The Pause Within The Great Pause

in Natural Medicine4 years ago (edited)

It is the year of the The Great Pause: arguably one of the greatest blessings enjoyed by humanity, only it's hard to see that if one dwells only on the personal, the planned, the material and the linear.

My 84 year old mother phrased it so well to me yesterday when she said, "I feel like I'm constantly waiting - sitting here waiting alone, but not really sure what I'm waiting for."

That's what pauses are for. To look within, question, look, feel, listen. To grope and grasp for that which will give meaning, or to simply stop groping and grasping frantically and to sit silently and wait as the gift rises in your awareness. Sometimes it takes a while to recogize it. Which is why you have to wait, and watch.

This weekend in Thailand, we have 2 official holidays to mark The Pause Within The Great Pause.

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Today, July 5th, is Asarnha Buja Day - a public holiday to mark the preaching of Siddhārtha Gautama's first sermon in Benares, India, over 2500 years ago when (it is believed) the doctrine of the Wheel of Life in Buddhist terms was given.

How do Thai people honour this day? They go to wats (temples), listen to the teachings of the Buddha preached by monks, and make offerings of large candles. To prepare for tomorrow, which is another Buddhist public holiday to mark Khao Pansa - the first day of the 3 month Buddhist Rains Retreat - the annual official seasonal Pause mandated in Theravada Buddhism.

What is Pansa? It's the 3 months Buddhist Rains Retreat where the Sangha mandate that all monks stay inside their temples, and learn-study-teach-preach. To wait out the intensity of the rains. As opposed to the rest of the year, where they wander the countryside, traditionally barefoot and living only on alms.

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Image Source

And why the candles? Let it be clear I'm talking LARGE candles which are donated to temples! Often 1-2 meters in height!

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Back in the day (only a generation ago!) when electricity in temples was unheard of, the candles were to help illumine the teachings, texts and books that the monks used during the dark days of the rainy season. And yes, it can be VERY dark!

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Incoming afternoon rains from my Chiang Mai window recently - temperature about 35C

In later years it has come to symbolize the illumination of the Dharma, and the journey to Enlightenment. And yes, every Thai temple will burn at least one large candle, 24/7, for the next 3 months. Many devout Buddhists abstain from alcohol and animal products during Pansa.

We are not temple goers, and as such we don't subscribe to a group of men proscribing how others should behave or what they should believe. Because that's not what the Buddha purportedly taught. After all, the Bodhi Tree, silence and solitude was more than enough for Gautama to reach Enlightenment.

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Bodhi tree in Anuradhapura, India Source

And yet this morning I felt encouraged and supported by the sound of monks chanting the sutras over the village PA at 5am. Not because I believe in or support organized state religions (I really, really don't!!) but because it feels right to be in a culture where pausing, meditation and spirituality are still honoured. Expected. Required.

There is no alcohol officially sold nationwide during the 2 days of Asarnha Buja and Khao Pansa and the official coleur de jour is white - the colour of the supplicant.

TempleWhites.jpgSource

There's a vibe in Chiang Mai, Thailand today that is meditative and reflective. It's incredibly quiet - can't hear anything except the sound of the birds. Later, this evening, our local temple will again broadcast the chanting of sutras and many people in our village will go.

WatDuangDee.jpgOur local temple, Wat Duang Dii, in Baan Rim Tai, Chiang Mai. At sunset.

Today I feel the immense value of The Pause Within The Great Pause. Of being expected to take downtime to wait, to watch and to observe whatever arises.

And new things WILL arise, ARE arising, like bamboo shoots in the tropical rains.

Bamboo Shoots.pngSource

BlissednBlessed. Paused.


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 4 years ago  

Ah! how wonderful to still have that honoring of meditation and spirituality - Your pretty hard pressed to find that over in America!

Yes, I imagine it would feel good to have that pause within the great pause - a time of reflection perhaps!
Thanks for sharing this, such a rich culture over there in Thailand!

That level of disconnect is why I can't-won't live in U-Canada -Australia-NZ or some European countries - life's too short and it is sooooo enriching and supportive to be in a place where spirituality is NORMAL.

Thanks so much for stopping by. 🙏

Enjoy the celebrations and the great pause. Nature is definitely loving it. As you mentioned we have to see the good in the bad and it is time to make time for ourselves and our loved ones during these challenging times.

I'm really seeing Covid as the Great Magnifying Glass - people are showing who they are and what matters to them. People are readjusting. The Great Pause has been wonderful. Cambodia's USD $3000 "deposit" is a bit of a shocker LOL and has had much discussion locally. LOL.

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That post was comforting and a great last thing to absorb before bed.

Warm wishes to you.

❤️🙏❤️ Hope you slept deeply and well.

wonder when we get to do the great sigh of relief when it's over 😉. Very nice post, I enjoyed this one. We are in the Philippines and we are hearing Thailand is pretty much getting back to normal. How is it there right now?

Hey - thanks for stopping by. :)

We're just gearing up for travel bubbles here in TH. 12 Chinese cities, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong Korea, Vietnam, Laos & Cambodia I THINK - all departure points with no community covid transmission for 30 days plus. Get a negative covid test prior to departure, use the tracing app and get a proper visa (no more VOA) and then retest on arrival at BKK or Samui - takes 90 mins. If you pass, no Quarantine. Tourists will be req to have USD $100,000 medical insurance coverage. Just in case. LOL. They're getting ready for August.

Locally people are hurting big time - entering the 5th month with no work and no income. I'm sure you know what that feels like in PH - and with no govt handouts.

Hanging in there. Optimistic but the future is no longer with white western travelers, methinks.

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Locally it's mostly normal. No Covid except from out-of-country arrivals, and they go straight into mandated govt controlled Q. Still have mandatory mask wearing in public and Track&Trace & hand sanitizer everywhere.

that's interesting. I'd not heard about the travel bubble that was being created. It's going to be very interesting to see what they do here. It's not really been handled well at all and to be honest the local community where we are have pretty much ignored all the rules and do what they want.

TH has done an ASTOUNDING job with Covid - considering we had 300,000 travelers here from Wuhan for CNY in January and were the first country to be blacklisted. The travel bubble is basically a reciprocal deal with countries who have it under control. I think TH supplies testing staff to the other country, to overcome the trust issue. Initially (August) they will allow only 1,000 people per day flying in. If Covid pops up in the travelers, they will adjust the plan. But x2 tests and thorough track and trace should sort it. Australia stupidly didn't mandate the test for returnees and now are thoroughly back to Square 1.

TH had a rough time economically with SARS and so we had a practice run. Everyone KNOWS pulling together to restart tourism is #1. Cos we have food queues still, all over the city - every day. 5 months of no money and no customers? Everyone is over it and happy to do what's needed. Mask wearing is #1.

thats really positive news the way they are handling it. Lets hope it will fade into the background with proper management over the coming months

Exactly. Hoping PH sees the TH leadership on this and you get your dive tours happening again soon. I very much would like to visit PH (never been) so please get it together!! LOL. Locally people are bitching a bit cos they have to raise standards a LOT for Asian customers, but there's plenty of them and they have cash to burn. I'm optimistic.

yep, it's best to stay as positive as possible. it is what it is and we have to make the best of it

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wow. Thanks @misterengagement :) thats pretty cool

After you collect or buy 1000 engagement tokens, you can start sharing them too. DEF it has had a great impact on the people who now comment meaningfully on my posts. And there's a sometimes follow-up upvote that comes too. Great project.

excellent. Thanks for that bit of info. I am really enjoying this whole platform. It's a really fertile environment and I've barely scratched the surface

Yes... the deeper and wider you go, the more it rewards you too. 😉

in many ways the quarantine has helped me do that. I was so busy with the dive shop i only had a little bit of time to post the occasional photo and stuff before. Now its revealing itself slowly slowly and i am really enjoying the whole platform. very interesting stuff

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Thank you!!! 😍 Much appreciated.

No problem my friend. You wrote a great post with beautiful photos.

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 4 years ago  

Beautiful. Since the beginning of this year Ive thought - wouldnt it be WONDERFUL if the world organised to entirely pause on rotation? Like we all had national days or weeks to PAUSE and BE. Get of the wheel entirely for a day kr two, or at least just sit and watch it spin and breath.