On Saigon and The Hai Houc (Comedian) Phuc Nguyen

The story below was written in 2018, in the good old pre-overwhelm days, when I like to imagine suffering over not enough going on at The Higher Haven was so much more pleasant than suffering with way, way, way too much going on. “Do not say, ‘Why were the old days better than these?’ For it is not wise to ask such questions.” according to Ecclesiastes 7:10. Regariding Good News, the good news is I’m writing this preamble from Phon Penh, Cambodia, over 8,000 miles from South Haven, Michigan USA. Regarding betterment, happiness, and transformation, I’m pleased to report that the healing provided by the great land of Vietnam just about a year ago has been wonderfully, joyfully confirmed. While all that settles, let me introduce you to one of the forces of light I discovered in a far, far-away land, on the other side of the world actually, Noon in Vietnam being midnight in Michigan EST. The Secret King of the modern day people of Vietnam I like to call him, the honorable Nguyen Ba Phuc, my Ban, good friend and Kola, who opened up the world of Southeast Asia and its ancient healing ways to me almost twenty years ago.

Behold morning at the Cái Râng Floating Market in Cân Tho, center of the Mekong Delta, 200 kilometers outside Saigon city, Vietnam. Cái Râng translates to Teeth of the Crocodile per the mighty Phuc Nguyen, the dude on the right leveling a shot off the bow of that boat like Quint the shark killer. Mr. French Indo-China circa 1954 I call him, a nickname I find très apropos, as it references the time his Viet ancestors sent their French colonizers packing at the battle of Din Bin Pho. Phuc (pronounced Fook) Nguyen (pronounced Win) is a name akin to John Smith in the states. But in this case, it’s the common name of a very uncommon man. Over ten years ago our paths crossed in a hotel lobby in Ho Chi Minh City, the modern name for Saigon honoring the country’s iconic leader. And while the entire span of our friendship consists of hanging out for a few weeks total, some of the best days of my life have been in Vietnam with Phuc as my right arm. He’s my Nguoi an hem tinh thân, My Brother in the Spirit. After reconnecting excitedly at the airport, we jumped in the car and took one another in. “Hmmm Paul, the last time I saw you, it seems you were in the desert, crossing a great desert. But now, it seems as if… you have found the water.” 

That’s one of one thousand dien (crazy) cool Phuc Nguyen-isms. Check my Facebook photos around 2008 and you’ll see a picture of Phuc on the machine-gun range at the tunnels of Cu Chi, a section of the immense network of tunnels that underlie much of Vietnam. My private guide that day, he recounted some incredible - and incredibly dark - history from the American War, the name VN people dub the conflict. The caption to the photo reads: This is when I realized Phuc was a Genius. As soon as we were together in the car on Wednesday, the jokes flew, prompting me to ask: “Phuc how do you say Comedian in Vietnamese?” He laughed – hi hi hi is the way they script laughter in VN– informing me that, “Haì Huõć is like the professional comedian. But Vui Ve is the funny man.” Being so Pro and at the same time so demure, Phuc embodies both. “Paul, you have no idea how many times I have heard the tourist call to the home and say, ‘We have a Vietnamese comedian for a chaperon’”. The language being totally tonal, he speaks in a croaky, sing-song voice that escalates musically. and lends itself to funny interpretation.. Phuc doesn’t say “Ok Ok”once or twice when he understands what you’re trying to convey; he says it seventeen times, “Ok, ok, ok, ok, ok, ok, ok (etc.). When I start echoing him and we get going, it rises into a chorus of OK’s and laughter, a concurring wellspring of joy that can fill the South China Sea. 

Three things define Phuc Nguyen, three things that, in my mind, define most Vietnamese people: humor, humility and class. On my second visit, he asked, “Mr. Paul (the respectful name he used for me prior to our friendship), I have the question for you: Why is it the Westerners all come here looking like such slobs? You are well-to-do people, so why can’t you put on a collared shirt?” I looked down, considered my ripped-up Replacements T-shirt, Adidas shorts and flip flops and replied, “Let me give that thought and get back to you Phuc.” We enjoyed a visit to a wonderful, peaceful farm after the floating market where the owner-family often finds petrified bombs in their surrounding fields. Phuc’s spontaneous bit - one of many that has me never underestimating the caliber of his creative contributions - had me holding one of the disarmed shells while he interrogated me, asking, “So your people dropped the bombs on us, and yet here we are this afternoon serving you a nice lunch.” His other routine had me hoisting old weapons from the American conflict, while he joked, “no matter how great your arsenal, against the Vietnamese con gai (girl) you will lose, you will surely meet defeat” Leave it to a seasoned Vietnamese funny man like Phuc to turn total tragedy into pure comedy, a stand-up man in every way. 

‘Neath all the laughter, Phuc’s understanding of Vietnamese history, culture and spirituality played a big part in my personal transformation and ongoing quest for spiritual liberation. The first time I witnessed a funeral, on Vietnam’s central coast, it Blew. Me. Away. A slow parade of family and friends dressed in white rather than black follow the hearse, an ornately decorated, golden vehicle covered in dragons and other mythical creatures, all followed up by a New Orleans-like jazz band of drums, trombones, and trumpets blaring out unharmonious, happy tunes. Phuc observed my wide-eyed take of the scene and said, “Ah, the Paradise Car.” “Do they call it the Paradise Car?” I asked “That’s so cool.” “No, no no (etc.), they don’t it the Paradise Car,” he replied. “I call it the Paradise car.” After visiting temples and introducing me to the country’s colorful 54 tribal groups along with their myriad of religions, offering alms and releasing small birds from cages as a gesture toward liberation, I asked, “Phuc, tell me. What do you believe?” I still hear his deep, croaky reply. “Mr. Paul, I believe it all.”

As to the spiritual source of my connection to Vietnam, God only knows. I jokingly like to think that having been born April 8th, 1967 at 3:12 pm in Detroit, Michigan, USA, perhaps nine months earlier a village idiot met his demise in the mountains near Sapa, Vietnam . I’m finishing this story now at a café in Ha noi, beginning the day with a visit to pay respects to the great Ho Chi Minh, lying in state at Lăng Chủ tịch Hồ Chí Minh, the marble mausoleum serving as the revolutionary leaders final resting place. Well protected by a military honor guard with adults and many school children lined up for hours, cameras and photos are strictly prohibited. While It’s a solemn, honorable, contemplative endeavor, the creator in me couldn’t help being inspired by a line artistically etched into the entranceway. Unable to take a pic, I made it a mantra as I quietly filed through with the rest of the good Vietnamese people paying homage. Upon passing through the exit way, I quickly texted Phuc.

Me: Khong co gi quy hon doc lap tu - what does it mean.? 

Phuc: Who says this to you!? 

 Me: Uncle Ho, Uncle Ho tells me! (I text this but as I do I’m laughing, imitating Phuc’s sing-song intonation)

Phuc: Nothing Is More Precious than Freedom

Shinzen's Final Dharma Talk

Shin’s Mins (Minions) untangle and free him after his final nightly Dharma talk, commending us all on Work well done.

When the Buddha wished to praise someone, he had a saying: Kuta Karta Niem – they did what needed to be done. Kuta Karta Niem. They did the work. And so I say to all of you: Kuta Kara Niem (bow). You have all the reason in the world to feel very good about yourselves. Upon leaving retreat there are a lot of things you need to know – especially if you’ve never done or left a retreat before. Big Picture-wise, after a retreat, exactly one of four things happens: (why does this not surprise us) you either get afterglow, aftershock, both, or none/neither. Afterglow -  tranquility, energy, cascading insights, pleasant emotions… more and more that becomes the predictable result of a retreat. However, at the beginning, not necessarily so – there are other possibilities. You could have sort of the opposite of that – aftershock. Vulnerability, disorientation, all sorts of… stuff, bubbling up from the inside because it’s no longer held down by concrete. You become porous in respect to what’s inside and you become porous in respect to what’s outside. My standard remark, only because I have so many times experienced what I’m about to describe myself upon leaving a retreat, I’m shocked to discover the that entire population of North America has become… Insane. I walk into a 7-11, I’m driving down the 405 freeway and one has stop think: they all went crazy, completely berserk, since I was away on retreat? There can be that sense of vulnerability to the outside world. 

In the afterglow and aftershock discussion, there’s only two things you need to know: why it’s happening and what to do about it. Why it’s happening is not because you did something wrong. In fact, it’s a consequence of doing something right. I say this at the end of every retreat, and for many people it’s just words, but at some point you’ll say to yourself, “My goodness, I know now why he says that after every retreat”. First of all, we are in this for the long haul as far as I’m concerned. It’s a life-long endeavor, but doable by a householder. The spiritual path is a sequence – not one, not two, not three, not four, but dozens and dozens and dozens of acclimitizations over the period of a lifetime, to a state that is less fixated and progresslively more attenuated. That is the very meaning of Spirit. Spirit in English from the Latin Spiritus from the Greek Pneuma from the Hebrew Ruach And it means Wind! The wind is powerful, but it’s unfixated and attenuated. It is There. But it is not there. 

The LITERAL spiritual path is different from the content spiritual path which is, “I have spiritual images I have spiritual self-talk I have spiritual feelings, in the physicality of in my body.” But the spiritual SUBSTANCE is… quite a different thing. And those are the two sides of the spiritual path and of course they both have their validity. But the substance of enlightenment – which is what we’re really interested in, in which the practitioner becomes less and less fixated and more and more attenuated – that takes acclimatization. My Father was in the Navy during World War II and he relayed the saying to me “Getting your sea legs”. When someone is first on a ship, it’s unfixated right? They’re holding on to the railing, they have difficulty walking, and then at some point they acclimatize to the fact that there’s no solid ground underneath them. And then they’ve got their sea legs. This is a little bit like that but even more so. The ground will be ripped away from under you moment by moment, and your being will be scattered to fill the Universe moment by moment. And that takes some getting used to. 

The old coping mechanism which sorta works is to tighten up and turn away. The new coping mechanism is the diametric opposite - open up and turn toward. It’s rather difficult then to avoid the awkward, intermediate steps, and not just once and not just twice. What happens though eventually is that you get so used to it that it’s a non-issue. So if one experiences after-shock, it’s simply of result of that process - the old armor is no longer sufficient to ward off the stings and bites of the material world. But the new coping mechanism - which is that you’re so open and porous   things pass right through – takes a bit to establish itself. What to do about it? Just keep up your four pillars of practice – and you know what they are – organized retreat practice, organized daily life practice, get support and give support. Regarding aftershock and afterglow then – enjoy the pleasant part and you know what to do about the other side. And then the neither. You don’t have to have dramatic things occur on this path to be making progress. Actually, a lot of times, people don’t quite realize how far they’ve gone because they’re acclimatized to that, and then something comes up and they realize, “I really, really have changed.” More killer articles from Shin’s talks and teachings to come, as well as some new stories from the road. For now, Chao tam biet.

Happy Holidays & New Year '19

Happy Christmas and Chanukah, Merry New Year, hope the Holidays are treating you well. “There’s a happy feeling nothing in the world can buy… when they pass around the coffee and the pumpkin pie…”. So goes the song as well as the theory, considering so many of us hold the Holidays as a challenging rather than heart-warming time. Here, we ended the year with a great early December retreat weekend, enjoyed a little Holiday gathering where I did my best to serve a traditional feast (challenging!) and finally appreciated a sunny and warm Winter Solstice. We’re excited about the upcoming 2019 season beginning with another great Winter Count Workshop the last weekend in February. And between now and then, I’ll be off renewing mind and practice at a year-end/beginning retreat with my teacher Shinzen Young. 

On retreat, Shinzen gives nightly dharma talks touching on his own practice and life experiences. He recounts semi-torturous, humorous happenings from what he dubs his Samurai Bootcamp days, living in Zen Temples and meditating in Japanese monasteries. At an old-school traditional Rinzai Zen sesshin (literally “touching the heart-mind”), the monks devote themselves almost exclusively to zazen (sitting) practice that includes much discomfort and little sleep. In the middle of the night, a voice once cried out from an accompanying bunk bed, “Why are we doing this!?” cutting the crew’s measly shut-eye time from three hours to one.

 Why are we doing this? Why do we go on retreat? Why do people take the time to still themselves in practice in a simplified environment for a few hours, a few days, even a few weeks? A clear response should be provided to people who inquire what in the world this endeavor is all about. The quick and dirty in Shin parlance is a simple, deep and bold answer: it’s a component of practice that leads TO BEING OPTIMALLY HAPPY IN EVERY WAY POSSIBLE. Shinzen of course can riff on happiness along with any other subject vis-à-vis mindfulness and mind-training. His five dimensions of Complete Happiness are 1) Reduced Perceived Suffering 2) Elevated Sensual Fulfillment 3) Understanding yourself at all levels 4) Making positive behavior changes 5) Cultivating/discovering a spirit of love and service toward others. What’s the relationship between developing attentional skills and gaining these abilities? A coherent description that explains what we do -  mainly working to develop core attentional skills of concentration, sensory clarity and equanimity - why we do it, and its relevance to human happiness is quite a valuable teaching. 

Much to be said about that connection, and you can google or check YouTube for more on Shinzen’s talks and unbounded ideas on the subject. Or check The Higher Haven’s 2019 schedule and come out for a retreat or private lesson. Ask Shinny himself and you’ll find his best recommendation for getting support and elevating your practice is to work with a personal mindfulness coach on a regular basis. What might this add to your life? How might this help save our dying world? Come visit or shout me out and you’ll be surprised.

Last night’s storytelling ended on Shinzen’s imaginative take on what one day might become of our species. “Anger, fear sadness, embarrassment, impatience, interest, joy, love, gratitude, humor, smile, something pleasant, something unpleasant, some…thing. These are the forces that mold the human world, from the intra-psychic to the interpersonal to the international. It’s not rage, terror, grief and shame that causes the most destruction and ethnic cleansing. If we don’t make it on this planet and thousands of years from now some other advanced beings wants to honor and lament homo sapiens, my fantasy is that on our collective tombstone or memorial as a species will read: ‘Subtle Emotional Body Sensations Did Them In”. These are the reason things work on this planet and in the lives of its inhabitants or they don’t. These sensations rule.” Come out this year and learn techniques to put you in better command of these forces, allowing them to motivate, direct and elevate your human make-up for an even Happier New Year 2019.