Pu, The Buddhist

Balance:  Mental equilibrium; mental health; calmness, a state of remaining clear-headed and unperturbed.  

We took a long drive to visit a Thai national park yesterday - Doi Inthanon - by a little village dude named Pu.  I admit that it did kick off my male juvenile sense of humor briefly but I transcended the impulse to make it the theme for the day.  On the 2 hour trip I got him talking about Buddhism.  I sensed that he was a little hesitant but once he saw that SuperK and I were really interested and in possession of some personal knowledge of this philosophy he warmed up and spoke at length.  Always salespeople, eh wot?  Get 'em talking and listen to what they say.

And I'm always amazed at how all of the great religions and spiritual philosophies, despite significant differences in dogma and orthodoxy, usually boil down to the same solid, common-sense shit.  From my notes . . . 

Three facets of a happy life:
1. Take the middle path.
2. Live happily.
3. No harm or injury to others.

Who can improve on that?  I laugh at how often I hear how important it is to get in the middle of everything.  I think that's one of my main philosophies of life: balance.  Pu said and I paraphrase: "If you stand of the right side all you can see is the right and the middle.  If you stand on the left side all you can see is the left and the middle.  But if you stand in the middle . . . well, you can see everything now, can't you?

He also said one day traveling is the equivalent of one hundred days reading.  As a voracious reader I'm tempted to take exception to that but I get the point, actually.  Get out there and meet people and experience life.  I confess to occasionally picking up a book and realizing that, although I read it at one point, I have no recollection of the story inside.  Not the case with a trip.  Not the case with yesterday.  It's easier to sit in a nice, comfy chair but not as satisfying after the fact than living an experience.  We were tired when we got home yesterday.  It was a long day but an unforgettable one.