Copywrite Renee Locks, Brush Dance

I am writing this from Telford Buddhist Priory which is in the middle of England. Rev. Saido is the monk in residence. I have been here a week and among other things I’ve been transferring electronic files from ‘Betty Four’ to ‘Betty Five’. I named my first laptop Betty and each successive upgrade since then has been Betty. This one is Betty Five. Everything has been transferred, not as perfectly organized as I would wish, however nothing ever is.

I used the above text in a talk at my brothers Memorial Ceremony. My brothers song was unique (as is the case for all of us) and not an easy one to sing. His life deeply impacted mine and lead me, eventually, in the direction of becoming a monastic. I will remember him with affection and continue to sing my song in gratitude for his life.

My good intention to post more of the photographs I took while in Malaysia and Singapore is still there. However, a couple of days after I arrived back in England, I received the news that my brother had died and dealing with this has taken precedence over Blogging.

Please have a thought for my half brother, John Tilbrook, and his family especially for his wife Pauline who valiantly attempted to resuscitate her husband who she found collapsed in the kitchen. The cremation is on Tuesday in Bournemouth in the south of England.

I can’t help but wonder at the timing of my brothers passing, i.e. coming so soon after my arriving from remote regions and, since I have nothing scheduled (except rest), I am free to be with my sister-in-law for a few days to support her.

I am sorry not to have posted much while in Singapore. When I get to Throssel Hole Abbey and am rested I’ll continue to Blog as there are many photographs of statues and temples as well as stories and insights I’d like to record. Moving mountains continues to move I guess!

Thanks to all of you who have been traveling along with me these past couple of months it has helped me a lot to feel that the OBC Sangha, lay and monastic, have been supporting me.

The time has come to talk about fruit, specifically Durian. Many of the monks who have been to the East come back to talk of many things, temples, jungle, chanting, Dharma connections, Buddha statues, great hospitality, the heat… I have talked about some of this however now is the time to bring you up to speed on the Queen of Fruit.

Yesterday my host offered me ice cream and I jumped at the chance, privately hoping for chocolate. My options were corn, red bean or durian flavour and, since vegetable ice cream was a bit of a stretch, I chose durian. Many an evening tea at Shasta Abbey has been taken up on discussing Durian, mostly the discussion is about the smell. Typically remembered as smelling like sweaty socks. So…when first in Asia, Taiwan I think, I was determined to give it a try just to be brave. In order to by pass the smell I took a deep breath in and then downed the flesh while breathing out. It worked! The taste is good although the texture described on a web site I just looked at is ‘creamy’. I would not be so…kind. I’ve since enjoyed durian on several occasions and seeing a Westerner eat it seems to bring a mixture of both joy and amazement to those who are watching, closely!

There is a concept called ‘heaty’ and durian is ‘heaty’. Not got to the bottom of what that actually means but presume its about being heating to the blood. One can antidote the ‘heaty’ effect of durian by running fresh water into the husk and drinking the water. Another tip is to run fresh water over the husk and wash ones hands in that water, hands that do not smell so good after handling the fruit.

Below is a paragraph from a web site that you might like to visit.
Eating a good durian is such a satisfying experience, blissful. As Mark Twain declared the cherimoya “deliciousness itself,” I say the durian is “blissfulness itself!” I think it perhaps not coincidental that so many of the buddha statues in Southeast Asia have been created with the head covered with points that very much resemble a durian. (And I say that knowing full well that in some countries the creation of those statues pre-dated the durians arrival.) Eating a good durian can be a spiritual experience, giving quite literally an exquisite taste of bliss.

Visit the web site at: http://www.durianpalace.com/

So there you have it, the Buddha statue connection and, since Durian is held in such high regard, the fact that the covering of the Buddha’s head resembles the husk of a durian can only be positive and even elevate the fruit even higher in the Asian mind and heart.

And the ice cream mentioned earlier? OK, although I missed having a husk to help wash off the smell and antidote the ‘heatie’ effect.

The other day I found out, quite by chance, that the temple that is hosting my stay, Poh Ern, is the temple where Rev. Master Jiyu stayed on her arrival in Singapore in 1962. Ven Sumangalo, an American and resident chief priest when Rev. Master stayed, was the first Western to become an abbot of a Buddhist temple in Singapore. He was only there for a short time however he had a big hand in developing Buddhist activities for the youth in Singapore and Malaysia.