Went to Dinh Quan pagoda again- and this time the dharma talk was disappointing what little of it I caught railed against sex before marriage, AIDS and young people. I guess there is still a conservative streak in some Buddhist monks- just like there are conservatives in the church.
Had a chat with Nicholas and Hannah about ghosts and spirits- they have been here for 8 months and commented that people didn't seem to talk about ghosts etc in the way that they did in Pakistan and India (they are very well travelled). Connecting to this Jon had commented to me that no one seemed to believe in fate in Hanoi from his interviews, Virginia also said that because we were in a capital city that superstition may have less of a hold here. Nicholas knew of an article by a masters student that has the same ambivalence towards ghosts beliefs held by shamans. I suspect that maybe these beliefs are in flux, partly because of the Communist suppression of these beliefs, and modernity. Thich Nhat Hanh believes that the len dong ceremonies and shamanic ceremonies are fake (I'm paraphrasing here). I suppose in the Western world even though people pray to God and the Holy Spirit it doesn't mean they believe the holy spirit manifests everywhere or that they believe in hell etc etc. Maybe this selective belief holding is just human- or a manifestation of modernity as well. For the record I believe in ghosts. But I don't believe in other spirits. At least not yet!!
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