April 18, 2010

030107 last bit of Phra Boromathat chedi

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Not as spectacular as Phongsaly or Phu Langka, but nevertheless still beautiful:

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Tripod-hugger:

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Photo by the other cat

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Photos by the other cat:

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Because he specfically instructed this cat to post BIG FAT photos of him :P

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Cat radar at work again:

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Down the 700+ steps we climbed this morning - at night, the best parts are the unlit sections where the cat spotted many glow worms on its way up:

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030107 more naga

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030107 another naga that ate that

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Just like its hungry counterpart in Wat Mai (Luang Prabang).

030107 Batman Buddhas

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Buddha posture for Sunday - ปางถวายเนตร bpang thawai net, standing with right hand crossed over left:

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Buddha posture for Friday - ปางรำพึง bpang ramphoeng, standing with hands folded over chest:

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The design of the robes makes the Buddhas look as if they're the caped crusaders of Wat Gotham :P

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030107 sinking chedi

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As the sun gets stronger the ground beneath melts & the chedi starts to sink:

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Carpark in foreground slopes down to the right, skewing the perspective :P

030107 cos YK likes grasses

For the other YK, who climbed up to this chedi with the cat in 2005:

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030107 moonset sunrise

Sorry for poor images - cat no have tripod.

YK's idea - a reprise of what he'd done during his field studies trip to Mae Salong - 4:00am climb up 700+ steps to the hilltop Phra Borommathat chedi. Only source of light up there - a freaking bright full moon:

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Ethereal - the moonlit chedi glowed beneath a swirl of stars + thin wisps of clouds threaded through the nightsky, which had the cat thinking of Mickey Mouse in the Sorcerer's Apperentice & this version of the Walt Disney Pictures logo. Accompanying silence + coldness of the wind = the kinda moment when the world stands still as both mind + heart are filled with an almost meditative lightness that cannot be translated into any number of pixels.

是诸法空相 the characteristics of all things empty: 不生不灭 nothing arises nothing ceases
不垢不净 nothing is defiled nothing is pure 不增不减 nothing increases nothing decreases
是故空中无色 in emptiness there is no form 无受想行识 no sensation, perception, volition or consciousness

- 《心经》 Heart Sutra

While the rest staked out the east side of the chedi in anticipation of sunrise, the cat sat on cold tiled floor at the west side basking/mentally floating in the dry form of moonshine:

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Moon starts to turn orange...

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...with first hint of sun under the morning star in the east:

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Standing at the north side of the chedi - moon retires from night duty on the left...

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...in perfect tandem with the sun taking over for day shift on the right:

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