Three weeks with my brother - Nicholas Sparks [79]
We’d squint, searching for the temple and finding it, thinking, so far, so good. Then, unfortunately, the lecturer would go on.
“As you probably know, the temple behind him represents the cosmos as centered on Mount Meru—in other words, it’s the model of the universe in microcosm! This—as with everything about Angkor Wat—is the same representation! And all these reliefs come from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata as well as the Bhagavad-Gita, which is absolutely extraordinary, if you think about it. Furthermore, as we move along, you’ll also notice scenes from the life of Suryavarman II himself, who apparently decided to identify himself with Rama and Krishna, the incarnations of Vishnu, thus making himself out to be a Devaraja! You can just imagine what Jayavarman II thought about that, especially after defeating the Chams. Oh, and just up ahead, we’ll see the famous relief that depicts the myth of cosmic renewal, also known as the Churning of the Sea of Milk!”
By then, Micah’s eyes had acquired a familiar glassy sheen.
“Milk?”
“That’s what he said.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Micah went on. “And who’s Rama and what on earth is a Devaraja?”
“Do you want me to ask?”
“No,” he said quickly. “Maybe if no one asks, he’ll eventually move on.” Micah paused for a moment before shaking his head. “I mean, does he really think we know all this stuff about Shiva?”
“Vishnu. He’s talking to us about the God Vishnu.”
“Whatever,” he said. “My point is, I don’t know any of this, I won’t remember any of this. It’s too much—I mean, the wall is ten feet high and goes all the way around the temple. It’s over half a mile long. Architecturally, it’s amazing, and I can see why it took decades to build it. But unless you live for this stuff, the carvings seem to run together.”
“Relief carvings,” I said. “Relief.”
“Whatever.”
Meanwhile, our lecturer was still talking on and on, growing even more excited.
“And notice outside the four sandstone heads atop the perimeter wall! Can you see them? We think those represent the Guardians of the Four Directions, or maybe even the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara!”
When we reached the center of Angkor Wat and stood at the base of the temple mount, the lecturer was in full swing.
“It’s interesting to compare Mahayana and Theravada Buddhism, but for historical purposes, you might keep in mind the animism that was also prevalent in the early Khmer empire—for example, the belief in Neak Ta. Perhaps you noticed the serpent god Naga near the entrance? This—”
“Excuse me?” Micah interrupted.
The lecturer paused. “Yes?”
Micah pointed to the temple-mountain. “Can we climb that thing?”
We spent the remaining hour exploring the ruins on our own. We climbed the steep, crumbling steps and wandered through the rocky corridors, posed for pictures, and surveyed Angkor Wat from the highest spots we could reach.
“I hope there’s not a test on any of this,” Micah said as we walked back down the causeway. “I’d flunk.”
“You and me both.”
He paused. “Do you realize we’ve been gone for two weeks?”
“It doesn’t seem like it.”
“It’s kind of sad to think about it. I’d been dreaming about this trip for months, and we’re already more than halfway through. It’s going so fast.”
“Dreams are funny like that,” I said. “You want something so desperately, you somehow get it, then just as suddenly it’s over. Like running races—all that training for a couple of minutes on the track. The secret, I’ve learned, is to appreciate the process.”
“Are you getting philosophical on me?”
“No,” I admitted. “I’m just talking to hear my head rattle.”
“Good,” he said. “I’ve had more than enough philosophy for one day.”
We walked a little farther.
“Do you miss Christine?” I asked.
“Yeah,” he said. “The kids, too. How about you?”
I nodded. “I’ve been missing them since I left.”
Cat and I married in Manchester, New Hampshire, Cathy’s hometown. In the previous six months, she’d had to make the arrangements from across the country. She’d gone home only twice; my bride-to-be, I was beginning to understand,