Rugged Interdependency - Amaravati Buddhist Monastery

Golden Highways Revisited: 1998So it was with glad smiles that many familiar faces greeted us: Joseph Kappel(the former Ajahn Pabhākaro, whom we had just seen at IMS) – over from the EastCoast – was there with mother and sister, Mark Rasmussen and others from theCloud Mountain retreat, Steve Willhelm, Ani Tenzin Kacho, Metta’s aunt JaniceClark, Carole DeLima, August Barua, etc., etc.The advertised title of the talk was Buddhism from the Beginning and it was supposedto deal with the origin of the universe, the arising of the ego, the arisingof dukkha and the source of true happiness. It was a high energy affair and folksseemed to appreciate the words – I tried to keep it practical so we stayed near thelikes of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness and samatha-vipassanā and enquiryinto the feeling of self.June 3 rdBy the time we returned to Stuart and John’s the batteries were pretty flat (a lotof folks had lined up to say hello and goodbye afterwards). So it was with greatdelight that the next morning was spent in the warm and colorful embrace of theirhome drinking coffee, talking of travels and tales of lessons learned, all to theaccompaniment of a Japanese countertenor/castrato type and the almighty blasts ofKarl Orff’s Wheel of Fortune – bathing in nectar-flavored morning light we delightedin the sweetness of each other’s company until, after Stuart’s gourmet repast wasover, we hit the road again – retracing the grey ribbon south to Portland.Thin green walls of fir rib the highway, screening the desolated landscapebehind them from view. Dark, snake-back road, the emerald channel and the overarchingblue – we move through patches of overcast sky every 20 minutes or so,now warm, now cool. Many trucks fill the flow of movement in both directions– rolling with us through the white man’s land, where all that remain of the last4,000 years of human occupancy are the sounds of local names, syllables of powerand living beauty: Nisqually, Shummchuck River, Kalama, Onalaska. Just south ofMidway Meats, Uncle Sam’s reactionary billboard has moved to the other side ofthe freeway – today it declares: “Indians police their own salmon catch? Would youlet the fox watch the hen house?” That’s the spirit!Rolling ever south, past the Harvest States silos at Kalama beside the river,roadsides lounge heavily speckled with California poppies, egg-orange golden inthe bright light. Pulling into Vancouver a little after 4:00 p.m., we stop to say helloto Virginia and William Barber – Ajahn Sumedho’s sister and brother-in-law. Ithas also been two or three years since I last saw them so there is plenty of news tocatch up on – the opening of the California Monastery, Ajahn Sumedho’s impendingvisit next spring, plus of course his intended trip to Tibet, to circumambulateMount Kailash in October – now there will be a tale to tell…Into the city of rivers and bridges and threading our way to Dharma Rain ZenCenter – round the corner from Mike Echols’ house, and Janné and Charles’ offHawthorne. It is not exactly an umbrella Buddhist outfit itself, more that severalindependent groups collaborate and use the facility for their own meetings.84