Autumn Albion

Below this blog will be touching upon how fasting has manifestly altered my thinking towards food, musing on unforeseen relocations of late, an eye-opener on the dismaying depths of corporate greed, weighing parallels between two Anglo-Saxon empires, a deft conversion to Linux, acquiring handy skills, and fitting in in Britain.
I hope these words are both entertaining and informative.

Fasting self-retreat

The Amaravati community is nearing the end of Vassa – the traditional South Asian Rains Retreat. During this time the monastics are allotted a certain span of time for solitary retreats called “self-retreat”. As an anagārika I was slotted for 10 days from September 15th until September 24th. During that time I also underwent a three-day full fast, i.e. eating nothing at all and curbing my intake to drinking 2 litres of water each day.

The fasting process spanned more than the three days of complete fasting, however, because in order to accustom the body to the upcoming scarcity of food one gradually consumes less leading up to the full fast and on the other side slowly eats a bit more each day coming out of the fast. Thus, the entire fasting process involves 9 days: 3 days in, 3 days there and 3 days out. One of the senior monks who'd attended medical school before donning the robes was a welcome font of prudent, professional advice.

The fasting teaches a primal lesson about food on a gut level (no pun intended!): its role is solely nutritional. On a strictly biological level, it is not meant to “entertain” to fight boredom, or to “drug” to enhance moods. Frankly, were it possible, taking a daily nutrition tablet would be preferable and thus be done with the non-biological aspects of consuming nutrients.

Lastly, stepping on the scale, I was somewhat struck to glimpse that I'd shed almost 1 stone (6 kilos) during the fast. For the nonce, they've not re-emerged. In fact, that new attitude towards food lingers on and I at present carry on eating light fare and glean food not for taste but merely for its nutritional value.

Odyssey

The other day I was pondering the odyssey that I've slogged since having bid farewell to the householder life. More than one year on, I recall the all-day drive by my pal Brandon on Interstate Highway 5 down to my erstwhile new home in San Diego.

There I was slated to take Buddhist College courses in preparation for becoming a monk in the Chinese Mahayana tradition. Then, as it turned out, once in Taiwan the huge Fo Guang Shan complex and people made such a favourable impression that, at their invitation, it was easy to make a decision to stay there, rather than return to San Diego, where I would be in daily contact with an imposed mentor, with whom I felt no heart connection whatsoever.

Then, having realised that the Mahayana was definitely not for me, the culminating phase finds me living as an anagārika in the Theravāda Buddhist tradition here in the United Kingdom. What a strange trip it's been!

Now, however, I am where I want to be.

Corporations

It was acutely distressing not long ago to come upon a Guardian Weekly report that Britain's leading scientists have challenged the US oil company ExxonMobil to stop funding groups that attempt to undermine the scientific consensus on climate change – their motive would seem to be in order to protect their profits. Human history provides not a few precedents to such cold-hearted callousness (e.g. slavery, tobacco companies and coal mining companies in relation to lung disease, construction material companies and asbestos, etc.); nonetheless, that degree of barefaced selfishness and disregard for the well-being of others (including their own progeny) still utterly stuns me.

I frankly cannot grasp how people can be so short-sighted and self-centred to jeopardise the welfare of the whole world merely to garner more profits for themselves. Viewing material possessions as transient (anicca) and one's self as an illusion (anattā) only serves to spotlight the folly.

Thus, along the same line, I applaud the California attorney general's suit against automobile corporation greed and sloth in offering the public more environmentally friendly cars. I singularly back his litigation, because the federal government is luridly doing nothing to counter corporate avarice and, quite to the contrary it could be argued, is legislatively facilitating it.

British Empire – American Empire

A few days ago, I finished watching a captivating video entitled “A History of Britain” by Dr. Simon Schama. An episode that deals with the British Empire at the turn of the last century intrigued me particularly, as a native-born American, because it depicts how ill-placed was the sense of invincibility felt by the British in the years prior to World War I.

One can easily liken what did happen to the British Empire to what is and will happen to present American Empire. The British held tightly to the mirage of an almighty, durable empire that would span the globe and failed to spot the first tottering dominoes of imperial ascendancy. One can witness the same process taking place in the American Empire. Those whom the American Empire has dominated for decades are no longer languidly slumbering in the face of that supremacy; e.g. Venezuela's Chávez, Brazil's Lula, immediately come to mind not to mentioned traditional allies in Europe.

Linux

I am liberated, free of Windows! Thanks to the help of Anagārika Gábor, my computer now boasts (albeit modestly) a Gentoo Linux operating system. Besides being unleashed from Bill Gates' technological grip, many are the advantages of Linux. For example, being multilingual, my files sport names written in non-Latin scripts, e.g., Devanagiri, Hebrew Chinese, etc. Windows would either not show those other scripts, or would not open them; Linux shows and even better opens them all.

Furthermore, as a samanera – the stage after anagārikaship – one no longer deals with money. Yet, because Linux has loads of high-quality, free(!) software, I won't need money to obtain quality freeware.

Lastly, and perhaps most significantly, Linux for the most part is an open-source, non-commercial enterprise. People write programs and supply content out of a sense of generosity and contributing to the Common Good. What a cordial contrast to the corporate motives.

New life skills

Since moving into the Vihara (monks' residence), I am pleased to be able to declare that I have acquired some very practical skills: sewing, gardening and cooking.

We anagārikas sport white-only clothing. So, when I first was given 3 pairs of white trousers to wear, I couldn't not avoid noticing that they were too long – my inseam measures only 73 centimetres. So, I had to take them up, which previously I'd left it to my mother or a tailor to undertake. I had never done so by myself before. One of the monks very patiently demonstrated how a sewing machine could get the job done. I learned fairly quickly and, voilà, was able to take up all six trouser legs by myself in the course of just one afternoon!

Following the instructions of those in the know about gardening, I've been awakened to how one properly pots a plant that has outgrown its erstwhile home as well as how one waters an desperately thirsty young willow.

In the kitchen, I've been trained to be a head cook and with the assistance of three help cooks have managed to prepare several meals for groups as large as 70 people. One of the first recipes I learnt was how to make the Indian dish, dal. In quick succession after that first recipe, I've leant to put together an edible salad dressing, ingestible mashed potatoes, and smooth hummus. Because I am a real cooking tyro, I've found it best to prepare simple meals keeping nutrition foremost in mind.

Anglo-Saxon Acculturation

Having lived in England for well on nigh a year now, I am slowly acculturating myself to the country's day-to-day customs. Here are some that I've picked up:

When driving or walking on country lanes, one acknowledges those whom one encounters with a slight wave and a smile. This custom especially pleases me, because where I am from it is not common that one acknowledges the presence of strangers whom one encounters on the street. That disinclination to greet others is most likely due to the hordes of people whom one indeed meets in an urban setting. Yet, I find it wonderfully human to be in a situation where having encountered strangers one can greet them in a friendly manner.

Staying on the subject of locomotion, as one would expect in Britain, one habitually walks on the left. It only took me a few irked glances as other pedestrians circled around me while walking on the pavement (i.e. “sidewalk” in US English) in Berkhamstead and Hemel Hempstead to realise that being American I was getting it wrong by walking on the wrong (i.e. right) side of the pavement. Since I've begun getting it right and correctly walking on the left, those irked glances have vanished and been replaced with pleasant smiles from those walking towards me.

Lastly, I've adopted the use of the multi-purpose word “cheers”. It can mean “you're welcome”, “thanks”, or “bye”. Thus, it has a larger field of meaning than even “aloha” in Hawaiian or “שלום” [shalom] in Hebrew.

I trust this little briefing has been pleasant and informative and look forward to hearing from all of you individually, as well.