Winds from China

nine-dragons1

There are massive storm fronts from China wondering down the east coast of the S.E. Asian peninsular and crossing Vietnam laden with rain, the north east monsoons.
The storms are erratic and uncharacteristically unpredictable. This morning a storm from the east erupted over Phnom Penh at 5:00am, the lightening flared and even with the curtains drawn the room I was sleeping in lit up, the windows rattled with thunder. I love a storm, I love the rain and I love the cool winds that keep the sky heavy with clouds and the temperatures down.

The barometric changes bounced about and my ears almost popped with the pressure changes. My joints cracked with the release of nitrogen as I stretched in bed still blinded by the white flare of light, ouch my knee felt stiff and my back cramped. The dawn came with the sound of rain drumming and the unholy roar of distant thunder.

It is winter, Cambodians walk about in hoodies and long sleeves and it’s still hot, go figure. Today I went to a walking meditation and as I walked I felt like a sweaty thief tip toeing about, it was only later that I realized I’d held my back stiff, as if I was on high alert, like a thief in a strange house. Somewhere inside me I realized that I often feel like an outsider, one of my greatest teachers said to me, “If you want to lead an extraordinary life do the opposite to the common man.“ Be alert, do not get into habitual behaviour that dulls your mind and lulls you into a sense of permanence, this too will change.