Gobi, hello again

As I opened my eyes the next morning, Gobi was in front of my window. Hello again, my endless wasteland! I did not feel apprehensive this time. My hair still smelt of shampoo from Beijing’s hotel room, and I was in no need for water – I had plenty! And in any case, there was now no queue for water. Come on Gobi, I can be content with you!

Gobi responded by presenting me with an oasis in the distance. It was a bright blue-green oasis, shining in the middle of the sunny desert. I felt instantly cheered up. It’s like a gift, isn’t it?

I couldn’t help reading and trying to understand Mongolian monk-poet Danzan Ravjaa’s emotions in the middle of the Gobi. Although I am not religious, I can appreciate interesting ideas from a poet who didn’t get all mystical about the wonders of nature…Perhaps the vast emptiness, the real hardship and the human survival in this space gave Danzan Ravjaa the insight into how the mind works? Although the experience of being in Gobi can never be a “peaceful void” for me as he calls it, I tried to empathize with some of his philosophical conclusions that phenomenon as what we see can be totally illusionary and that “only the one who bites and tastes the food can speak of it”.

In Perfect Qualities, he wrote:

‘While the bright, blue sky is quite empty,
From where do the clear white clouds mass in?
While the mind within has no form,
How does it grow from what is plain as day?

While there is no image in various coloured paints,
Did you yourself see the brilliant rainbow being made?
While the clarity you see is not proof,
Happiness and suffering are thought to stand out clearly.

Although a mirror will reflect your laughing,
You can clearly see the image isn’t real.
While my desiring mind is unrestricted,
When I snapped my fingers, did I not see it vanish?

What we call mist is a force to separate lucidities.
The action of every mind is virtue and merit.
Though you dream a story, it’s a regular mistake of sleep.
Though you see birth and death, it’s a trick of the mind.

Although a heat mirage can be seen, it is empty.
Although you dream yourself to have a title, where is it in fact?
You might believe in magic, but it is held to be untrustworthy.
You might chase after this life, but, as you’ll see, it changes in the end.

…How much does a moon in water,
Light up the darkness?...

Meanwhile, the sun kept shining into my cabin. Not at all illusionary…It was the first time I felt Gobi so real and gentle.

Then, human traces – small buildings and houses - came into sight. It’s a village! The train has come into Choyr, at 9am. A school playground stood right in front of the train. It was empty. Kids were selling goods instead, along the train on the platform. They went from carriage to carriage, ‘Water! Water!’

Ulaanbaatar was just a few hours away. But the land was still barren, with a few gers dotted along the way.