Yoga, Buddhism and 18 Years in Asia: Humility and

Enlightenment in Cambodia

Over the last year this writer has had the opportunity

to visit Cambodia eleven times.

I guess one could say that I find the place

interesting. In fact, just recently, while talking

with some Yoga

students here in Bangkok before a Hatha Yoga session,

I found myself saying to them that it was my

destiny to be involved with this country and its

people.

This is something that we all experience in life, this

feeling about something, a place, a person,

a practice, a way of living. It could be lost in the

haze of our consciousness because of some

unwholesome conditioning or experience we have had or

just taken away from us by the events

and realities of our daily living.

As we drive to the mall, or the bar, or the park and

we see that our world is a world of concrete,

metal and asphalt or drugs, drink and sex, it is easy

to see that it might be hard to attain

something more in life or be more then what our

environment allows us to be.

We are limited in all countries and cultures, not

always by money and social standing, but by our body,

our consciousness and what life entails for us.

Sometimes visits to poorer countries can reawaken us

to something more important in life, or teach

us to better understand and appreciate all of the

things that we have already and all of the

opportunities

that we have to become something better.

There are many countries in Asia that can offer us

such an insightful experience and perhaps

none more then Cambodia.

A country whose people engaged in civil war for almost

thirty years, a country that inflicted a form

of auto or self - imposed genocide, something that

even the Jewish people of Europe did not

experience during the darkest days of the holocaust,

a country and people that was selfishly and

ruthlessly exploited by the strongest of the world

superpowers, The U.S., Russia and China and its

more powerful neighbors and age - old adversaries,

Thailand and Vietnam.

These days, thankfully, things are better in Cambodia.

There is still corruption on a grand scale, with the

most unfortunate and poorest being exploited by

their own countrymen.

This is a sad fact of life in all of the countries of

Asia, an area of the world where spiritual disciplines

and practices such as Yoga and Buddhism flourished

built on the idea of compassion and loving

kindness for others.

But the path from the teachings to the understanding

and implementation of them is not one that

is part of Asian culture.

Instead it is one of social status, face, power,

prestige, influence, wealth and fame.

It may be surprising then to see that the suffering

that one sees among the Cambodian people

these days is in many respects the same as one would

find among the people of the west.

Certainly, poverty and a lack of economic

opportunities is more prevalent there then in the

west, but

like in the west, much of the suffering is caused by

more personal factors, a lack of mindfulness,

a desire for things that may not be necessary for

living, a selfishness, a need to impress or be thought

of as something that one is not.

As I become more familiar with the people of Cambodia,

I see these things again and again.

The woman in an unhappy marriage to an abusive

husband.

The woman who has been married twice, the first

marriage dissolving because of his drinking, gambling

and chasing of other women, and the second one ending

when her husband was murdered by a man

who wanted to steal his motorbike.

A residue from the years of war, certainly yes, many

would say, but it can and does happen on

the streets of Los Angeles and homes and houses in

Florida, as in all places in the world.

But what impresses me is that in the suffering of

these women, I do not see them run to drugs and drink,

or the arms of the first available man as many would

or might in the west, but continue to live lives

based on sobriety, the family and simple values.

One might want to point the finger at the Asian man,

calling him selfish and weak, but this would not be

fair as we all have been or have seen weak and selfish

men in our own country, and perhaps in our

own home and family.

So what is there in all of this that can make us feel

humility.

Perhaps it is seeing how people can overcome adversity

and problems, situations and experiences

that few if any in the west have experienced and apply themselves to getting an education, being sober and

 finding joy in simple things.

Perhaps it is seeing the Cambodian people, in this

case orphans, enjoy learning the traditional

Cambodian dances.

Those of us who are involved in Yoga can appreciate

this, seeing the slow and graceful movements

done with serene and calm faces, in a practice and

performance that is much more difficult then

anything a Hatha Yoga session can throw at us.

And what can enlighten us there.

Perhaps it is the same things that cause us to feel

humility, to see that people have had to deal

with much greater burdens that we have and have come

through it with acceptance and a degree

of peace.

One of the important steps in the path to

enlightenment is being humble, seeing and realizing

that we

are not the center of the universe or the world and

that our needs and interests sometimes should take

second place to the needs and interests of others.

If we look around with mindfulness, we may see that

those things that bring about enlightenment,

and those things that hinder enlightenment are to be

found among both the rich and the poor,

in both the developed and undeveloped countries, and

among the educated and the uneducated,

and the victims and the oppressors.

Perhaps that can give us that feeling of humility and

a large step to enlightenment that we can all

grow and benefit from in some respect.

Copywrite 2004 John C. Kimbrough

(John lives and teaches in Bangkok, Thailand. He can

be reached at johnckimbrough@yahooo.com)