Uncle Harold was born today many, many years ago. Not quite so many years ago, our world was rocked with the explosion of the Challenger. Today, monks continue their March for Peace. I can only pray that they will receive a courteous and sincere welcome when they reach DC.
Because I can stick my head in the sand of “vacation”, I will continue… despite the ache in the pit of my stomach…
Today was our last full day in Hue. We turned in our laundry as we were walking out the door to go see one more temple, ok, maybe two. These two turned out to be monasteries actually.
First step: secure our driver for the day. That was easy, but determining where we wanted to go was not so simple because the nice lady at our hotel didn’t know we’d already been to the main tourist spots, and we wanted to go to the real, local places. We told her no more tombs, but instead a real pagoda. Nope, we’ve already been to The pagoda, we want a different one. We finally settled on Huyền Không Sơn Thượng Monastery, about 40 minutes outside of town, renowned for its fabulous landscape. It is a relatively newly built monastery with magnificent grounds. Justin and I took several hours exploring. This monastery belongs to Theravada Buddhism and was built 1989. The monetary is built on the side of a mountain in piney woods. There are many small ponds and lanterns and buddhas at every turn. There are lots of areas for sitting to meditate or to just take in the beauty of the surroundings. The monks have water lilies and orchids to go with the ferns and pines, cypress trees and so many more. It’s easy to imagine lay Buddhists and monks discussing the Buddha's teachings in this majestic space.
We even tried to sit and meditate. Watching the monks go about their routine made me wonder how do individuals end up in one monastery or another? Do they apply? Are they invited? Do their families need to pay exorbitant sums? I have all kinds of questions. And, I have all kinds of photographs, but I sure don’t know the name of the location.
The second stop was a spot we just happened to pass on the way home. When we asked our driver “what is that?”, he turned the corner and headed that way. Oh, another monetary. The monks were chanting as we entered the grounds. They had finished and were going about their chores as we walked around and explored. Again, taking in the space and relishing in the calm and peaceful respite amid the noise and chaos right on the other side of that masonry wall. This location, I know, was Chia Huyen Khong. What a nice bit of serendipity to just see this facility and have the time to stop… karma?
Dinner at Little Italy then home to pack. That feat was much easier this go round since we have an extra suitcase.
