AT SEA (day 87)

Today is the last of three days at sea.

Another quiet day, where I have nothing much to say...

We attended 2 lectures this morning one was on "GANDHI the father of modern INDIA",  and the other was on IDENTITY THEFT. Both were interesting.

Back to my book...

We are looking forward to  COLOMBO, SRI LANKA, tomorrow.

Stay tuned...

AS SEA (day 86)

Another day at sea.

Nothing much to say except that we are on our way to COLOMBO, SRI LANKA...

We will arrive there the day after tomorrow...

Time to catch upon our reading.

AT SEA (day 85)

Today we are in the INDIAN OCEAN

DOLPHIN STATUE AT THE BEACH IN PHUKET THAILAND

The seas are as calm as could be.

We saw Dolphin and flying fish.

Tomorrow will be another day at sea.

Maybe you could write something to me?

If there is anything that I may have left you thinking about...

Give me a clue

Perhaps I can clarify "it" for you?

YANGON, FORMALLY RANGOON,  MYANMAR, MAYLASIA (day 84)                                       PAGE #4

Today our tour was unusual it was called PEACE & HAPPINESS MEDITATION EXPERIENCE .

We explored the principals and the history of Buddhist Meditation during a spiritual monastery tour.
First we visited a Buddhist Orphanage where the boy children live as Monks live, and go to school.

MORNING PRAYER SERVICE

THE GIRLS ARE IN A SEPARATE MONASTERY WHERE THEY LEARN TO BE NUNS

 When the children are old enough they can chose to be Monks or to have a civilian lifestyle.

Our next stop was THE WORLD BUDDHIST INSTITUTE, MAHASI MEDITATION CENTRE.

WE MET WARASERMI THE MONK WHO WOULD BE OUR TEACHER

FIRST WE LEARNED THE IMPORTANCE OF CORRECT BREATHING

THEN HE DISCUSSED THE 4 FOUNDATIONS OF MINDFULNESS

HE TAUGHT US WALKING MEDITATION
You need take small steps and to place each foot down in 1 movement. 

AFTER SITTING AND MEDITATING FOR 1 HOUR WALKING RELIEVES THE PRESSURE ON THE JOINTS

THE 4 FOUNDATIONS OF MINDFULNESS ARE:

(1) THE CONTEMPLATION OF BODY

(2) THE CONTEMPLATION OF FEELINGS

(3) THE CONTEMPLATION OF MIND and

(4) THE CONTEMPLATION OF MIND OBJECTS

People who practice this form of MEDITATION believe that this way should be followed by those in search of happiness, with a view of getting rid of the impurities of mind, which cause their sufferings.

THE REALIZATION OF NIBBANA

As we were leaving the Monk told Woody and I that when we go home and if/when we have arguments that we need to focus on what we are HEARING, HEARING, HEARING, and not get into the anger...

YANGON, FORMALLY RANGOON,  MYANMAR, MAYLASIA (day 83)                   PAGE #3

Page 2 continued...

This evening dancers came to the pool deck on the ship to perform TRADITIONAL DANCES.

They were G- R- E- A -T

Their movements were very detailed in that they moved very much like puppets except they had no strings and their arms and hands were extremely graceful. As you can see the costumes were outstanding!

YANGON FORMALLY RANGOON,  MYANMAR, MAYLASIA (day 82)                   PAGE #2

70% of the population in MYANMAR are BUDDHISTS,  MYANMAR has a BUDDHIST majority.
This evening we visited the SHWEDAGON PAGODA BY CANDLELIGHT
This PAGODA took 2 centuries to build and it is in a constant state of repair. It is what is known as a A SUPRA PAGODA  because it supposedly has one of BUDDAH'S hairs in its base.
There is no way that I could capture the magnificence of this TEMPLE with a camera. We toured the main platform built to hold 100, 000 people. There were not that many people there when we visited, but there was a crowd. Interesting, is that the tourists did not appear to be bothering the people who were practicing their religion at all. It was like we were not even there?

(An aside, everyone needed to take off their shoes and socks to enter the platform. This is the 1st time in the 53 years that we are married that Woody has walked around without his shoes and socks on!)

THE MAIN STEPA IS MADE UP OF INDIVIDUAL BRICKS WITH THE DONORS NAMES ON THEM
THE BIRCKS ADDED TOGETHER EQUALS 5 TONS OF GOLD

THE BEJEWELED CROWN OF THE STEPA HAS 76 CARETS IN STONES

WHEN THEY REFURBISHED THE STEPA IN 1999 THE SOLDIERS WENT AROUND IN THE STREETS HOLDING A SHEET AT 4 CORNERS AND TELLING THE PEOPLE TO CONTRIBUTE THEIR JEWELRY YOU CAN SEE  THE JEWELRY IS EMBEDDED IN THE CROWN

WE LIT A CANDLE AT THE BASE OF A FIG TREE SENDING LIGHT FOR BUDDAH

THE FIG TREE IS SYMBOLIC SINCE BUDDAH DID HIS MEDITATING AND ACHIEVED NIRVANA UNDER A FIG TREE

MONK PRAYING AT THE FIG TREE

BUDDAH STATUE WITH A HALO OF BLINKING LED LIGHTS THAT ARE SUPPOSED TO REPRESENT THE AURA THAT WAS SEEN AROUND BUDDAH WHEN HE ACHIEVED NIRVANA      

BUDDHISM REQUIRES MEN/BOYS TO BE A MONK FOR A MONTH OUT OF THEIR LIFE

ONCE THE BOY LIVES THIS LIFE HE HAS A CHOICE TO REMAIN AND BECOME A MONK OR GO BACK TO LIFE AS IT WAS...

(even though this is an important time in the life of a BUDDHIST boy their parents would prefer that their sons return home to live a family life)

MONK PRAYING

FOLLOWERS PRAYING IN ONE OF 4 MAIN PRAYER HALLS

THIS RECLINING BUDDAH IS ACTUALLY RELAXING HE HAS HIS HEAD IN HIS HAND

THREE YOUNG WOMEN GETTING READY TO MAKE OFFERINGS TO BUDDAH

I cold go on & on with pictures of the grandeur of this ancient  PAGODA, you really need to see it to believe it...

The BUDDHIST texts promote PEACE & PACIFISM

"THOU SHALT NOT KILL" being their main precept. 

Interesting, is that there is MUSLIM persecution & HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS against the ROHINGYA  MUSLIMS in MYANMAR.
When violence broke out, however, in March 2013, even though the BUDDHISTS did not initiate the violence they to took up arms against the MUSLIMS.

I guess that in times of political and economic insecurity such as MAYANMAR'S current transition to DEMOCRACY discrepancies between reality and precepts flourish... ???
Unfortunate for the ROHINGYA people the world is not paying attention to their plight and this can turn into another genocidal situation.
   

YANGON FORMALLY RANGOON,  MYANMAR, MAYLASIA (day 81)                   PAGE #1

MYANMAR called BURMA by the BRITISH is also known as the GOLDEN LAND.  The soil is rich & it is rich in minerals and precious stones.

When the BRITISH ANNEXED BURMA in 1852 it became a booming trading center for rice, oil and teak. When Japanese occupied it during WWII BURMA lost it cosmopolitan air. In 1948 the country achieved independence. Then in 1962 General Ne Win  seized power and the country became isolated  for 3 decades. Yangon suffered decades of neglect. It is only now with their newly formed government, since "the lady" was elected 3 years ago, that is "semi democratic" that YANGON has begun to modernize & "grow"...

This morning we used shuttle bus from the pier  to the market.

PUPPETEER WHO MET US AT THE DOCK

DANCER AT TH DOCK IN HER NATIVE COSTUME

It was 100 degrees F, today with at least 90% humidity. The following pictures are of what lined the roads as we drove to and from the market, as well in the area where the market is. It is hard to think about how people can live like this?

LOCALS ON A BUS THIS AM

COLONIAL ARCHECTURE

MODERN

Apparently, Yangon's greatest appeal lies in its magnificent Pagodas and OLD ASIA atmosphere that remains unchanged. We are going to visit SHWEDRAGON by candlelight tonight.

Those pictures will be on page #2

AT SEA (day 80)

Quiet day so I think that it might a good time to post some pictures from the past ...

HONG KONG  HARBORAT NIGHT

THAILAND HARBOR AT NIGHT

SINGAPORE HARBOR AT NIGHT

SUNDOWN AS WE WERE SAILIN OUT OF THE HARBOR IN BANGKOK

BATH TOWEL SCULPTURE 

Tomorrow Myanmar ...

PHUKET, THAILAND (day 79)

PHUKET  with it's white sandy beaches and impressive mountains is one of the worlds favorite islands. About 1 million people live on this 30 x 13 mi. island. It is  linked to the mainland by  a causeway and the rest of the world by an International airport.

PUUKET like the other cities that we visited has a Museum, Temples, and an Orchard Garden etc...today, however, we chose to get off the tourist merry go round and spend our time at the PATONG BEACH. We decided that in the last few weeks we had the pleasure of visiting many exquisite BUDDHIST, TAO, BURMESE,  & CHINESE TEMPLES, as well as SHRINES dedicated to ANCESTRAL WORSHIP. So in our short amount of time on PHUKET we took taxi to the PATONG BEACH.

The ride took an hour to the beach and an hour back from the beach. On the way we waved at the TEMPLES and the TOWN as we went by. The traffic was heavy, but kept moving and the roads were lined with old markets crowded together with people cooking and selling their products on the streets, very much like the older neighborhoods in all of the other cities in SOUTH EAST ASIA that we visited. The town itself was very busy, a lot of tourists (tourism being a most important source of income for the island) but more upscale and relatively clean.

THE ELECTRICAL WIRING ALL OVER SE ASIA   

BEAUTIFUL WHITE SANDY BEACHES

BEAUTIFUL WATER NOT A CLOUD IN THE SKY

PEOPLE TAKING OFF THE BEACH IN PARACHUTES

PEOPLE LANDING 

SMALL BOATS WITH FISHING NETS

NICE FEELING THE SPARKLING SAND UNDERFOOT

All & all today was a fun change of pace!

PENANG, MALAYSIA (day 78)

Malaysia's Island State of PENANG, is a UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE. It is known as the PEARL OF THE ORIENT  for its natural beauty.  It is multicultural with Colonial Architecture, Chinese Communities (67%are Buddhists or Taoists, some Christian), Indian Temples (mostly Catholics), & Mosques (30% Malaysians) the remaining people are a mix of other religions.

PENANG is home to 13 million people. It is ruled by the same Constitutional Monarchy as KL. The Monarchy is made up of 11 states. 9 out of the 11states have Sultans, KL has a Sultan PENANG does not. Sultans inherit their title and are supported in style by the state. Rather than get into the complicated layers of government in the 2 countries it should suffice it if I say that the only level of government that the people get to vote for are their representatives who are on the level of our congress. They do not choose their King & Queen who are figureheads and they do not vote for their leader in Parliament.

Today our tour took us to GEORGE TOWN we road in a Trishaw & had tea in the INTERCONTENTINAL HOTEL.

FIRST WE VISITED THE CHAW JETTY

 THIS IS VILLAGE THAT IS INHABITED BY 1 OF 7 CLANS IN PENANG

THE ONLY WAY THAT YOU CAN LIVE IN THIS VILLAGE IS TO BELONG TO THE CHAW FAMILY
IN COLONIAL TIMES THE MAFIA UNDERWORLD OPERATED OUT OF THESE VILLAGES

THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN THE VILLAGE ARE MOSTLY "GOLDEN"

meaning they are older & they do not use these  boats much for fishing anymore when the tide is in they use them to supply BURMESE freighters with water

A SHOP AFTER OUR HEARTS

KHOO KONGSI TEMPLE
IN GEORGETOWN
apparently they were mafia who used their money for the benefit of the people

WE GOT TO LEAVE THE BUS & ENJOY TRISHAW RIDE (TOURIST BUS) TO THE HOTEL 

AFTER TEA "AND" WE WENT TO VISIT THE THE TEMPLE OF THE RECLINING BUDDA

THIS IS ONLY A VIEW OF ONE CORNER AT THE ENTRANCE

OF THE BUDDIST TEMPLE

THE TEMPLE IS MAGNIFICENT 

THE RECLINING BUDDAH IS 108 FT, IN LENGTH

ACROSS THE ST. FROM THE RECLINING BUDDAH A BURMESE BUDDHIST TEMPLE

JUST AS MAGNIFICENT

BUDDHISM WILL HEAL THE WORLD

WHEN YOU MAKE A WISH AN RING THE BELL THE BELL RESOUNDS INTO THE UNIVERSE AND YOUR WISH COMES TRUE

Tomorrow PHUKET