Monday night I attended a Lunar Tea Gathering at Kaleisia Tea Lounge celebrating the Vietnamese New Year. Sunday night I had intended to attend the celebration at Chua Phat Phap Vietnamese Temple and Vihara in St. Petersburg, but the fatigue that has plagued me since I started radiation treatments prevented it. Our little celebration was more personal and participatory. Kim did the Gongfu Cha tea ceremony and discussed New Years traditions in her culture and in her family. In fact we all contributed our own traditions which were similar or otherwise related to them. This was such a beautiful experience.
For Western New Year, I was too fatigued to do anything more than watch the celebration. However, having celebrated the Vietnamese New Year, I plan to celebrate the Tibetan New Year and then the Thai New Year in coming months. Tibetan New Year (Losar) will be February 25th this year. Thai New Year will be April 19th.
I'm sure or at least hope that the Dharma Center will have some celebration for Losar, but I don't yet know what they are. For the Thai New Year I'll check with friends about their plans as well as check the different temples' schedules. I have a strong inclination to try to go to Wat Florida Dhammaram to make another pilgrimage to the votive shrines.
Each of these three New Years dates marks a significant point in this journey. Right now, with only six therapy sessions remaining ,I am at the stage of seeing the end of my treatments just “around the corner.” After all of this I can soon expect to go from radiation therapy sessions to recovering from their side effects. When I get to Losar, I should be experiencing a return of some level of energy. Some time around Songkran (Thai New Year) I should get the confirmation of the effectiveness of all this treatment. I have no reason to expect anything less than a full recovery from both the cancer and the radiation therapy.
New Year traditions in most cultures involve reflection on one's past and future. It is standing between what has been done, whether for good or ill, and what is yet to be accomplished. We have a chance, like a ship's navigator, to check our position and our heading against our charted course. Are we off course? Are we heading in the right direction?
It is particularly valuable to me that I am celebrating these days and doing this reflection surrounded by cultural traditions which were shaped by centuries of Buddhist practice and guided by centuries of Dharma teachings. This keeps me from losing sight of the karmic roots of my circumstances or of being of benefit to all sentient beings. While it does originate in “seeds” planted in a previous lifetime, its value is in helping all other beings.
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