vesak 2012

it's been an interesting vesak so far. went to kmspks for the 3-step-1-bow ritual again and this year, we decided to meet at 11.30pm vesak eve. as usual, we saw people cutting queues, we saw people who had just arrived trying to stand close to the venerable blessing those who had completed the ceremony with the hope of getting blessed without having to go through the ceremony... sighs... such misguided attachments to the water... frankly, if one's heart is pure, one can get blessed in the comforts of one's home shower! conversely, if one's heart is not pure, no amount of water will be enough to cleanse one of one's impurities (hmmm, why do I sound like lady macbeth here! hahahaha)

as usual, the wait was long and draggy. at 2am, we were still some distant from the start point... and then the sky turned cloudy, the thunder started rolling and the lightning started striking... hmmm... we wondered and joked that the temple would practise what the military do - that is, announce a cat 1 high lightning risk status and cancel the event... and we laughed about it. it just didn't sound right for such announcements that we associate with the military to be done here. whatever the case, we were determined to proceed even if there was a thunderstorm. afterall, for me, i've been doing this for the last 20-over years and doing the ritual through a rainy weather was not new to me. we continued to wait in the queue. the was the air of uncertainty all around.

and then the recorded chanting stopped. those people in the midst of the 3-step-1-bow were totally lost... some stood still, some continued with their 3 steps... and for that moment, no one knew what happened. we were in the queue beside those in the procession and we were staring at them. it looked and felt a little weird frankly. we suspected there was a problem with the player.

and then the announcement came - we have a cat 1 high lightning risk condition now. everyone, please leave now... we will suspend the activity for the next half hour. for now, everyone please leave and go under shelter... the announcer repeated the message. hahaha... everyone was stunt! for those, like us, who had been queueing didn't know what to do... we were wondering how we could possibly get back to the queue after half hour. it was just impossible. we could imagine the rushing of the thousands to get into the front of the queue that had taken the organizers some many hours to organise. and for those who were halfway through the procession, it was a rude and abrupt end! everyone just stood there. there must have been at least 5000-8000 people just standing there stunt.

it took some 2-3 mintues before the reality of the suspension to sink in... slowly, the crowd started to disperse, somewhat unwillingly and somewhat unhappily. and perhaps as a signal of displeasure with our slowness and lack of co-operation, the rain came! it started with huge droplets, and within seconds, it rained cats and dogs... no, it was more like someone pour a whole ocean of water onto us. and the winds blew! it became almost a stampede. everyone was running into the shelter... well... you very much know how everything unfold after that... it's been more than 45min now... and the thunderstorm continues. hundreds of devotees, us included, are now seated in the hall of no form, waiting for the thunderstorm to stop. the temple has started an impromptu program to conduct meditation for us...

it's been an interesting start to vesak 2012! let's go with the flow, let's not be too attached to the ceremony. let's focus on the practise. happy vesak everyone. may everyone be happy and may everyone gain enlightenment!

sadhu sadhu sadhu!

:-)

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