August 2007
we knew it all along
By the time we had visited Luang Prabang, Brian and I must have seen a thousand temples due to our travels and job postings in Asia. We still loved to visit them, but later visits mostly became a search for something unique rather than viewing yet another seated Buddha serenely gazing down at us. We found the above murals on the wall of one temple in Luang Prabang (not particularly prominently displayed). We both had the same thought and had a huge laugh.
Although Hell is quite typically depicted, "Heaven" struck us both as Central Park, New York City, looking toward Central Park West. We both looked at it, looked at each other, and said "Central Park West". Great merriment ensued and we got a terrible case of the giggles (which really is poor form in a temple). So as not to cause a scene, we exited and had a hearty chuckle outside.
We both loved Central Park West in New York. John Lennon lived there along with Barbara Streisand and host of other modern American royalty. We had to travel all the way to Luang Prabang, Laos to realize that we had lived in heaven for years (admittedly, not at the right address) and never appreciated it. For the artist, heaven was strolling through Central Park (which sported a Lao Temple - I approve!). How many times had I wandered through the southern end of the park looking toward the grand old apartments of Central Park West and thought how lovely it would have been to live there? Some divinely-inspired Buddhist monk in Laos had a similar thought apparently.
It's a small world after all.