Encounters on the Front Line by Elaine Harvey

Author:Elaine Harvey [Elaine Harvey]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: -
Publisher: Promontory Press
Published: 2016-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

I immerse myself in a walking meditation, back and forth on the long, cool hallway with its tiles of restful green. Simple phrases help me in the discipline: trust my feet, as one slow step releases me into another; trust my hands, feel their energy; trust my heart, to be compassionate; trust my mind, as it darts about, to settle. Each movement of “heel-sole-toe” is a meditation. Souen walks in front of me. I am not rushing, I am not going anywhere, I am practising mindfulness, step by step, but my Western walk is twice as fast as her Eastern walk. I simply notice.

After twenty minutes of walking meditation, we sit on the floor cross-legged and eat our snacks, sticky-rice sesame balls and watermelon. I love the circle and nod my head to conversations I don’t understand. We move back to our mats to discuss the serious matters of the week.

Beth describes the ritual of sitting with the deceased as they travel over to the next realm. Candles, incense and a little money may be placed in their hands before cremation. She comments on aspects of beauty she sees in the moments after death—the restful hands and the peaceful eyes of the departed.

The ceremony of death, however, is not always according to Buddhist tradition. The mortuary at Chea Chum Neas has become a filthy dumping ground of hospital refuse. Dead bodies, if not taken immediately by the family, or if there is no family, are buried in shallow graves behind the hospital instead of being cremated at the mortuary. Burial is not a Buddhist custom.

A Singaporean Buddhist association has offered to pay for the bulldozing of the shameful mess and to rebuild the mortuary. Beth envisions paintings, bougainvillea flowers and pots of palms to make it a place of serenity. She wants it painted white with a hint of blue, the colour of clouds; the colour of mourning. Her dedication, as well as that of the rest of the group to this sacred project, is humbling.

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