I got off the bus at 5am and the girls room all the ladies were grooming themselves to perfection. I can’t believe how awake and alert they are at 5am in the morning for a beauty session. It was fascinating to watch them.
I knew getting a cab to the train station would cost 50 to 70 BHT but that I would have to pay a tourist price instead. It was too early in the morning to try to catch a bus and go cheap. I wanted to get to the train terminal to catch the train into Laos. I arrived at the station and was greeted by nice and very helpful workers. I bought the 6am train to North Thailand at Nong Khai. Then I would have to cross the border. The ticket was for 348 BHT. On the way tot the train deck I saw a monk getting food. The lady said it was all vegetarian. The vendor made quite an offering but the monk asked for more. The lady started to shoo him away and I had a déjà vu. I recalled this scene from a dream. In which had an opportunity to make an offering for this monk at this stand, exactly like this at this time. In the dream I forgot to make an offering and I woke up with deep regrets. I had forgotten about this because I had not been in a Thai train station before. I told the vendor I would cover the cost of whatever was additional he asked for and he recited a blessing as I stood there to receive it.
In my cart were four Britishs who were all going to Laos. Since the train arrives in the evening they were concerned with the border being closed by the time we arrived. It would be a twelve and half hour train ride.
In front of me was a Western man with a Thai girlfriend. He was drinking at 6am in the morning. In fact he drank the entire time one after another. I befriended a Swiss and Irish couple and we traded travel information. They are traveling around the world for a year.
On the train I recited the whole way especially passing by the opium plantations. A few years back in meditation I saw a map of Asia and a demon showing up to tell me which area was under his jurisdiction that if I was to enter his area that I am not to interfere with his work. He had a black book and in it were names of people. People who would become future demons by staying in pain and grief. It was the first time I looked at a demon from a different light. Once people who were stuck in pain and expressed it in anger. This demon was once a friend from the past. It was during a Roman Era. He was a skilled strategic military soldier who believed in the continual warring would bring about peace and safety of his beloved ones at home. Although he was not a general he was sure on his way up. He was extremely disciplined. Ten year later, when he arrived home he found a deserted land full of skeletons and skull. The entire town was not protected and instead was raided and destroyed. Everyone died long ago. He cursed the sky for the lie he lived in for the past decade and all his efforts were in vein. It was then the stepped onto a path to a career in demon life.
As I sat on the train I recalled why I was always afraid of this part of the world and not really know why. Now I know. I feel I enter this part of the world with nothing but hope in my heart, and joy that everything heals in time.
