OUR WORLD
Talking Story:
Preserving Ancient Traditions
In light of the recent devastating earthquakes in Nepal, I’d like to honor the traditions, sacred places, and spirit of the Nepalese people, by sharing an excerpt from
the Nepal chapters of my book Talking Story: One Woman’s Quest to Preserve
Ancient Spiritual and Healing Traditions (North Atlantic Books). It is my hope
that as we hold the truth of the tragedy and loss of loved ones, homes, and ways
of life, we also remember to hold our brothers and sisters in the light of love, compassion, and hope. May these words and stories allow the reader to feel a deep
heart connection to those who are on the long road toward healing and renewal.
~Marie-Rose Phan-Lê
Talking Story Excerpt From Chapter 6 - Mindfold
Joseph travels with a sleeping mask called Mindfold. It is designed to shut out the light and keep
you in total darkness, even with your eyes open,
to aid with sleeping and dreaming. Mindfold is the
best way to describe our experiences in Nepal—a
shutting out of routine thinking; a displacement of
ordinary reality so that the extraordinary can be
perceived; a state where all reference points have
been redrawn—mind bending over on itself.
Since my return from that odyssey, I have spent
these past fourteen years vacillating between
working to get my mind back to where it was before I embarked on the journey and grasping the
meaning of the creases Nepal left behind. Perhaps
some things are not meant to be immediately understood. Perhaps when experiences are too dense
for the psyche to process, they need to stew awhile
until they are broken down into bite-size digestible
morsels.
v
After thirty-six hours of travel and crossing several
time zones, we landed in Kathmandu, the starting
58 | NEW CONSCIOUSNESS REVIEW
place of our quest to seek out some of the healers
of Nepal.
Despite the jet lag, I felt surprisingly well—centered, grounded, not excited, but “insighted” with
a feeling that all was right. There is a thirteen-hour
and forty-five-minute time difference between Nepal and Seattle. Nepal is one of two places whose
time is always fifteen minutes off from the rest
of the world. It seems a place moving to its own
rhythm.