky & Col. Henry Steel Olcott

Charles Webster Leadbeater (r)

Jiddu Krishnamurti

The Path that leadeth on is lighted by 1 fire - the Light of daring burning in the heart ........ Helena P Blavatsky

94. PONDY & AUROVILLE - MY 11th TRIP

2011-03-20T18:07:00.228+08:00

Pondicherry is on the eastern seaboard of India. Excavations have revealed a Roman settlement existed 2000 years ago. This was the scene of many a battle fought between the British and the French. Pondy was the capital of French India before it attained independence in 1954. The French stayed 300 years.
It's a 2 and a 1/2hr drive south of Madras.

1 of their many fanciful Catholic churches

this is the way they package their cotton candy - is'nt it neat?

Pondicherry is best known for the ashram of Sri Aurobindo, a world teacher with a large following in Europe. His spiritual collaborator was known as The Mother, a woman of Turkish Egyptian ancestry. A yin-yang combination.

Aurobindo's philosophy is pretty much like Theosophy. There are no rituals, no compulsory meditation, no practices. It revolves around 1 principle - to surrender to the divine principle and be open to the divine force.

Indian 'French' gendarme

Street scenes - leafy suburbs, wide boulevards, quiet for an Indian town....

Sri Aurobindo's Ashram

The Matrimandir in the commune Auroville, a township created as an experiment to celebrate unity in diversity. This golden globe is a place for quiet reflection and meditation and being late in the day, it was closed. I visited when it was under construction in year 2k (see. Post 36-The New Colonialists). The place was overrun by Caucasians either living or working there to build the place. It's now a large, lush and green commune but its inhabitants are tucked away among the greenery in their cottages. It would be interesting to see them and their homes because I sense those cottages are retirement homes to certain wealthy individuals. For such a small town with a small French population, The French has a consulate office here which handle small immigration matters. Perhaps, slowly but surely and legally too, the French have quietly 'colonised' Pondy again - through Auroville.

only in a former French colony will you find such colourful expression, in most Indian cities, car owners pick their cars in black or white

Love this window grille. It's nice that the Indians stick to their very own style of everything instead of having new modern westernised versions. It helps that the population's huge so there's lots of talent and there's no need to import talent from outside the country. China's like that too and both countries are proud of what their sons and daughters' produce in the areas of art, dance, music, movies, fashion, design and science...........

This Frenchified little town has names like Romain Rolland Library and Rue de la Marine. Their cops are gendarmes and locals carry names like Francois and Armand. Needless to say, there's a large Catholic population here.

The Aurobindo Ashram Publications has probably the largest selection of Aurobindo's books and tapes

Our hotel was rustic albeit a little rundown. The Bay of Bengal was right there and I was lulled to sleep by the crashing waves.

Early morning yoga and a walk along the beach was the ritual, after dinner it was an exchange of topics over tea and coffee. Absolutely nobody in the group of 30 drank nor smoked! So spiritual to keep the body temples so clean! To top it all, all meals were vegetarian. All Goody Two Shoes till our return to S'pore! But most did well......

My days are just packed..........

93. THE BOAT PEOPLE

2011-03-20T17:38:00.055+08:00

Link : Post 25 - Mother - As above, so below

Post 72 : Mother - Unconditional Love

The Tonle Sap Lake and her floodplains

The huge Tonle Sap lake is the largest inland freshwater lake in SEA. Tonle Sap is Khmer for 'large freshwater river'. There are 9 provinces that form part of the Tonle Sap UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. It is a combined lake and river system that is so special it can support at least 3 million people providing them an income and main food source.

What makes the ebb and flow of the Tonle Sap so spiritual is that for most of the year this lake is fairly small. During the monsoons, the Tonle Sap River flows into this lake connecting it with the Mekong, reversing its flow. Water is pushed up from the Mekong into the lake increasing its area and depth, flooding nearby fields and forests. This floodplain provides a perfect breeding ground for fish, making this area one of the most productive inland fisheries in the world. At the end of the rainy season, the flow reverses and the fish are carried downriver. The reversal of the river's flow also acts as a safety valve to prevent flooding further downstream.
During the dry season, the Tonle Sap Lake provides around 50% of the flow to the Mekong Delta in Vietnam.

This unusual flow changes direction twice a year. The portion that forms the lake expands and shrinks with the seasons. During Cambodia's dry season - Nov-May, the Tonle Sap drains into the Mekong River in Phnom Penh. When the heavy rains begin in June, The Tonle Sap backs up to form an enormous lake.

Left to her own devices, Mother Nature provides. Everything hums along in perfect harmony and rhythm until Man interferes. The building of high dams in Southern China and Laos has threatened this reverse flow and fish catches are down. I expect more damage to lives, livelihoods and the environment.

This annual rhythm in Cambodia, Vietnam, even Thailand, shows how very interconnected we all are, that what happens in one country affects very much countries nearby, even the world. That what takes place naturally in this region is the work of an intelligent unseen Power that provides and loves unconditionally and that we, the inhabitants on Her body only need to respect and appreciate her work with a thankful heart.

the area is home to many ethnic Vietnamese and Cham communities living in floating villages.
The Vietnamese boat people are an amazing bunch of humans - resilient, flexible, highly adaptable, clearly with strong minds and bodies.
Generations have lived this way. The Vietnam War ended nearly 50 years ago - they have fought the Chinese, French, Americans and none could obliterate the Vietnamese Tribe. (see post 37: Good Morning Vietnam!)
They have formed communities in countries nearby, others have made good in the West and in Australia and many have now returned to their ancestral land to contribute. But still others seem to enjoy their lives living in such boat communities - it's home to them and they go about their daily business the way landlubbers go about theirs.

Even a crocodile farm on a boat is possible where there's a restaurant selling its meat and small goods made from its skin.

These young 'uns are on their way to school, note how such communities are never obese

Can they swim? Maybe. Do they or their parents care? Maybe.

The Village School - on a boat of course....
By the side of their school on the river bank was their basketball court which was used by all.

French baguettes to go.........

With education and skills development, such people in the region will surpass Singaporeans. They are young, lean and hungry with great initiative and think out of the box all the time.

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes - Marcel Proust, French novelist

......For the mind, once stretched, can never go back to its original dimensions - Oliver Wendell Holmes

92. ANGKOR

2010-09-19T18:29:00.405+08:00

The French had called its former colonies of Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam - IndoChina - the thick forested 'borders' of nearby China and India would have merged into these colonies.

link: Post 68 - The Khmer Tragedy
Post 66 - Hard Day's Night

When Somerset Maugham referred to the old Raffles Hotel in Singapore as the 'legendary symbol for all the fables of the exotic East', he had not set eyes on Angkor Wat. This place took my breath away. Long have I waited for the right travel companion to appreciate Angkor for its spiritual beauty and meaning.
We quietly took in this place with our eyes and communed with it. There was no need to ask our guide many questions, it was all there.

Angkor Wat was initially a temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu. Only in the 14th or 15th century was it converted to a Theravada Buddhist temple....proving once again nothing is as it appears to be and not to believe everything we are told or read. We were not interested to ask how big (we knew it was big) or old (we knew it was old - 900 years) this complex is or who built it. Depending on who you ask, some say the 4-face huge sculpture is that of their Khmer king Suryavarman II, others say its Avalokitesvara, a female diety.
The word in Sanskrit literally is 'Lord who looks down' as in watching over them from his perch at the entrance into the temple ground. The Avalokitesvara is a bodhisattva who embodies the compassion of all Buddhas and is one of the more widely revered in mainstream Mahayana Buddhism.
The Chinese name for Avalokitesvara is GuanShiyin - is variably depicted as male or female and referred to as Guanyin (the Goddess of Mercy) in certain contexts.

In 2009, a news report from Malaysia reported an excavation site in 2 palm oil plantations in northern Kedah state (above). The ruins indicated it was part of the ancient Hindu kingdom of Bujang, which existed in the 3rd century AD, predating the Cambodian Angkor civilisation which flourished from the 12th -14th centuries. They were looking too for a port area as the site was near the sea which would reveal trading took place and influence came from India and China, who would have been the 2 main powers back then.

this puddle in the field becomes a huge lake during the rainy season

Angkor Wat is a miniature replica of the Universe in stone. The central tower rises symbolises the mythical mountain, Meru. Being Hindu in origin would mean this place was very likely built based on Vastu - Vedic feng shui - this complex must sit on an important energy center, a meridian point of Mother Earth's body.
Angkor Wat is the largest and most famous in this temple complex, by itself covering 2sq km in area. It's more than 900 years old. Made entirely of sandstone, it's architecture is uniquely Khmer with Indian cultural and aesthetic influences

The South Gate entrance to Bayon Temple

a river runs through it - civilisations located close to water develop quickly. The Khmer civilisation was way ahead of its time, Angkor Wat is testimony to that.

The Elephant Terrace (left, below), The Angkor Temple complex and surrounds

these stone pillars are intricately carved - nearly every inch of wall has some work done to it.
As with Thai folklore, the Apsaras - celestial dancers - are a big thing with the Cambodians. It's everywhere - on ancient temple carvings and modern arts and crafts and dances. Their people seem aware of the importance of the yin female energy and its place in creation and the role women play.
Those patriachal societies which suppress and control women and ill treat them are fearful of the power of women.
The Cambodians are a soft and gentle people. I can't understand why Pol Pot slaughtered his own people. It takes 1 powerful psycho to inflict lots of damage, sometimes it can be personal.

These bas-reliefs below cover thousands of feet of wall space. Many panels depict episodes in the lives of Hindu gods. These are probably the longest continuous bas-reliefs in the world.

There will be those who will look at their apsaras performances (below) as provincial but I think their props, costumes and sound system are unpretentious.

wood nymph - this little girl sits and swings from the roots creating her own plaything

Ta Prohm is enveloped by the giant roots of centuries-old trees.

these roots were made famous by the movie Lara Croft, Tomb Raider

Land taken from Mother Earth are cleared and built on by man. After man leaves, slowly but surely, Mother takes back what's hers and grows
over what man built

More steep steps, more like a series of perpendicular ledges that one climbs on all 4's to get to the top of Bakheng Hill, to view the sunset over Bakheng Temple.

This 7-headed Naga (above), guards the entrances to most of their temples. Naga is Sanskrit for Dragon and this same word is used in the Malay language and means the same.
'Wat' may be derived from the Sanskrit term 'Vata' or 'Vataka' which means a 'pavilion within an enclosure', whilst 'Angkor' is 'Nagara' (town or city). Angkor Wat could mean 'temple city' or 'city of temples'. Note: The Malay term for country is Negara......
The inside of Angkor Wat has several limestone and granite statues of the Buddha but I don't think they were originally there. Other than these, the steep climb up the stairs is not really worth the effort for those not inclined. Angkor Wat is best viewed from afar.

The arts and crafts are so similar to Thailand's that one may think its somewhere in Thailand. My guide tells me that he has visitors who were told by their Thai guides not to go to Cambodia as its a dangerous place to visit due to land mines. The Thais may see neighbouring Cambodia as competition to their tourism industry. Thailand and Cambodia are not the best of friends due to historical baggage. I'll venture to say it's snobbishness - that the Thais look at the Cambodians as their poorer country cousins, when not too long ago, the Thais were there too.

This quaint Cambodian 'English' sign is about a fish spa service.

Snippets
_______

Angkor Wat is just one of the many temples that make up the temple complex. The complex covers more than 400sq km in area, stretches out over 40 miles.
This was the capital of the ancient Khmer Empire. It's 308km north-west of today's capital, Phnom Penh.
After the decline of the Khmer Empire, the main inhabitants of Angkor Wat were Buddhist monks and the temple eventually came to be better known as a Buddhist temple. Today, it's uninhabited but swarmed by visitors.

No tribe howsoever insignificant and no nation howsoever mighty, occupies a foot of land that was not stolen - Mark Twain

20 years from now, you'll be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbour. Explore. Dream. Discover..........Mark Twain

91.THE SHIVA-SHAKTI - connecting the dots

2010-09-11T11:53:00.068+08:00

This is very often misunderstood and seized upon by those in organised religions to be something deviant and dirty....

As with mass worship dealing with the masses, it's hard to explain something that's esoteric when you can't feel, touch or see this 'Thing' one calls 'God' or 'Holy Spirit' or 'Chakras' or 'auras' etc........which can explain why organised religions have been so successful. Perhaps it's part of a Divine Plan to gather together the masses into believing that they better be good for there's a 'Big Brother' watching them and recording all their deeds, good and bad - far easier to be a follower. It's hard work being an earnest seeker what with the discipline involved in meditation, fasting, control of the senses, detachment.......

THE DIVINE COUPLE SHIVA-SHAKTI*
In the Tantric cosmology, the whole universe is perceived as being created, penetrated and sustained by two fundamental forces, which are permanently in a perfect, indestructible union. These forces or universal aspects are called Shiva and Shakti.
The tradition has associated to these principles a form, respectively that of a masculine deity and that of a feminine one. Accordingly, Shiva represents the constitutive elements of the universe, while Shakti is the dynamic potency, which makes these elements come to life and act.

From a metaphysical point of view, the divine couple Shiva-Shakti corresponds to two essential aspects of the One.........the masculine yang principle (Shiva), which represents the abiding aspect of God, and the feminine yin principle (Shakti), which represents its Energy, the Force which acts in the manifested world, life itself considered at a cosmic level.

From this point of view, Shakti represents the immanent aspect of the Divine, that is the act of active participation in the act of creation.
Maybe exactly this Tantric view of the Feminine in creation contributed to the orientation of the human being towards the active principles of the
universe, rather than towards those of pure transcendence.

The eternal and indestructible union between Shiva and Shakti gives birth to the whole Macrocosm in its stable, static aspect as well as in its dynamic one.

Thus, on one hand is presented the cosmic dance of Shakti on the lying body of Shiva, on the other, the 2 deities are pictured in tantric sexual union (Viparita-Maithuna). This is usually understood in western traditions that man is immobile while the woman, embracing him, assumes an active role during the sexual act.
The Tantrism envisages the cosmic evolution as a polarisation within the Supreme Being, which is 'God', the Unmanifested Absolute, in its two fundamental aspects: static and kinetic.

sea bean - l
sea coconut - r

Tantra symbolizes this aspect by comparing the couple Shiva and Shakti with a seed of grain (Chanaka). Such a seed is made up of two halves so closely linked that they seem one and one single cover covers them. Symbolically the two halves represent Shiva and Shakti, the cover represents Maya (the cosmic illusion). When the cover is on, the two halves are separated, but the cover goes off when the seed is about to germinate, unifying thus the two halves in one.

Symbol of the Tao & Taoism - the dynamic Force, constantly interacting with one another. This symbol represents the primal opposing but complementary forces found in all things in the Universe.

The yin-yang icon stands for the Universe composed of yin (feminine) and yang (masculine), which together in combination form a whole. The 2 spots indicate that each of the 2 energies at the highest stage of its realisation already contains the seed of, and is about to transform into its polar opposite. Yin-Yang represent 2 fundamental forces that create and harmonise the Universe by their interaction. The 2 polar energies, by their fluctuation and interaction, produce change - all things are brought about and come into being.

The 7 Major Chakras (Wheels in constant motion), their colours and governing Elements, their locations in the spiritual subtle body....

The Crown Chakra - Sahasrara. Element - Thought - top of the head

The Brow - Ajna. Element - Light - between the eyes

The 5th Visuddha. Throat area - Element - Sound

Anahata - The Heart region. Element - Air - between shoulder blades over the chest bone (sternum)

3rd Chakra The Manipura. Element - Fire - above navel

2nd Chakra - Svadhisthana. Element - Water - behind, just below the navel in the sacral region

The Base/Root Chakra - the Muladhara. Element - Earth - the pubic region

Apart from the 7 major chakras, there are 21 minor ones distributed throughout the body. They are at the points where the energy strands cross each other 14 times creating smaller vortices. Where the energy strands cross each other only 7 times these correspond to the acupuncture points of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

The Kundalini Serpent Fire....
....as the female energy rises from the Base or Root Chakra - the Muladhara - travels upwards to the Crown Chakra - the Sahasrara. Along the way, it passes through the other Chakras, vivifying them (pretty much like a train making stops at various stations). At the same time, the male energy enters the crown chakra and unites with its female counterpart.

This surge of divine energy travels in a spiral intertwining motion, like a dance, and is the 'marriage' of the yin and yang energies - the Shiva-Shakti. When it reaches the Crown Chakra, enlightenment takes place (Samadhi), described at times as 'thy whole body shall be full of light'

This is putting it all very simply and can only be experienced. So how does one tell the masses, where does one even begin? Seeking is hard work and all consuming, many will be called only a few will be chosen, the path is a solitary one and may take a lifetime - care to join me?

the 7 major chakras, front & back views

The sex energy in its transformed state becomes Love..... Osho

...The Kingdom of Heaven is within you...
Luke 17:20-21

'Be still like a Mountain and flow like a Great River' - Lao Tzu

'Be still and know that I am God' - Psalm 46:10

'One sees clearly only with the heart. What is essential is invisible to the eye' -
Antoine de Saint-Exupery (French author of The Little Prince)

Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?.....
1 Corinthians 3:16

I and the Father are one - John 10:30

Do not go into the garden of flowers O friend! Go not there. In your body is the garden of flowers. Take your seat on the 1000 petals of the lotus, and there, gaze on the infinite Beauty - Kabir

90. PHUKET

2010-08-01T18:43:00.102+08:00

I detest theme parks but I checked out Fantasea in Phuket with some boring fellow travellers to see what the fuss is about. The show was quite good, the Thai tourism people have honed tourist attractions to a fine art for the mass market as everything about this huge complex was highly commercialised and all about shopping.

The Thais never forget to inject their cultural and traditional dances and costumes, something they are proud of. This dance, the costumes and the accompanying music is almost 'Malay,' like a ronggeng.

The Malays in Malaysia may deny it but the Hindu influence is strong in their makeup. When I studied Malay as a second language in Malaysia, the early Malay language had words that were of Sanskrit origin. Because their language was so new, they had to come up with more words and these were increasingly from English. Malay brides still use henna tattoos on their hands and feet and it used to be they were proud of their shadow puppet cultural shows which depicted stories from the Ramayana. They used to have folklore characters told in stories they were proud of as 'Malay' until they decided those characters' names were too Sanskrit or Hindu and were deleted from their culture and books.

The Malays in Malacca intermarried with the early Chinese arrivals so too with the Portuguese who settled there. In those early days the population in old Malaya comprised many tribal peoples, sea gypsies were common in port towns and seaside communities. In the jungle clearings there were orang asli reservations - that name became an embarrassment to them and it was changed to bumiputras - sons of the soil - which basically means indigenous or aboriginals - so what's in a name? The DNA says it all....

This has been made to look like Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, I wondered why. The Thais and Cambodians are not exactly the best of friends. Are they saying that Cambodia is theirs? Would some time in the future, this place will be marketed as a genuine Thai ruin........there are some pretty savvy tourism brains in Thailand as I've seen what and how they've marketed very successfully the River Kwai bridge etc (Post 71) and their Tiger Monastery. (Post 70)

Another area that has made Thailand such a huge success in the cut throat tourism business - their girly bars, their transvestite shows, their sex trade. The Thais are terribly accepting of their very many lady boys, they see them as good for business and many work in the restaurants as waiters. Patong is chok-a-block with such bars and the girls patrol the streets. A large number of visitors are from the Middle East and they are there with their children - what an eye-opener this must be for them....

.....as for potential bombers, they must hate what they see as moral decay and corruption of the soul and businesses pandering to those who seek this.....

Phrom Tep Cape outside Phuket Town was lovely, my kind of scene. With so much natural beauty off their coasts, the tourism guys have their job cut out for them.
Poor little rich red dot Singapore has to spend millions constructing edifices to
attract the tourist dollar

For someone who dose'nt enjoy sun, sea and sand, I hopped on a speed boat on a field trip to check out 7 islands

The ancient rock formations were most interesting - encrusted with barnacles.

Canoeing through the channel takes one into a lagoon that was peaceful, cool and quiet. Butterflies flitted around my head, there were mudskippers on the mangroves. Despite the large number of visitors, the little critters were unafraid.

Like something from the Blue Lagoon - to get here, I left my boat and waded through a dark tunnel with a torchlight through ankle-deep water which at one point, reached my thighs. I had to be careful I don't cut my head on the sharp barnacles above and was wary of sea snakes and leeches but was assured it was safe...

Would hate to bump into this Swamp Thing in the channel........

For a long time, this piece of rock and the surrounding area was marketed as James Bond Island due to it being a film location.....

After that adventure, a massage and some fish spa was therapy for the soul - not for the ticklish.
They must starve the fish for they attacked my feet with gusto.

Phuket has changed drastically since my first visit. It's messier and crowded, bazaar shops spill over on to the beachside and close to some classy resort hotels, making security a problem.

It has lost its class, peace and quiet and it was no fun anymore to walk along the beach. The shops sell the same things, cheap copies of branded goods and cheaper tees and 'resortwear'.

The tourists, large numbers of middle age pot-belly white men and single younger white males with foul mouths, there for cheap booze, food and girls, drugs and ladyboys. Sigh....why do Thailand's beach resorts all go this way?

89. NEPAL

2010-05-17T21:19:00.238+08:00

I'm basically a democracy and right now I need to take a vote - to take in Nepal or not, what with the country's elections round the corner and Maoist Party supporters out in the streets. My vote was to go - so I approached Nepal the way I approach love and cooking - with reckless abandon.

The country's national flag shaped like it's many mountain peaks...........

Maoist Party supporters out in the street canversing for votes. They looked more like thugs. Shops shut to prevent these feral packs from demanding protection money from them. I'll say they were paid to create a buzz and fear, at the same time make some extras demanding protection money.
Traffic was disrupted and the police stood around looking on. The more aggressive 'street walkers' were armed with long wooden batons.

Breaking Dawn.........
(with a vampire like Edward Cullen, I'll gladly donate all my blood to him....)

The drive up to Nagarkot was worth it for its spectacular sunrise and
sunset Kodak moments.

I couldn't stop snapping, it was a moving spiritual experience.
Surely I must be on top of the world looking down at the very many peaks as far as the eye can see...

As I imagine it to be - from my many books on the lives of Masters I love - as they describe their abodes tucked away in Shigatze and Lhasa and surrounds.
I contemplated them quietly from the verandah of my room. It was dawn but the weather was pleasantly cool.

As I come down to Earth, I stopped to look on a cremation ceremony by the ghats of a terribly polluted Bagmati River with very little water, yet the cremated remains are dumped into the river which was barely flowing. I hope this changes during the wetter months. Here the body is undergoing a water ritual before the actual cremation. Nepal suffers from a chronic water shortage and water rationing is part of their people's lives for many years now.....but perhaps only for the ordinary folks.

The country earns millions from tourism but it dosen't look like the wealth is evenly distributed. It's poor are so terribly poor its heart wrenching to watch.

Patan Durbar Square and the Kathmandu Durbar Square.....
are World Heritage Sites and living open museums. They are large sprawling complexes of Hindu and Buddhist temples and shrines and palaces used by their Kings when this was still a kingdom.
Once again, I marvel at how ancient people create such huge monuments using simple tools and human labour. It's buildings and statues have form, shape and function and they didn't design all that on a computer.

Nepal's weather is so dry, the buildings remain well-preserved, even wooden structures are chiefly in their original condition............

Phewa Lake, Pokhara, is scenic and clean. I can't say the same of other waterways which were terribly polluted. It's a crying shame that so much natural beauty is spoilt by ignorant bad habits and neglect.

We dined in the cool outdoors in Pokhara, a lake in front of us and mountains all around us. Their currency is so small, we lived it up and were like Mrs. Merry Claus giving tips generously as their money wasn't much good back home. We shopped for gifts buying from the street vendors and little places selling local products.
We liked it that their shopkeepers were not pushy at all. Once again I pushed my luck drinking fruit juices from the roadside vendors but mercifully I survived Nepal.

Their shops carry products from their neighbours - Tibetan tangkas and jewellery, Kashmiri shawls, wood and stone carvings from India......

Boudhanath Stupa undergoing a makeover - Nepal has 4 UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Surrounded by hills, it is in the center of a natural mandala, a store of sacred energy - making that a meridian point of Mother Earth. The Ancients would have constructed this from Vaastu calculations. This place has become a Buddhist pilgrimage site and the Buddhism that has evolved is more Tibetan so the site has become a Little Tibet, full of Tibetan businesses and people. The Tibetans have truly become a misplaced people with large numbers building new communities in India and Nepal

Like the Indians the Nepalis are not afraid of colours. Their ethnic wares come in a riot of colours, their houses too...

By contrast, the smaller homes have zinc roofs held down by rocks as the winds can lift everything away....

Their shopkeepers have a sense of humour - I like this about them - not taking life too seriously - what will be will be.......

Their meals-on-wheels carts are kept clean and prettified

The Kathmandu Valley, where the population is concentrated and where they are protected from extreme weather conditions by a ring of mountains.

An orphanage and a government school next door with sparse facilities, right in the heart of the city. Teachers with their meagre wages come and go in as and when they feel like it, don't do their job - sounds a lot like India.

Their women's dress have evolved into a top with a batik sarong, chiefly from Indonesia. Apparently, the labels are than changed to a Singapore made label so as to fetch a higher price as that's associated with better quality.

Water rationing has been part and parcel of Nepali life for a very long time. Womenfolk and children fetch water at a distribution center during certain timings. Electricity is rationed day and night in hotels as well.

Villagers come into the city to seek employment. As in Singapore, such workers do jobs the locals don't want to do - as beasts of burden. Their lives would be a hard slog for so little wages.....

Nepalis think well of Singapore and Singaporeans. This was the impression I took with me after numerous chit-chats with those who came forward to ask many questions about working or studying in Singapore. When they hear we're from Singapore, they gather round to chat forgetting to sell us their wares nor try rip us off.

Life is a mystery - it can be lived, it can be known by living it. It is not a problem, it is a challenge. It is not a question, it is an adventure - Osho

88. KUCHING

2010-04-25T18:26:00.069+08:00

The East Malaysian state of Sarawak is huge so a revisit to its capital of Kuching would suffice as too much of one state would get boring, best to savour a little at a time.
As always, Mother produces the most beautiful flowers and these from the ginger family are representative of the state as it looks like the hornbill, the state bird. I didn't see any in a natural habitat so they're probably tucked away in some nature reserve, like their orangutangs and proboscis monkeys.

....... and Mother dresses her snake in equally colourful garments. This little guy crossed my path along this wooden bridge. Can't imagine there are ignorant folks who believe what they've been told - that any serpent-like creature is representative of the 'devil'. That would make the Creator 'evil' than.
These folks have never heard or experienced the kundalini serpent fire within them - they would change their mind about snakes if they did.
Ignorant blind leading ignorant blind.....can't help taking a swipe at them......because they could stomp on this little guy if it had crossed their path.

I like their cultural dances for its gorgeous costumes, good looking performers and best of all, the melodious strains of Malay ronggeng and keronchong music. This is now alien to today's Malay youths, even to those older than 40. In Singapore they are performed only by the Peranakan troupes.
Singapore's singing Idols may just make a killing by performing to such music from days of yore which will appeal to the older folks, not just the Malays. Trouble is, these youngsters may not be able to sing it the correct way.

The tourism body took some flak from its Indonesian counterpart for portraying ads with Balinese dances and that batik art is Malaysian in origin. At this performance, there was a ribbon dance long associated with the Chinese and there was no commentary saying so. So too, a traditional Filipino bamboo dance.

Kuching comes alive every year during the Rainforest Music Festival. The rest of the time its a sleepy little laidback hollow which I love as its just like my hometown which is now an awful messy city.

Sarawak, like many other South East Asian nations, have a large number of indigenous tribes who are today, assimilated with the Malays and Chinese and assorted others, chiefly Filipinos.

The tribes were at one time best known as fierce headhunters. At this longhouse, several old skulls were displayed to show how skulls of their victims were smoked

Sarawak was once ruled by the Brooke family - White Rajahs. There were some nice colonial buildings still standing which are sleepy museums with some dusty, sad looking exhibits which have seen better days

We say Istana, they say Astana - same same, but different!

What a typical longhouse looks like which can house several families. Like most Asians, folks here are communal. These 'show' longhouses become backpackers'
crash pads during the Music Festival.

This I suppose is what a typical interior would look like in a longhouse. Families would share everything, except maybe their partners due to the lack of privacy, but who knows? Tribal people of old were quite uninhibited........

Idylic, rustic village with homes on stilts

I really like my hotel. I thought I had booked into a guesthouse but it turned out to be a new boutique hotel converted from a school. It's nice not to have high expectations nor plan too hard or be too fastidious. The surprises that greet me have been pleasant.

My school in my home town looked a lot like this with classrooms on the ground floor and above.

The pavilion in the back is where all the action is during the Rainforest Music Festival. It looks almost Polynesian. Sarawak tribal art does look Polynesian. The tourism dollar is huge and tourism bodies everywhere keep inventing new stuff or converting new into old. Some countries have become really good at this.

87. THE RAINBOW CONNECTION

2010-02-27T12:48:00.039+08:00

See Post 79 - Being Peranakan

When Kermit the Frog croaked this tune in the Muppet Movie, it was a big hit, I thought it was corny than. But at a recent party with the Eurasian side of the family, several of whom had come from overseas, I saw a large group of them together in one place and saw that actually the world all over is getting more 'Eurasianised', in particular, countries with large migrant populations, Singapore being one.

Their food's great, they are musically inclined so their parties are full of entertainment, and of course, some have the looks that come with the 'mixture'.

Look who's coming for dinner or is it something the cat dragged in? Manicured nails? He calls it the 'emotive side' of a guy. He claims Adam Lambert or Glambert picked up this trend from him.

86. UBUD

2010-02-20T12:35:00.070+08:00

See: Post 35 Bali Hi!

Time again to touch base with Bali, this time to spend more time in Ubud. Kuta is like the commercial beachfront city, Ubud is rural with wide expanse of ricefields, mountains in the distance, creeks where the locals bath in - men and women, young and old, sans clothes with just their sarongs to dry themselves with, drape around them when they've finished and walk home.
The Balinese are open about nudity, it's part of their culture. It's perhaps this openness towards nudity and free love which irks their Muslims so much that they're moving into Bali, slowly but surely encroaching, colonising this Hindu majority island in order to dilute the Balinese population. This is my sense of the place after spending a few days exploring and 'feeling' the streets and surrounds. It dosen't help that large numbers of white settlers have chosen Ubud to be their playground. Many have homes and small businesses here. Many gather at the same watering holes day and night. Many call one another by first names, hug and mua each other.

Meals on wheels - it's nice to be spontaneous and live in the moment. Just like these locals stopping by for a quick bite. I tried the food, found it too salty, couldn't hold a hot bowl so parked myself at a drink store nearby to make use of their table. City slicker!

Monkey Forest (left) It's late in the afternoon so the zillions of monkeys are cooling off in the shade otherwise they'll be all over me. They scare me as one had previously grabbed my shades from my face and returned it in exchange for a packet of nuts offered by a vendor who knew exactly how to handle them. I think monkey and vendor work together - you scratch my back, I scratch yours! These guys are smart crooks, just like their cousins, the human mammal. The macaques confine themselves to certain areas and do not invade the towns but in Nth India, they've moved into the towns in very large numbers. They look too much like Haruman, so the need to respect their lives. The Chinese too have a Monkey God - gotta be a connection somewhere.....

Elephant Cave (right) - Pura Goa Gajah. Not much info on this place. Probably old temple or meditation hole, made 'holy' by the tourism people to bring in the crowds to offer prayers or whatever.....

Their women work, their men relax in the town pavilion. Above, left, this lady under that pile of greenery piled on her head, walks in the rain. Below, their men catch 40 winks, catch up on the gossip and TV news, on this community pavilion smack in the middle of this intersection.

They love their dogs, the Muslims don't, another thorn on their side - that these infidels are living in the largest Muslim nation in the world......must be unbearable to watch.

Pretty In Pink, decked with pearls. I showed her this pix I took of her, she said 'thank you.'

The ritual here is to stop at each spout, wash with a prayer - to clean, purify

A prayerful, peaceful people, quiet in their speech and manners. What's wrong with that? It's not about 'saving' other human beings or love of 'Allah', 'God' whatever - it's all about political Islam and political Christianity, about personalities and their egos.

Me and old trees - there's something about them. The Balinese feel the same way. They will have an altar to offer flowers and one may stop to offer prayers. It used to be the Malay Muslims did the same with a keramat or shrine at the foot of old trees. The Chinese would do likewise with a bodhi tree, offering incense and such but unfortunately, they would place a donation box as well. Old trees don't need maintenance, what's their excuse for the box - ah! the corruption of charities
Stonewalled! - this gorgeous wall has pebbles covering it forming a floral design - I love the idea, it's brilliant. Simple, cheap, creative. Now why can't people with their degrees come up with something like this on their computers? A brilliant computer exists in our heads, we don't tap it enough. Sometime perhaps that time will come when mankind's ready, meanwhile, we can create the software to help us along.

The Balinese versions of well-known Hindu gods.
Without a strong cultural ballast a society can produce brutes.

Such artistic, creative souls. Such fine detailed workmanship. Such proportion. Such form and function. I don't think the creators of these pieces learned this in uni, it comes from the very depths of the artist, the Creator - Us, You, I. I Am That.....

I like to bum through bazaars and market stalls. It's getting to the grassroots level to see and 'feel' its people and the place......
Sure a bomb can go off but heck. I've been to the Taj hotel in Bombay twice before, had tea there, browsed its excellent book shop and than, it got attacked in '08. I've been to that German bakery in Pune, had breakfast there, and it was attacked last week!

Candi Tebing Gunung Kawi

This place is in the bowels of the earth, it was a lot of steps down and back up. Supposedly constructed in the 11th Century by a Balinese king as a memoriam to himself and his lineage. Little is known about it. It's used now as a place for ceremonies and quiet reflection.

Makes me wonder, how many ancient places are there in the world in which little is known about its erection and the tourism people or local governments cook up some stories about it just to create some publicity and buzz to draw in the crowds and collect some entry fees and donations at the same time. So, we have a temple exhibiting a huge tooth claiming it to belong to Buddha, we have a Ganesha statue pouring forth milk and a Virgin Mary statue crying blood and .....and.......and.......

I spent a few days at this family-run guesthouse. The pavilion is a common feature of Balinese life. It's where family, friends and guests interact, have food and drinks, nap....
The owner of this place is a spry old man who works in his padi field in the mornings and in the evenings, as a healer. The massages are done on this pavilion with oils he makes himself.

My room was rustic and homely with just the basics. It was surrounded by lush vegetation with lots of insect and bird and gecko noises. The geckos must be large ones judging from the power of its calls - it actually says 'gecko'! That's how it got its name.

Rooms with a view - a pond in front of it and frogs in the night. It might be hard for city slickers to sleep in such a 'noisy' environment but nature noises never bother me, it's city noises like car horns, loud talking, loud music that makes me murderous. I'm ready to be a hermit.

The family has their own pavilion outside their bedrooms where they do their own thing.

.....and for a change, I lounge in style in Legian, like a true lounge lizard....Gecko!!

85. THE 'PEARL' OF THE ORIENT

2009-12-02T11:13:00.202+08:00

Link:

Post 64 - This Little Red Dot

Post 65 - North of the Border

Post 67 - Malacca Revisited

No idea why 'Pearl' was coined for Penang. There's no pearl industry. It was at one time also referred to as a sister city of Adelaide, Australia. You don't come across that any more. These would be romantic terms which the tourism people came up with for marketing purposes.

These are a few of the nicer rejuvenated old buildings I came across, many others have fallen into disrepair but there are ambitious plans to spruce up Georgetown, a trifle down-at-heels nowadays.

Penang was given to the British East India Co. in 1786 by the Sultan of Kedah in return for protection from Thai and Burmese insurgents.

A center of the tin-mining industry than (18th C), the region drew a mix of Indians from Sth India, Chinese from mainland China, Thais, Arabs and Europeans to its shores. Many stayed, creating an eclectic port city, pretty much like what took place in Malacca and Singapore.
The 3 collectively formed the Straits Settlements.

The island and its sheltered port were Britain's first possessions in SEA. It was declared a free port creating an influx of migrant labourers. Very quickly, Penang became a staging post for the opium trade between China and India, contributing to the coffers of the British East India Co., it's Government and their royal family.

The picturesque narrow streets has many tradespeople carrying out old family businesses - joss-stick makers, wooden clogs and shoe makers, embroiderers, coffee-roasters, curry powder mills.....all dying trades, very likely, these are the last generation.

Fort Cornwallis -
erected by a sea captain Francis Light when he landed, to keep an eye on the seafront. Talk about us being kiasu and kiasi - it's a colonial hangover.

More golden monstrosities - one Thai the other Burmese - everybody's getting into the act. These are of the more familiar sites of worship which have now become bigger, grander and fancier since I last saw them. As is the case elsewhere, such places are well supported by donations.

Eclectic Georgetown has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage site but the numerous Sino-Portuguese shop-fronts are in dire need of urban renewal and massive reconstruction work.
To carry that out on a large scale requires loads of money and expertise. From what I gather from their newspapers, they are so caught up with local and federal politics it may take a while before anyone can focus on getting that job done well. Would be interesting to see the changes 5 years from now.

'Judgement Day' who goes where......as depicted on the walls of this Taoist temple. I suppose its hard to explain to the masses about esoteric matters so all too often its depicted literally, with more placed on the form rather than the substance - whatever the religion.

The courtyards in traditional old Chinese homes have these atriums smack in the middle of the large house. It allows sun and rain in......sun, to light up the interior which can get dark in a large house with many walls and no electricity, and rain to cool the house. The floor's granite while the rest of the house was tiled, after the rains the granite absorbs the rainwater and cools the house in the process. The larger traditional old houses in China and Vietnam have always been constructed this way.
In South East Asia, traditional houses were built on stilts to keep the house cool and wild animals and floodwater out. Village, forest peoples sure were a smart lot....creative out of the box thinking came naturally - without higher education.

When all else fails, Magic Classes might just help to improve grades.....

It's not just Singapore and China with the problem of bad English on public signboards. They are quite hilarious.

Ancestor portraits and altars.......the old Chinese are into ancestral worship. In modern westernised societies when the younger lot of people switched to Christianity, the old folks are influenced into switching as well. I suspect many do so due to emotional blackmail.
Asians living in Asia allow a Westernised religion brainwash them into giving up their traditional and cultural practices and beliefs.
They are told it's 'satanic' to worship a piece of wood....that their practices are superstitious, ignorant and done out of fear. These sanctimonious prigs are out to colonise minds for organised religion is big money and bigger business which even Governments court. Where do the independent mega churches in Singapore park their millions? In diversified portfolios such as tobacco and alcohol companies? (why not?) Porn sites? (big money there) Manufacturers of weapons of war? (with Trijicon, the cat's already out of the bag) Money laundering activities? (only God knows)

Batu Feringgi Beach is quite nice. There are a good many highrise condos which have sprung up in and around the waterfront, catering to rich retirees from outside Malaysia.
Very soon, this place would be pretty built up dwarfing several homely, rustic hotels dotted around the coastline.

These are bats on the ceiling of a temple. When they're crawling around they can look quite odd, even creepy to some folks, but I think they're cute. It's nice to have Nature come so close.
In Singapore, exterminators would be called in immediately. There's a generation of young Singaporeans who know chickens, ducks, cows, from what they see in the supermarkets' chiller section or on the dining table. They would view bats as blood-sucking vampires to be feared.

These are gorgeous framed gold and silver wire-thread embroidery on silk and antique Peranakan shoes with the same sort of embroidery, not beaded. This supposedly Peranakan Museum is privately owned and has a hodge-podge collection of stuff which aren't Peranakan at all. I'm informed that in Penang they are not referred to as Peranakans but as Babas and Nyonyas. When asked why, the guide couldn't tell me

It's good to have a travel companion who's not afraid to eat at roadside stalls or sleep in spartan simple rooms although there've been occasions when we pampered ourselves with a night or two in a luxury resort