I apologize (yet again) for not keeping this blog updated. I'm not even sure that anyone is still checking for updates or reading it. However, if you're interested in the final leg of my South East Asian Adventure then read onward!
Right now I'm sitting in an internet cafe (with a sticky keyboard) across the street from the Suan Mokkh Monastry just outside of Chaiya in Southern Thailand. I registered this morning for the 10 day silent retreat that begins on the 1st of every month. This retreat is set up specifically to cater to foreigners, but that doesn't mean that any luxuries are provided.
Part of the experience is to learn how to live simply and calmly. Participants follow the lifestyle of Thai Buddhist monks - to the extent that we will eat only two meals per day (no eating after noon), we'll wake up is at 4am, sleep on concrete slabs with a wooden block for a pillow, and - the hardest thing of all - be silent for 10 days).
Right now I'm sitting in an internet cafe (with a sticky keyboard) across the street from the Suan Mokkh Monastry just outside of Chaiya in Southern Thailand. I registered this morning for the 10 day silent retreat that begins on the 1st of every month. This retreat is set up specifically to cater to foreigners, but that doesn't mean that any luxuries are provided.
Part of the experience is to learn how to live simply and calmly. Participants follow the lifestyle of Thai Buddhist monks - to the extent that we will eat only two meals per day (no eating after noon), we'll wake up is at 4am, sleep on concrete slabs with a wooden block for a pillow, and - the hardest thing of all - be silent for 10 days).
You may wonder why I would want to take part in such an extreme retreat. Well, I want to learn how to meditate properly, and I've only heard positive things about this place (from the 50% that make it through the 10 days). It has been a rough year and I know that my problems will be waiting for me when I return to Canada. I'm hoping that I will learn here how to accept what life gives me. I'm praying that I'll gain some sort of insight here, as well as a tool to enable me to cope better with what life throws at me. Finally, it seems like the perfect opportunity to learn more about myself and what I want from this life.
So, here's to zen living.
NB: I won't be able to access email or update the blog while I am taking part in the retreat. I will post an entry reviewing my meditation experience after I leave Suan Mokkh. Hopefully I last the full 10 days!
So, here's to zen living.
NB: I won't be able to access email or update the blog while I am taking part in the retreat. I will post an entry reviewing my meditation experience after I leave Suan Mokkh. Hopefully I last the full 10 days!
