Oct. 28 Phil: Wat a Joy

When we were in SaPa, Vietnam and stopped by the Catholic Church (see "SaPa: The Land and the People", Oct. 20), one of the things that resonated for me emotionally and spiritually was hearing the liturgy and recognizing at least parts of it from the Episcopal services I attended for a number of years. There was a sense of the connection, community and continuity that this parish of Hmong people have with other Catholics around the world.

As many of you know, I've been doing Buddhist meditation practices for over twenty years and this has really been the heart of my spiritual life. In the US, though, Buddhist practice is often very much a solo affair. There is very little emphasis on many of the traditional community expressions of Buddhism, things like chanting together, devotional rituals and supporting monastics. Because of this, one of the things that I've felt was missing from my own spiritual life, and that of most practitioners of Insight Meditation, was a deep sense of connection to the Buddhist tradition and to the world-wide community of Buddhist practitioners.

For the first time in our travels, here in Laos I've experienced some of that resonance with a Buddhist culture. Luang Prabang is filled with images of the Buddha,





and with Buddhist wats, or temples and monasteries, and monks.









Every morning, we sit on the balcony outside our room, or sit down on the street, to watch the monks walking the streets on alms round.



They receive food from the citizens and some tourists. Whatever they receive is the food that they will eat that day. If they don't receive alms, they don't eat. So they are very dependent on the generosity of the people in their community.



The people who give alms are not giving to specific individuals, but to the tradition, to the orange robes that come to them with an open alms bowl. Giving alms is a practice of generosity and an expression of trust and love for the tradition.



At the same time, if the monks see a poor person while they are on alms round, they will take food from their alms bowls and give it to the poor. The circle of generosity is unending.



It's inspiring to spend some time here and to feel a sense of connection with this tradition.