I took a personality test this week. It was the Enneagram test (you can take it here: https://www.eclecticenergies.com/enneagram/dotest) and I got the score 5w6. Apparently my personality is "The Loyalist" with a side of "The Investigator." Do you want to know the first sentence of their description of what a "Loyalist" is?
"People of this personality type essentially feel insecure, as though there is nothing quite steady enough to hold onto."
I am not going to tell you whether I find this correct or not (let's just say I felt the same shock when my mom said I was addicted to the show Monk after I rewatched the first seasons within days). But, I will say this sentence did set up the rest of my week quite nicely.
On Wednesday, a staff member taught the class about Human Rights Defenders and Security. The students (and myself) learned how to create a risk analysis for their research projects and things to keep in mind when going to a community as the authorities side eye you.
Not only do you need to be secure in your plan to help the community, but you have to be secure in the way of knowing your surroundings, and being sure you prepared for any possible outcome that could put you, the community, or the goal at risk. Not to mention, Human Rights Defenders use only nonviolent strategies; so you need to be secure in your ability to smoothly make things go in your direction, rather than relying on your James Bond spy moves to get what you want.
The lesson all felt slightly intense and reminded me the important work the students around me had signed up for, and for many had been doing. Working to stop the government or a large company from making millions, sure isn't easy.
Thursday and Friday, Gary Lee from International Rivers, came and taught us about the Mekong River and hydropower dams. International Rivers is an NGO that focuses on protecting the rivers and the communities that depend on them. You can visit their website here: https://www.internationalrivers.org/resources/about-international-rivers-3679, for more details.
He made it rather clear that the communities along the Mekong, especially the lower part, are far from feeling secure. There are 11 proposed dams along the lower part. This would mean irregular water flow, interrupted fish migration, and less fertile soil released from upstream. That alone would have significant impacts on livelihoods of those in Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, and some in Myanmar. Those that live in an area close to a specific dam may even have to be resettled, so the reservoir can be created. And let's not pretend the new communities and houses those who are resettled get are Palm Springs nice. They are often in already settled areas, creating conflict, and with less "nice" houses, and they then have to find new ways of making an income. The first sentence of my "Loyalist" trait could easily apply to these communities' situation.
On the weekend, things became a little more positive. Angela and I started off with going to the Night Bazaar, a market with food and live music. We ate dumplings and a quesadilla (slightly ashamed) that reminded me of home, where I feel most secure.
On Sunday, we ventured to Wat Chedi Luang, a beautiful temple created in 1391, that was partially destroyed by an earthquake in 1545.
As we rounded the last corner of the Wat, we saw a group of monks sitting under some shade, waiting for people to come have a chat, a Monk Chat. We decided to give it the old college go.
From the first words the monk, Claim, said my perception of what monks are like was completely destroyed. He was open, funny, and surprisingly of all, very normal. The other three monks around him, Victor, Jumbo, and Jack were also very normal. They have Facebooks, they know the Avengers, and they make fun of each other.
Once I was able to get past their normal-ness, I started to hear what they were saying. Claim has been a monk for ten years, since he was 13. He said being a monk to him, is not about worshipping Buddha, but learning his lessons and dissecting them to figure out what they mean to him specifically. Claim says he has changed since he started as a monk. He use to care about what others thought of him, but now he cares what he thinks of himself. He has found inner peace. Claim said 10 years is a long time to be constantly working on that inner peace, so he may step down to become a teacher in a couple years. Fifty percent of monks step down after they finish university.
Jumbo is a forest monk, while the other three are city monks. This means Jumbo stays in the forest and focuses more on meditation. Before I came to ERS I read a book about monks ordaining trees to save the nature and those who depend on it from companies and greed. To ordain a tree is to wrap monk robes around it and do chants or other types of things that come with rituals. The tree is then "made holy." That way, it would be against Buddha to cut the tree down, which is a great negative act. When I asked Jumbo if he had been a part of an ordination of nature, he said he had. He and other monks had ordained a forest, it took them six months.
Claim said when a tree is ordained, some people believe angles come to it. He also said some people rub a powder on it and whatever number they see they use for their lottery ticket. Apparently, that's happening a lot.
One of our last topics of the day was about what they can and cannot do as monks. One thing they can't do and they are actually fine with, is ride motorbikes. Their robes are rather restrictive for this activity. As this idea was brought up, Jumbo jumped in with "Supermonk" as the image of their robes floating in the wind as they race forwards, sprang in all our heads. See, I'm telling you, they are fu-uh-knee.
We spent two hours talking to these monks. They seemed very secure. While some of them weren't sure what they would want to do in the future, they had learned how to find security within themselves.
After a long nap, we regrouped and headed out to watch the women's soccer World Cup. It was four Americans, one Columbian, one Vietnamese, and one Dutch. It was a wild ride. There was wonderful trash talking and multiple woot-woots (mainly from the Americans). It felt good to be an American during that game!
To end on another good note,
"Loyalists tend to be practical"
So ha! Security, Semerity. I am practical. And if I find I really need to feel that security, I'm sure Claim, Victor, and Jumbo would be happy to help teach me their ways.
Be well,
Annika