I set out to complete this task during Glasnost and made a list of potential candidate tasks prior to departure for Thailand. My trip overlapped the end of Glasnost and the beginning of the Interregnum. To varying degrees I completed three now-retired tasks. For a combination of reasons their completions will only be within this task and not on the praxis. Naturally, you will have to consider whether one or more of the sub-tasks was completed and completed pleasingly enough for this task to survive. I took advantage of the fact that the requirements for completing tasks for SF0 International allow me to complete tasks I am not otherwise eligible for since I do not technically have to submit them to the praxis. The three tasks I completed are:

Nothing Lasts Forever
The Shadow is You
Document Growth

Nothing Lasts Forever

I was inspired to do this task when I saw that the murals at Wat Phra Keow are being restored. Wat Phra Keow is a famous temple in Bangkok that houses the Emerald Buddha (which is actually made of jade). All along the inside of the walls of the temple are illustrations of various stories relating to the Thai (theraveda) version of Buddhism. Most of my study of Buddhism is from a Japanese perspective, which is decidedly Shinto flavored. In contrast, Thai Buddhism is very Hindu flavored and they maintain the existence of Hindu gods like Hanuman in their stories.

I have always considered Buddhism to be the religion of impermanence. There is an acceptance of and a belief in constant change. We go through multiple iterations of different lives or states and at the point where we reach enlightenment - a pure, singular state - we disappear. "Nirvana" is derived from a word for "extinction." So, in essence, the moment we cease to change we cease to be. Impermanence on a cosmic scale, we are either changing or we do not exist.

Changing states, the impermanence of loyalties and physical shape, are also a feature of the stories of Thai Buddhism. One supernatural being can transform into any human shape and in one story takes on the form of Rama's wife, floating dead in a river. In another story Hanuman and another supernatural being transform into the corpse of a deer to upset a rival's ceremony.


The particular state of impermanence at Wat Phra Keow is that of its murals, which are fading over time. It was built in the late 1700's and they are now in the process of restoring sections of the murals. They are also repairing and replacing the coloured glass tiles that decorate the majority of the buildings within the Grand Palace complex. While the tiles can be replaced the statues cannot be revamped in the same way.

The beauty and mystique inspired by Wat Phra Keow and its murals are celebrated through another act of impermanence: tourism. It is money from tourists (Thai nationals pay nothing, or perhaps a nominal fee, to enter most temples and cultural sites in Bangkok) that help battle the ravages of time and pollution on the Wat and its many artistic works. It is tourism that allows people from all over the world to appreciate Thai culture and Buddhism as it is the religion that has inspired amazing paintings and structures.
While the money that tourism brings in is positive it is the impermanence of tourism that can be so damaging. People come to another region, take pictures, visit cultural sites, spend money, and leave. People also come to another region, pour money into the sex trade, leave garbage everywhere, present a negative impression of their home nations through rude and culturally insensitive behavior, and leave. Our presence is temporary and thus we do not need to worry about the long-term impact of our actions as tourists - we will never see these people again.

The Shadow is You

As this is technically an Aesthematics task I have never completed it but I was so taken by my shadow with devil horns that I was inspired to sneak this in. While never actually accused of evil I have some devilish tendencies and I like pointy things. I can be quite prickly and I tend to ask pointed questions.

Document Growth

I completed this task through the Praxis in November but what caught my eye in traveling was the amount of unexpected growth. The word growth also refers to something growing, existing or enlarging in places where it is not expected. Tumors are growths. There is undergrowth and overgrowth. I wanted to document the beauty of things growing in and around places in unexpected yet beautiful ways...