A City In Colour

I found myself  on an eye-wateringly early flight home to Los Angeles this morning after a wonderful few days in Mexico City. There’s something about a 3.30 am wake up call that transports you to a different dimension for a while; as we drove to the airport, the streets were silently quiet and the lights of the vast city twinkled in the dark sky across the horizon.

Mexico City is one of my favourite places to visit. The colours, warmth of the people and the atmosphere redolent of time past and soaked in the chaotic present conjure up instant happiness as soon as my feet touch the ground.

I was there to share some dharma time with the lovely community of Dechen Mexico. We had a special few days together in the oasis of the Buddhist center with the warmth and wonder of the Buddha’s teachings. As we sat from time to time in silent contemplation, the breezes blew through the shrine room doors and the birds sang brightly outside. Those moments outside of time where everything just flows.

We went walking in familiar and new parts of the city. I visited a section of Chapultepec Park. It reminded me so strongly of Hyde Park’s Serpentine that I could taste the homesickness. While strolling after lunch at a restaurant in El Pedregal, I stepped through a mirror into LA, such was the nature of the landscape and some of the buildings, not to mention a certain atmosphere of ostentatious display!  The Festival of Flowers at Polanco also caught our eye and we wandered amidst gigantic floral creations: hummingbirds, parrots, flamingoes and peacocks whose colours jostled one another in friendly competition.

Mexico City finds a deeper place in my heart each time that I visit. Connections with friends take stronger root and I feel the atmospheres of this vast and varied city at a different pitch on every occasion. I can’t wait to be back again, next year with my daughter.

As I flew home I watched Past Lives, a film that has been on my list for a while. It bowled me over and I sat with tears in my eyes as the credits rolled. Such a beautiful and moral story of love, restraint and the connections between us, with the Korean Buddhist notion of inyeon woven through it all. The cinematography, split between Seoul and New York was perfect. My heart thrilled to the cityscapes and I resolved to be back amidst Manhattan’s towers before the year is up. The acting was just superb, particularly, I thought, Teo Yoo who plays the male lead, Hae Song. Highly recommended.

And now back in the midst of our LA life, I walk the hound as the day draws to its close and my mind turns towards the lessons of tomorrow.