MEETING A BUDDHIST MONK

Young Buddhist monks (photo:Wikipedia)

Although much of Cambodia’s cultural heritage is decaying, one important part is thriving: Buddhism. Much like Vientiane, numerous Buddhist temples and monasteries, (wats) are all over Phnom Penh. There are more than I can visit, and they are grand. Cambodia may be a very poor country, but you’d never know it by looking at their Buddhist temples. They are far more elaborate and grandiose than those in neighboring Vietnam.

In recent years, many new Buddhist temples have been built, and old ones are being restored. The French may have brought Catholicism here, and the communists brought atheism, but Buddhism survived them all.

Tonight, a friend is introducing me to Cheuh, a 24 year old Khmer with a different view on life. Originally from Kampong Thom in the countryside, he has lived for years in Phnom Penh. Cheuh loves books, and has a real thirst for knowledge. He speaks a fair amount of English that he learned back in school. His occupation, is a common one in Cambodia.

Cheuh is a Buddhist monk, and he’s been one for ten years.

We’re meeting Cheuh at Wat Sarawan, a monastery and pagoda downtown. As we enter the living quarters, it resembles a dormitory. Curious monks look at me as I walk down the hall; once again I’m venturing where few white people go.

We walk in, and Cheuh gets up to shake my hand. Short like most Khmers, his head is shaved, and he wears the bright saffron orange robe that all monks wear. I already saw many more robes hanging out to dry on clotheslines in the hallway.

Buddhist temple on the Mekong River

Cheuh shares this small room with another monk. He invites me to sit on his small twin bed, while he sits across from me on his roommate's bed. He apologizes for the room’s size, but I say it’s no problem. This is about the size of the dorm room that I occupied for two years back in University. The shelves above his bed are loaded with books, in both Khmer and English.

As we chat, more monks gather in the doorway, curious about the tall foreign visitor. Many monks come from poor families; it’s likely they don’t understand my English. I ask Cheuh how many more monks live here in this large dormitory.

“Wat Sarawan have 200 (to) 250 monks,” he tells me.

Like all monks, 24 year old Cheuh leads a strict, celibate lifestyle. His is the monastic life, even more conservative than that of Catholic priests. Buddhist monks in Cambodia neither smoke, nor drink. They are not allowed to touch women at all, not even to shake their hands. If a Khmer woman hands a glass of water to a monk, it is common for her to place the glass on a plate first. This manner respectfully avoids physical contact.

Statues of Buddha in a temple (photo: Wikipedia)

“Is it difficult for you to lead a life, with no touching of women?” I ask curiously.

His answer to me is a bit evasive. “The rule,” he says, “I respect.”

Back when the Khmer Rouge were in Phnom Penh, Cheuh wasn’t here, but he knows all about it. “They don’t like the Buddhism,” he says of the radical communists, “they hate (it).”

Cheuh relayed to me how when the Khmer Rouge took over the city, they immediately invaded all the Wats. “They make the monk leave the pagoda,” he said, speaking of the forced exodus. “Go work in the field, feed the animal(s).”

The violently atheist Khmer Rouge targeted the wats, pagodas, and the monks too, aiming to eliminate all facets of Buddhism. 

“Some of the pagoda, they destroy,” Cheuh told me of those terrible days. “Some monk, they kill.”

But for Buddhists, everything is temporary. After the war ended and the Khmer Rouge were demobilized, many of their former fighters returned to their Buddhist faith. These killers had returned to the very religion, that they had once been ordered to destroy.

Like in Catholicism, I’m learning that forgiveness is also important in Buddhism. Among the world’s religions, Buddhists are certainly among the more tolerant that I’ve met. Cheuh and I briefly discuss other religions, and he says, “Buddhist, Catholic, Islamists, we can respect other religions.” Indeed.

A Buddhist spirit house

As it’s getting late, I thank Cheuh for his time, and take my leave. As I head for home, I ponder the simple, yet admirable life that Cheuh and other young monks are leading. Their life seems to be totally detached from the rat race that us westerners know too well. Beyond his books he has few possessions, yet he truly seems to be content. Just by speaking with Cheuh, I felt a sense of calm, an aura of peace.

So much of what I’ve heard about Cambodia before I had came here was negative, and I’m pleased that I’ve seen a new side of the Khmer spirit. The chaos of the capital and the government corruption may have blinded me during my days here. True, I'd seen corrupt policemen with AK-47's, shaking down street vendors. I’d also seen politicians with too much power shut down entire streets, simply so that their motorcades could pass at high speed. They are all chasing the dollar, all pursuing more power.

With all these pessimistic scenes, I had forgotten that most Cambodians don’t live solely for those worldly, empty pursuits. The tenets of Buddhism remain a part of that honorable culture.

It’s been refreshing to get to know Cheuh tonight. He represents the real spirit of Cambodia, far more than those in power.

SHOCKING BUDDHIST PROTEST

The auto which drove monk Thich Quang Duc to Saigon

I’ve headed upriver from downtown Hue, and gone to a quieter corner of this former royal capital. Today I’m exploring a calmer, more relaxed place. I’m wandering through a Buddhist complex known as the Thien Mu Pagoda, and I’m enjoying the serenity. No matter what your religion is, everyone will agree that a pagoda is a place of peace.

Hue has always been a prestigious center of learning, and this tradition of education carried over into the pagodas, where novice monks still learn the ways of Buddhism. Thien Mu means ‘heavenly lady’, and the complex was established way back in 1601. The pagoda overlooking the slowly flowing Perfume River is impressive in itself. At seven stories in height, it’s one of Vietnam’s tallest.

I meander past the monastery, where the monks in their robes are going about their simple daily tasks of maintaining the complex. They clean, cook, study and meditate.

As I walk past a side building in the rear, I’m puzzled to see an old parked car through open doors. This is an odd place for a garage. Inside is an old blue Austin sedan that hasn’t been driven in ages. Strangely, a white and brown rabbit is seated underneath the old auto. This car is connected to this pagoda, and its place in history. A sign in front of it reads:

“A relic. In this car The Most Venerable Thich Quang Duc went from An Quang Pagoda to the intersection of Phan dinh Phung street and Le van Duyet street on June 11, 1963 in Saigon. As soon as he got out of the car, The Most Venerable sat down in the lotus position and burnt himself to death to protest against the Ngo dinh Diem regime’s policies of discriminating against Buddhists and violating religious freedom.”

Unlike most Vietnamese, the dictator Diem wasn’t Buddhist, he was Catholic. But Catholics and Buddhists alike feared him, since he ruled South Vietnam with an iron fist. With Diem oppressing Buddhists, Thich Quang Duc and several other Vietnamese monks committed suicide in this way as an act of protest. In recent years, several Buddhist monks in Tibet have died in this shocking manner, as they protest against the Chinese government.

A rabbit sits underneath the old car

On the wall behind the car, is a copy of the famous photo of the monk’s death,  seen in newspapers around the world. Seated on a Saigon street, the dying monk is surrounded by gasoline fed flames. In the background behind him, is the car parked here in front of me. Witnesses said that as Thich Quang Duc was consumed by the flames, he never cried out at all. To prepare himself for this final ordeal, he had been meditating for weeks.

Fast forward to 1993, and a Vietnamese man killed himself in the same way near  this very pagoda. After he set himself on fire, he chanted the word, “Buddha”. Although the earlier monks who had died from self-immolation were protesting the government, it isn’t publicly known what the later immitator was protesting.

After this tragic incident, the communist government later responded in the same way that Diem’s dictatorship had before it. They arrested monks, even though this time the man who had killed himself wasn’t a monk. So much for freedom of religion granted in the current constitution.

Leaving the quiet pagoda, I walk down the steps of the nearby riverbank, and board a dragon boat that takes me back into Hue’s city center.
 
Shadows lengthen, and I take a late afternoon stroll. Walking past a bookstore, I remember Hue is a college town. I’m wondering how much censorship I will find when it comes to the written word, so I head inside.

Dinner drink. Hue Beer, in a Coke glass, in an 'Italian' restaurant?

It’s a modern looking bookstore, and I’m surprised to find that there are plenty of western books. The largest selection is for Vietnamese translations of software books for popular PC programs.

Given the country’s economic liberalization, there are also plenty of books lining the shelves related to business and capitalism. On the shelves are biographies of Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford, and Bill Gates. There are no less than six books  written by, or about, Donald Trump. There's the self-help book, “7 Habits of Highly Effective People.” There’s no reactionary literature here, the only book related to politics is by Barack Obama.

After I grab some dinner, I head back down to the riverfront. Some street vendors are selling their wares, and have laid out war relic merchandise by the sidewalk. There are dog tags, pins, mess kits, and canteens. Just like I saw while shopping in Saigon-HCMC, most of what I see here are fakes.

One thing that isn’t fake, is an old concrete bunker that I approach. This pillbox shaped fortification was used during the war to guard this end of the

US military insignia and dog tags for sale; most are fakes

bridge. It’s present use is the oddest I’ve seen yet for an old military fortification. As I watch, a street vendor unlocks the bunker door, and carries several cages inside filled with live birds. This may not be a proper aviary, but for this street seller, it will do for pet bird storage.

The skies grow darker as I continue during my evening walk, and I get a better view of Trang Tien Bridge. It’s an older engineering style, with steel girders arching over each span like six great camel humps. Now that its night time, the bridge is lighted beautifully, and each section has separate lights that change colors. They go from purple, to blue, to green, to yellow, to white, and back to purple again. It creates a visual symphony of color.

Passing a university, I take a side path into a riverside park. It’s more of an art park really, with many sculptures of various styles. Thankfully, none of the sculptures are political for a change. Like the colored bridge, this is art for art’s sake.

Old military 'pillbox' bunker from the war years, used today for bird storage!

An occasional boat floats down the channel before me. It’s dark now, and this locale has a dreamy view of the riverside at night. As usual, young couples have gathered in the park, taking advantage of the romantic view. 

In the park the lighting is dim, but the opposite river bank is well lit with an arrangement of neon signs, some of them several stories tall. They are all for Vietnamese companies: Agribank, Co-op Mart, Kuda Beer and Viettel Mobile. I remember seeing communist party billboards in town, but they simply can’t compete with all of this bright capitalist neon.

I’m leaving this former capital soon, since I’ll be heading north to the former De-militarized Zone, but I’m wishing that I could stay here and enjoy the slow pace of Hue just a little while longer.

Hue has had a turbulent past, and endured destruction by the French, by the communists, and by the Americans. It has been rebuilt, and reborn as a city of art,  education, and culture. It has

Colorful incense for sale in Hue, used for Buddhist ceremonies

regained its position as one of Vietnam’s most beautiful cities. It’s a classical city at peace.



**NOTE** 

Links to more of my Hue stories and photos: 

RUINS OF BATTLE FOR HUE

FORBIDDEN CITY FOR KINGS