Pao VS Everything Is Equal

"Nothing you can do, but you can learn how to be you in time - it's easy. All you need is love."
All You Need Is Love, by The Beatles

High atop on colossal Geumjeong Mountain at three in the morning was where I found myself this past weekend. In front of me was a Buddhist monk sitting lotus style on the floor. Behind me was the overwhelming view of Korea a few hours before the sun was to rise, that endearing moment before the world became noisy again. The cool mountain air was blowing every remnant of the mild summer heat towards the sea. True tranquility should it be defined.

Yet, the only thing I was focusing on was the big ass bug that landed on my leg. I couldn't very well just whack it dead, as we were in the middle of our morning meditation and I was afraid if I made noise the monk would fly at me with dragon fists. It really bothered me, because (A) it was huge, (B) it wouldn't fly away even after I blew air into it, and (C) I'm pretty sure it would have regenerated even if I did kill it.
The interpreter saw my predicament and crossed her arms at me, a warning signal for me not to kill the awful creature. Buddhists believe that ALL life is sacred. (Most Buddhists, consequently, are vegetarians, I find.)

"I'll take it outside," she whispered in my ear, "Let's not disturb the meditation." I nodded in agreement. She reached her hands over ever so slowly towards the unflinching insect and successfully grabbed two of its legs. The insect gave a good struggle and after a few seconds of a good fight, he flew away. And, that's when the interpreter gasped very loudly. The two legs remained in her fingers. She quickly walked outside red faced.

She dropped the appendages in front of me, which made me feel a little guilty, but that soon faded as I realized I hadn't eaten breakfast yet and I was awake at three in the morning.


I'm not the type of person that can appreciate vegetarian food, but I do appreciate the existence of vegetarians that allows there to be more meat for me! Please also note the singular bean sprout in my bean sprout soup. I really have to watch my figure these days. And, this really was our breakfast in the morning.

We made our own coffee, too. One of the volunteers there said that happiness and coffee go hand in hand. Soon they'll realize that the same goes for KFC left overs and reruns of Roseanne.

Rocky, pointy ruins of a former Buddhist healing cave was probably not the best place to practice my one legged lotus stance.

I had been wanting to do a temple stay for almost a year now, and I'm glad I got to do it. It was one of the most relaxing experiences of my life. Though, at times it felt like we were stuck in fat camp. Whenever we had break time, my fellow foreigners and I snuck out to devour chocolate that I had brought. We'd inspected each others teeth checking for evidence of mutiny. The monks left a very lasting impression on me. They were kind, patient, and surprisingly funny. It's something I aspire to be, but I know it will take some time.

PS. I didn't convert.