At the Desk

I've been spending a good deal of my time at my desk recently. I feel very fortunate to have the time to study this month. Studying Khmer is always fulfilling and the results are always quite tangible, but it is also just as compelling for me to read about new research in Cambodian Buddhism and then go out to local wat and observe what I have read about firsthand. I am very excited to be able to do some reseach of my own over the next couple of months.


I have also started working on transcribing some recorded smoat music and reading some translations of the chants. In order to really learn the music I will also need to know the meaning of the words, which are both in Khmer and Pali (an ancient Indian language). So while I have a good deal of work to look forward to, I am grateful that this kind of work is very fulfilling for me. And the music is all around me. When I walk through the streets and pass by a funeral, the smoat music, made even more eerie by the fact that is played on cassette tapes that have been copied way too many times, echoes between the building. And because I live across the street from a wat, if I rise at 4:30 AM (well worth it), I can hear both the chanting of the monks and live smoat chanting, because the Pchum Ben fesitival is currently taking place. Every hour of every day there is an opportunity to learn something new.

Silapak Khmer Amatak (SKA or Cambodian Living Arts) has asked me to write monthly updates of my progress. I wrote a first draft in Khmer (above), but when I finish a longer (and more gramatically correct) version in English, I'll post it here.