Salt * Wet * Fish

This year, I finally decided to perform the 3 steps 1 bow for Vesak together with some of the Heartland members at Por Khar See Bright Hill Temple. This year we had a 8 persons turnout which is probably the biggest so far. My main worrying about this ritual is that my knees cannot make it and that I will be too tired and give up along the way. I actually forgot one more thing. Its patience, lots of its. You need it because of the long wait at the queues to start off.

Our booked timing is 7 pm and we did not start until 9 pm. We had to queue for 2 hours as it moves towards the start point. Its a good thing that we had plenty to talk about during the entire wait. The moment the ritual starting for me, all my worries about knee pain or tiredness was totally forgotten. Actually, I was less worried already during the queue, as I saw many other people and some older folks who were completing it and they still looked all right.

After the first few prostrations, I managed to get the correct technique so that I don’t strain my legs too much, by using my hands as the main support instead of the legs. The only time it was painful was an uphill stretch that had really rough pebbled roads, this really hurts the knees everytime I kneeled. After that part, the rest of the journey was quite fun and pensive. I enjoyed the last part where water was sprinkled to cool us down, a very welcomed relieve.

http://public.fotki.com/kwongheng/outings/vesakday2005/