Yoga, Buddhism and Cambodia Concerns - Part 5 - Gentle and Sincere Hellos

Yoga and Buddhism provide us with two main viewpoints on life, both of which may be new to us.

One is the set of teachings and practices that make them up.

These are put forth in very specific ways and are clear in what they state.

The other is information about how we are as people before and when we come to Yoga or Buddhism. This information is put forth in a more general way and is not generally explored to any great extent.

We are told that things such as our experiences, conditioning, state of consciousness, upbringing and the mental defilements are those things that have led to us to feelings and behaviors that create suffering, confusing and discomfort.

These forces are many times unknown to us and are from within and may take us from our true, peaceful, joyful and compassionate nature to one that we are unsure of ourselves or creates problems for ourselves and others.

The very nature of the modern world and life is one that naturally takes us outside and away from ourselves and we are told that we should do or buy this and that.

We are too many times swayed into thinking that we need to be cool, hip and fashionable instead of being told to cultivate kindness, wisdom and compassion.

As a child growing up in Brooklyn, New York, this writer was victimized by both the forces outside of him and ignorance within so that he could not understand and cultivate his true nature.

One way in which this manifested itself was in the most simple and subtle of ways, that being passing a person with a familiar face on the street.

My interest and desire was to say "hello", but I always feared what the reaction would be.

Would they ignore me, would they smile and say the same thing to me, would they react to me in anger and fear, or would they demean me verbally in some manner?

So instead of doing anything, I did nothing.

That perhaps was a mistake.

Many of us develop a love affair with a country, culture and people from another part of the world because we feel that it and they exhibit characteristics that we do not find in our own country and culture and among our own people.

With experience, we find that perhaps to our disappointment, these people in their own countries may react to us in a certain manner because we are foreigners while many times react to and think about their fellow country men in the same way that we have in our own country and culture.

And as people get more caught up in the materialistic aspects of their life and environment, they do change.

Thailand, which for years promoted itself as "The Land of Smiles", has seen that at one time sincere smile become more of a fading memory as people have got more caught up in materialism, greed and desire.

Having spent time in developed, developing and undeveloped countries, it has always been a source of interest to find many of the most friendly and generous people are those people from the poorest and least developed countries.

In visiting, traveling in and staying in Cambodia, this writer has, as many before him, been charmed by the gentle and sincere hellos that greet him from the children and adults that he passes on the streets and roads.

It is nice to experience this kind of greeting from people in a country that has experienced so much betrayal and tragedy over the years and has been exploited and abused by so many people and countries in the world.

Even in these modern times, the Cambodians dealing with low wages, no jobs and corruption still maintain a politeness and sincerity that is a joy to behold.

One of the most pleasant aspects of being and living there is the gentle and sincere "hello" that one is greeted with each day.

This ability to be more gentle and sincere in all that we do is something that we all wish to be the recipient of each day, but many times do not feel that we should do or are capable of ourselves.

If we are more relaxed, having let go of that mental and physical tension that many times has built up over a long period of time and have not been able to let go of, we will be more gentle and sincere in our greetings to and interactions with others.

If we are more understanding of ourselves and others, we will also act in more sincere and gentle ways.

And if we understand the importance of acting and reacting to others in ways based on loving kindness and compassion, sincerity and gentleness will become and be very much a part of our being and our actions on a daily and regular basis.

These things that we have mentioned, relaxation, understanding, loving kindness and compassion are all things that Yoga and Buddhism bring us to when we understand and practice their teachings.

The sincerity and gentleness that we have all possessed at one time or another in our lives can be retrieved and cultivated in the present, so that it is an asset to ourselves and others in the here and now, which is where it is most important for it to be practiced and done.

2005 John C. Kimbrough

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