Achieving bliss in Sri Lanka

The first time I saw an elephant here, I was sitting in the back of a tuk-tuk, stuck, as usual, in traffic, when I turned my head to the left and saw a small black eye staring down at me from about six feet up. I was startled at first, but have since come to appreciate that this is just the way it is here with elephants, 3-foot-long lizards, 3-inch-long cockroaches, wild dogs, water buffalo and several species of monkey. In addition to acting as tourist attractions, elephants in Sri Lanka are bulldozers, cranes, backhoes, tractors. It's quite common to see work elephants walking down the road, trucking a tree in their trunks. It's difficult to see these magnificent animals with thick chains around their necks, but it's preferable to the slaughter that prevailed until a decade or two ago. I find myself wondering whether the elephants prefer the trees in their trunks or the tourists on their backs. As I think of my Dad perched atop Mandy, I hope it's tourists.

A TROPICAL TEMPLE
The morning before the wedding day I awaken at dawn to the sound of kingfishers and distant surf. In an hour the tropical sun, rising like a rocket this close to the equator, will turn the island into a sauna. But a cool breeze still blows as I meet Claudia on the beach. Overloaded with wedding obligations, guests of a strict Muslim family, we are alone for the first time in a week. We wander down the beach for 15 minutes before coming to a set of stone steps disappearing up into the dense foliage of a small, rocky outcropping jutting into the Indian Ocean. A large wooden sign explains in three languages that we have arrived at Panchkapaduwa, a Buddhist sanctuary established in the early 1970s.

Courtesy dictates that we remove our sandals before ascending through layers of lush greenery and fragrant flowers to the top of the rough stone steps, where a red-robed monk meets us and bows welcome, palms pressed together in front of his chest. He offers us tea, which we drink while sitting beside a small pool filled with lily pads and lotus flowers. Goldfish swim under the lily pads; a small brown dog observes us from where he lies in the shade of a stone house; and a red-faced macaque swings gracefully through the trees overhead.

When we finish our tea, the monk leads us up more steps and into the dense jungle, down twisting gravel paths, past stone shrines, coming at last to an open circle of stone chairs with straight stone backs. We sit cross-legged, and in a singsong voice the monk guides us through a long, soothing meditation. The goal of it, essentially, is to relax and smile more. He blesses us and our marriage, wishes us peace, and ties a white string around Claudia's wrist, a simple Buddhist blessing. Afterward, he bids us to explore the sanctuary.

We wander through the jungle, down paths, past more little stone temples and tropical flowers of all varieties, until, suddenly, we step out onto a huge rock precipice overlooking the Indian Ocean. Below us the towering surf crashes onto the rocks, and a strong wind blows, warm now in the midmorning sun.

So much still lies ahead: the official sent to marry us will not speak much English; several in our party will get sick from the food or water; the string that has just been tied around Claudia's wrist will cause a minor scandal.

But that's all in the future.

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