36 Views of SF: 29. Interdependence Day Workout
July 4, 2018

 

“Ain’t nobody prayin’ for me.” – Kendrick Lamar

70 years old, Vietnamese woman,
now American.
Wears her puffy down jacket
clutches her purse
steps on the stairmaster
next to me,
five foot three
climbing, climbing.

“You might want to put that down,”
I say, gently.
She puts down her purse.
“That’s a hard machine.”

She nods.
She moves to the incline on my right.

I ask her name.
“I’m listening to Thao Nguyen right now –
Get Down Stay Down –
she’s really good!”
(she’s got it down – she’s got it up and down)
(she gets me up)
(climbing)
I show her my iPhone, Thao’s face beaming out.
“Her videos are really great too – I can send one to you-”
Thao is my iPhone ambassador,
trust runner,
at my condo gym.

“I don’t listen. I don’t have email. I just meditate.”
Left Vietnam after the Fall, in 79.
Indonesia, Iceland, LA, then San Jose.
Now San Francisco.
She tells me about losing money and property,
about her boat escape,
about pirates,
other passengers raped.
When she came to America,
she volunteered, bringing food
to veterans and the homeless.
“Help them.”

I think of my mom, always proving her good.
As if there was a question mark,
hanging over her head,
here
in America.

“I always say thank you, to the army men.
They protect the country.”

“I worked at the VA.
The Vietnam Vets I worked with
Were very moved when Vietnamese people would say thank you.
They have such terrible memories of the war.
Now they’re just trying to find peace…
Do you still think too much about those days?”

“Now I just go to the temple.
I don’t ask for myself, my family.
I pray for the whole world.
For everyone.”

She prays for the world,
For America too.
She’s grateful for her years here.
Grateful for Buddha.

“Buddha just wants you to practice.”

Mindfulness.
Compassion.
Relationship.

“Buddha just wants whole world
have peace.
Not just follow him.”

Not just depend on him.

Hakuin said, “It is like a man who is seeking fish.  He must first of all look in the water.  Fish are a product of the water, outside the water there are no fish. Just so, you who wish to seek Buddha must first of all look into your own mind.  Buddha is a product of the mind.
Outside the mind, there is no Buddha.”

The mind is a product of relationship.
Outside of relationship, there is no Buddha.

Me and that old lady, we didn’t just work out.
We were working out Buddha, between us.

Remembering Buddha.
By just paying attention.

 

Blog pairing: Moped Mind: Mindfulness and Nonduality Inspire in Vietnam

 

© 2018, Ravi Chandra. All rights reserved.

 

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