Not Dying as a Buddhist Lesson at Khao Yai National Park
I got to visit Khao Yai National Park while in Thailand. This was on a side trip from Prachin Buri, where I was staying at a monastery with Phramaha Nattapong. We got a local man to drive us an hour or so to the park, where we encountered quite a high waterfall and I got to witness the carefree attitude that must come from being a monk and being really closely in touch with one’s own mortality. Here is an excerpt from the book I am writing:
Phramaha Nattapong walked all the way to the edge of the waterfall, standing atop a boulder. It looked like the end of the earth, where he stood. It was so high that not even jungle was in the background of the picture.
“Carl, come take picture,” he said. I got close enough so that he was more than a speck in the small viewfinder and snapped a picture. I was about six feet from the edge, technically closer than I should be for safety purposes. The concept of edge discipline says that a person should not get closer to a dropoff than he is tall. I would not say that I have a fear of heights or even a fear of death but I certainly have no desire to experience either one up close.
“Come here. Stand here with me,” Phramaha Nattapong said.
“No, thanks. I’m fine here.”
“No, come here,” he insisted. “Beautiful view.”
“No, too high for me,” I said. He shrugged and enjoyed the view. Phra Bi edged out along a ridge over the drop. I chose to remain on firm, solid, dry ground where the only slipping I might do would land me in a river full of parasites and squalor, rather than in a morgue or simply left to scavenging animals out of simple convenience.
I later thought that this could have been an excellent Buddhist teaching Phramaha Nattapong was trying to impart on me. Becoming more aware of one’s own mortality and certain eventual demise is a very Buddhist undertaking. Monks and laypeople do this in different ways to show themselves that they are never far from death and that death is really part of a cycle of existence. Everything arises, exists and stops existing. Climbing on the boulder with Phramaha Nattapong pushed this point home a bit. Cessation and change are the only constants.
Word count so far: 54,690. I think that’s a good length and I am mostly working on editing at this point.
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