we arrived at the facade of the Bandawat (the largest Buddhist temple area in Chiang Mai)and i was struck especially by the stark contrasts of man's constructed images of glistening gold, twinkling jewels, colors, bright shapes, stone relics of bird and elephant at the feet of the overly large Buddha statue. The chimes whispered so eerily in that warm silent evening, only adding to the bizarre sense that all this beauty and wealth signifying the importance and strength of Buddha was cast all to dull against the breathaking and brilliant design of god's natural dwelling place, his glorious, green, lush, unlimited landscape of forever-stretching-forests, misty-jungle-mountains, and high-stormy-skies...
though i was able to spend considerable time walking the premises, meditating in the temple rooms, breathing slowly in the sacred spaces, trying to understand and appreciate the culture and teachings of this place while also immersing myself in prayer and worship of god, surrounded by gold shimmering creatures and jewel eyed teachers, flooded my soul became with the need and the great capacity for closeness with god. i was less impressed by the bold statues, the brilliant gold and silver buildings, the colorful windows and floors, and completely taken aback by the grandeur and delicate promise evident in the most outstanding, bright rainbow that found its home softly between the storm clouds and the pure white puffs of radiance that stretched out across the sky in the background.
deep breaths as i stood in the middle of a huge, empty stone garden, listening to the windchimes dance and sing in the leaves, in the spirit of the trees, his song maybe flowing through me and all the other things...
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