This is my second holiday to Siam Reap. My first trip was 9 years ago. I remember how the Angkor Wat fascinated me. I spent hours admiring the sculptures on the walls. The Apsaras especially fascinated me. The grandeur of the ancient kingdom fascinated me. Expecting the same experience this time around I went with Elango, Rammya, Heerraa and Harsha.
I was in for a surprise. I was feeling very disturbed when I entered the Bayon temple, so disturbed that I felt dizzy and did not proceed to go in to admire the sculptures on the walls. I sat down with Elango at the exit while the three of them toured the temple. Puzzled, I asked Elango why I was feeling so disturbed? He asked me what was the feeling that was disturbing me? Still puzzled, I answered, I feel like many people have been forced to live here and do things that they didn't want to do. It's like being held against your will. Being held captive as slaves and entertainers for the king.
Elango then asked me, 'how do you think the kings of the ancient times built this temple?' I answered, 'by forced labour … Invaded the place, captured the locals and held them captive against their wills….. Forced labour …. Slaves.' He then asked again, 'why did the Kings do that? Why did they build such great structures, sacrificing people's lives? think …. mmmm …. It was to show their power … How great they were … Feeding their ego … Under the delusion that their Empire would be there forever. That they would be remembered forever for their greatness…. and that it is was their right to force the locals to build the structures in memory of them. They were taken in by the need to accumulate and build things.
Then Elango asked me to think how this relates to modern day life, my work and me…. mmmm … He explained, I want to do Culture Shaping …however, change is only for those who want it and welcome it. Not for all. For some, they are comfortable with their way of life even if they are complaining about it. Culture shaping is only possible by changing people's habit patterns … Getting them to follow Natures Laws, Give First, Give without expectations, be truthful, do SIEP and stop reacting to their senses, share instead of competiting, look for solutions … all this is only for those who want it … More importantly all these is possible only if I practise it in my life first. People will do what I do, not what I ask them to do. My vibes will attract people who are looking for the change and want to put the change into practice. I nodded.
Then I told Elango about my earlier experience in visiting Angkor Wat and how it had fascinated me and asked him why it was different now. He answered, 'At that time you were PEIS … i.e. your physical senses saw the sculptures and ancient temples, listened to the greatness of the ancient kingdom and your emotions got fascinated. Your intellect amazed at how great the ancient kingdom was. Now, you are less PEIS so you begin to see the stupidity of the whole thing. You began to feel uncomfortable with the forced labour used to build the temple. You began to see that the Kings were PEIS … taken in by their senses and swayed by their emotions … driving the need to accumulate ...to build … to inflate their ego … using others to get what they want .. thinking their power and kingdom will last forever … thinking they will be remembered for their greatness … This will only make them fall harder and deeper down … Then they will have to climb up again'. I nodded, deep in thought. I was amazed at how much I have grown in the past two years.
I also noticed something interesting … the different responses of the Generations. The Gen Y in the group was troubled but they didn't know why. The 'corrupted' Gen Y was fascinated by the architecture just like the Gen X yet they were alternating between thinking it was a waste of resources. Gen Y was troubled and not impressed by the grandeur. Interestingly Gen Z was clear, not emotional but objectively thinking how not to repeat this stupidity … Not build structures but live with nature, creatively!
Next we went to Ta Prohm Temple (or better known as the place where Angelina Jolie shot the Tomb Raider scene). The tree roots were engulfing the temple roof and walls … Nature was literally reclaiming its place. The ancient majestic temple was slowly but surely being turned into dust and dirt. I stood there gaping at the monstrous roots fascinated by the power of the trees, witnessing a tiny bit of nature winning in the end, witnessing the fallacy of man, thinking he can build something that can last forever, thinking that he can be immortal through the legacy he leaves. This reminded me of the current generation of baby boomers and Gen X who accumulate power, money and fame, building legacies to leave behind, thinking that they will be remembered, only to have it crumble to natures forces in no time.
Later in the day when I visited the Angkor Wat, I noticed I no longer was fascinated with it. Instead I was thinking what a waste all these was. I was thinking how blessed I am to have grown from being fascinated by the architecture of man to be fascinated by the forces of nature.
No comments:
Post a Comment