Yoga, Buddhism and Cambodian Concerns - Part 3 - Families and Present Day Issues

During the last hundred years, humankind has again and again got itself involved in conflicts, wars and killings that in retrospect seem not only intensely stupid but completely wasteful.

This is the way that we are as human beings, getting all caught up in the unwholesome thoughts and feelings of the moment and then later, looking back on these things with an equally ignorant and defiant attitude or with an attitude that shows that we have learned something, however painful it may have been, about ourselves and others.

This is not something that just happens between countries and among the men who lead them into hatred, violence or conflict, but are also within and can arise in ourselves, regardless of where we are at any particular time and moment in our life.

Of the many sad and disturbing conflicts of the last hundred years, few can be as sad and disturbing as the one that occurred in Cambodia.

Not only did it result in the death of millions, but it also highlighted the greed, selfishness and ignorance of other countries in the world, such as Thailand, Vietnam, China and The United States.

The fact that the culture of Cambodia has remained intact and is thriving shows the spirit of the Khmer people.

And during these days, it is not the killings, confusion and pain of the past that is upper most in the minds of the Khmer people.

It is dealing with the realities of their lives in the present.

Though all of the Khmer people lost friends and family during what is frequently described as the Cambodian holocaust, most people just briefly talk about their experiences and losses under the Pol Pot regime and then are back to the present and the here and now.

The here and now for them is quite similar to the here and now for people all over the world.

Though news reports from any country can make us look at the people of that country as being quite different from us or somewhat extreme in how they live, think and feel, we all were born into and come from families and we all are manifestations of mental and physical energy and matter which can be peaceful and balanced or confused and disturbed.

The present day situation and reality for the Khmer people is one of getting a job and having enough money for food and the necessities of life.

The present day situation and reality for the Khmer people is understanding themselves and how they relate to each other, just as people in all parts of the world.

The present day situation and reality for the Khmer people is unhappy and happy marriages, television and loneliness, work and gossip, laughing and seeking, and crying and confiding.

Some families have dysfunctional aspects to them, where the members of it fight among themselves.

Many families lost their fathers and mothers, grandfathers and grandmothers during the Pol Pot regime and in a culture where the family is the mainstay of society, such a loss is bound to create both short and long - term conflicts.

Men and women get divorced and seek out new partners, murder is committed and people get impatient and angry or seek peace, knowledge and wisdom.

The knowledge that Yoga and Buddhism can give one can be just as helpful and beneficial to a Cambodian as it can be to a person from Europe, Africa or America.

This knowledge is about how the mind and consciousness works, what makes it troubled and unfocused and how it can be made brighter and clearer.

The Cambodian people can be just as reluctant for any number of reasons to look at and embrace these teachings and practices just as people can be from other parts of the world.

We all, too many times, see our problems in terms of a quick solution that will make them go away, so that we can just go back to thinking, feeling and acting in the same way that we always have, instead of learning and making changes in our life.

During a recent trip to a somewhat isolated farming village in Cambodia, this fact was once again amusingly brought to my attention when an elderly Khmer farmer talked of his high blood pressure and stress and when I taught him the practice of relaxation in the savasana pose, asked if there was some medicine that I could recommend or give him instead.

Once again, the fact was brought to my attention that as human beings we are not that different at all, whether we are in Cambodia or Cameroon, Thailand or Turkey or the United States or the Ukraine.

We all have problems and issues to deal with, some in how we interact with and relate to our families, some just living more skillfully as individuals and others in dealing with and overcoming an ongoing health or behavioral problem.

But most of us do not have to deal with a past and present as severe as the Cambodian people do.

Those who have some experience studying, applying and practicing the teachings of Yoga and Buddhism understand that they can give us a way to better health and living, which in the end to a large degree depends on ourselves and not the current state of the country or environment that we live in.

2005 John C. Kimbrough

(John lives and teaches in Bangkok, Thailand. He can be reached at johnckimbrough@yahooo.com)