Bangkok: A journey of Love and War amongst the Golden Buddhas

I landed in Bangkok and was relieved to see so many women greeting me at the terminal. I did not feel sexual repression here, as I had in India or Sri Lanka. Needless to say, I was told I would meet people traveling alone and I did! As I sat alone for dinner that evening, 4 of the greatest guys offered to buy dinner. We went out and they showed me the club district and the go-go girls that Bangkok is so famous for. I danced all night, literally! When I thought this can’t get any better, we stopped by a popular alley where everyone eats at 6 am. I kept thinking to myself: And this is day one?
I had the most amazing connection with these guys. They had all been to India. India was still very much present in my energy. India was calling me. They spoke to me about their stories in Pushkar and Varanassi. I fell in love all over again, if only for 24 hours. I even had soul recognition with the beautiful Italian man in the group, who had Ganesha tattooed on his arm. We stayed up all night together, I never once grew tired. We talked about our past, in this life and dabbled on our ideas on how we must have known each other in past lives. It was amazing. I know I was meant to cross his path as he did mine. But, I had to remind myself that this was only day one, I needed to slow down, lucky for me these guys were all getting flights out the following day. I was back on my own again. Sad to disconnect but knowing my journey was meant to be alone. Only when I am alone does the world teach me. I have a lot to learn.
As the days followed, the world did go on to teach me. I continued to meet people on Khao San, all coincidentally, having a connection to India. I walked to the amulet market, sat in the presence of many golden Buddhas, but what was supposed to be beautiful, chaotic and perhaps even romantic turned ugly my final days visiting the temples due to the Red Shirt Revolution. On one of my final nights, walking from the amulet market, I walked into a tear gas bomb, near the Democracy Monument where the Red shirts have been staging protests all week. And as quickly as I felt the gas in my eyes and in my throat, I ran towards Khao San, I heard the bullets and the beginning of the violence. I sat in my room for what seemed like forever lucky to have close shelter nearby, and when it was all said and done, went downstairs to discover that there had been many casualties.
Being in Thailand now, I feel like I am watching history in the making. Both my parents suffered so much from political revolutions in their own countries, El Salvador and Cuba. This revolution has the smell and taste of what I only heard about every day as a child. Now, I too have seen brains splattered on the concrete. Now I too, can say I have seen the eyes and pain of war. But I am lucky, I get to leave, to forget, if I would like to.
But this violence for the sake of democracy like so many others going on all over the world, reminds me that war is everywhere. It reminds me that there is a lot of work to be done in the world. I am reminded that I must continue to live my life as an example of peace and love. That we must all continue to live this way, teaching and inspiring each other, so that someday, in some lifetime, there will truly be peace for all. I have to go on living hoping this will be so. I do not want any more children to grow up hearing the bullets, fearing the bombs. I fear for this world, but in that fear I grow. I wake up today and I practice, meditating on love and peace. Because, even one individual can make a difference, it’s the only hope I have to hold on to.
Today I pray about the violence of yesterday and the peace of tomorrow. I pray: May the souls sacrificed last night for the sake of democracy rest in peace and may Bangkok, and the rest of the world for that matter, be funneled with love and peaceful energy so that someday, we can all rest easier when we put our children to bed at night.