Hainan NON

Within 10 minutes of landing, it felt NON, non spiritual. NON existent.

It bothered me at first, wanting instead the essence of the rituals of, say perhaps, the Balinese. Then I remembered, from earlier travel throughout China and Indo-China. I remembered the Blue car burned with the Monk who set himself on fire in Vietnam, the Cultural Revolution’s loss of identity and culture, Pot Poh in Cambodia, Su Kri under house arrest, theocracies of idealism, separation of church and state and then I remembered to suspend it all (after all, I had just been in India three months earlier, what was I expecting anyway?) so I suspended---just to see what is within this culture on this island, like any other island, man-made or otherwise.

I've been here a month. The people are the most kind and hospitable ever. About the third week, it hit me. It’s usually the third week where ever I go. In India, when I was greeted for the thousandth time with the red on the forehead to “energize me” I broke down in tears from emotional overload. Ten minutes later, I was fine. So within the third week, here in Hainan China, it happened again. I was sitting in a Russian restaurant, and all of a sudden, motivated by nothing specific at all, I missed my deceased dog so much, I could barely get the napkin off my lap, pay the bill (no tip necessary in China) and say goodbye in a controlled manner. Ten minutes later, a wave of spiritual energy bathed my body. I had been lifted up somehow, my mind clear as a bell, in that cafe, drinking a cup of coffee and talking stories to the waiter.

Whatever stories we make up, create, recreate, recite, or omit, to give reason to our existence, is OK and NON OK, because its source comes from within the culture anyway, with or without doctrine. Democratic India (Kerals excluded) or Communist China--same source. Now every day, miracles are happening here. I can travel anywhere.