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Peacefulness Against All Odds |
02/18/2008 1:36 pm   |
When Our World View Trips Us Up
As I sat quietly next to the 84 year old temple sweeper at one of Angkor Wat’s most popular
sites, I felt his peacefulness.
Our guide Vireak talked quietly with this man who had been at this temple every day since he
was a teen-ager. It felt as though we were the only people around, although in reality there
were huge numbers of tourists moving through the temple ruins.
I had always assumed that the full lips, flat nose and long ears of the deities from ancient
Khmer sculptures were fictional. While not as exaggerated as the stone images, here with this
man. I observed those now famous features. Vireak assured us that people of his generation
who are pure Khmer look very similar.
As we strolled away, I commented that it has to be easier for someone like the temple sweeper
to be truly peaceful because he was simply following the path of his ancient
ancestors.
His eyes and voice filled with emotion, Vireak shared with us that the temple sweeper had lost
all nine of his children in the Pol Pot genocides.
Here was a man living peacefully against all odds.
It definitely stripped away my excuses for why I don’t always walk the peaceful path.
Nancy Harkrider, Editor, Contributor
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