Is Love The Answer?

I have been to spiritual gatherings, heard from physicists and poets that love is the answer. Now I find myself sitting in front of a monk, in one of the most sacred places in the world, and I am hearing that love is not the answer.

In his dharma talk with us, the monk explains that it is easy to love. What isn’t easy, is to give compassion to the things you don’t love. 

As I sit in this circle of beautiful beings, I close my eyes and listen to the monk chant a mantra of compassion. I settle into the essence of it all, and I feel parts of myself melting away. I feel as though he is magically removing the fragments of me that do not resonate with this energy. I start to feel so light, that a gust of wind could carry me away. The tears that stream down my cheeks are the last bits of stress being purged out of me. The vibration is intoxicating. Can I buy a bottle to take home with me?

I am back in Vietnam for the fourth time. This time is different though. I have started a tour company, and am introducing these beautiful ladies to the healing powers of this place.  This particular day we received a special invitation to go to Marble Mountain— 5 mountains, actually, each representing one of the elements (earth, wind, fire, water and air). Water Mountain is open to the public and is a day worth of exploration from the depths of hell to the peaks of heaven. This magical place is full of caves with hidden treasures, offerings to the many versions of Buddha and pictures capturing moments too subtle for the eye to see. This place is special and the public drinks it up each day it’s open. Today is different though. We find ourselves driving past Water Mountain and headed toward Fire Mountain. We are going to meet a monk there for a meditation.  Little did we know just how special this day would be.

We are sitting in a room being served tea and snacks. A monk sits down with us and starts chatting. He explains that he has been a monk for the last 37 years. I’m wondering how that’s possible when he doesn’t look a day over 30! Could it be because I don’t see a single wrinkle on his face? Or is it his playful energy that feels so childlike. He explains to us that controlling the mind is one of the most important things to do while on this human journey. He then shows us how he practices by juggling. We all laugh as we take turns trying to emulate this art and trying not to take ourselves too seriously! He takes us for a walk and we find ourselves exploring caves and staring at beautiful statues that lead into more story telling. Listening to his story about a princess, I wonder if this is Disney—without the fiction. There is a poem written on the wall and they share her story with us. See, she came here many moons ago and said she felt she needed to spend her life there. With that said, she wrote a poem and claimed that if anyone can truly understand it and match it, that she would leave this place and marry that man. They went on to say that no one could ever do it, so she lived out her days happily with the monks.

We are told of this sacred cave that only few are blessed to see. One where Mother Earth carved out a statue of Kuan Yin. In Vietnam, she is know as Quan Am, but to all who have heard of her, she is known as the Goddess of Compassion. We follow the monk into this cave and see the carving. I soon feel a difference in energy around us and breathe in the sacred stillness. As we walk in further, he shows us an eagle carved into the cave without the help of human hands and on the cave wall, a natural “birthmark” representing the Vietnamese man, pointed hat and all.  He shows us an area that held a meditating monk for 8 solid years. He explained that they would bring him food and that the cave contains naturally filtered clean water.

We sit down to meditate.

The rest of the afternoon was filled with personal messages from Buddha for each one of us. A lunch blessed by the hands of the nuns who prepared it, and an outpouring of generosity given from the people who live there.

I take a moment to reflect on all I am grateful for and send compassion to the parts I am not. This movie moment makes me think that some of these stories we read about are still happening in real time—you just have to be open to witness it—and to allow the childlike mind to capture it and store in a sacred place of your own keeping.

May you all be blessed with a thousand hands of Compassion as you create, direct and star in a movie of your own making!