Journal 27

December 12 - This record is becoming rather un-contemporaneous. I'll try to catch up. I spent a day at Opata, where there is some formidable jungle (lions, bears, tigers, etc., I'm told). There are some caves, I was informed, half a mile into the jungle, but it takes over 2 hours to reach them. This sounds like formidable jungle, indeed. There was a pleasant fast river where I spent the afternoon, and the evening I spent talking with the villagers, most of whom are very ignorant, but not at all stupid - their questions were on a very basic level and showed only t e slightest acquaintance with the Dhamma, but the questions had the incomparable advantage of being relevant to their own lives. Unfortunately, they have not, and will not, receive the proper guidance from the resident monks, who seem uninterested in anything but their own finances. Still, it is a promising location for one who wants to live alone in the jungle, the main doubt being whether support would continue on a permanent basis, which would depend largely, but not entirely, on the monk…