buddha bliss

i've just come out of the 10 day dynamic vipassana (means insight) meditation retreat at Wat Thaton in northern thailand and WOW what an incredible experience, what a stunning place and such generous-generous people.

perched high on a mountain overlooking the tiny town of thaton, its winding river and hidden villages, wat thaton is a treasure grove of discoveries. one morning for our meditation, we walked up up up to the massive golden standing buddha on the top of the mountain and at every turn, a surprise, a delight: the highly orginal pagoda painted the colours of the spectrum and looking a bit like an easter egg mosque; a lookout with a view to a green, lush valley with crops planted in symtetrical formations, or simply dense forest with morning clouds hugging the tops of the trees... it was absolutely magical...

and the discoveries, of course, in a 10 day meditation retreat are the treasures and ercognizing the "suffering" (a main tenet of buddhism) i found inside. of the 10 days, i spent 4 days alone in my perfectly cute little kuti (my home overlooking forest and mountain side) to which they delivered my food for the day in a tiffin in the morning. i practiced the dynamic meditation (walking, sitting, standing and lying down - all with hand movements). ajahn suthep, the energetic teacher/monk and supachai (or Super Thai!), a young monk teacher (both of whom speak thai-english) came to teach and talk one time every afternoon.

supachai made sure to prepare a RAW (and some steamed veg) tiffin for me every day! the mangoes were great and the papaya like candy! and in the evening, he brought a bowl of fruit.

neat things:

they got TOTALLY into the raw diet! even the cook who just wouldn't or couldn't understand at first, now prepares a special thali plate for me every morning and every lunch! it is tooooo much! and connie, a dutch woman who works here and does some organizing is on her 3rd day of her new RAW diet.

the meditation group was small, at 5 people - i was the only woman so it was wonderful to have connie around - so it was very intimate. i have a new friend in michael, 55, from california, who has introduced me to Breema, a persian form of thai massage that i just loved. my energy was sooo different, slow and calm afterwards.

my resolve about this path has deepened. i've had many realizations and insights about my life, my self, my path, what i will do next and how all this integrates into my daily life...

crazy serendipitous things have happened, too, in terms of who i have met here and what they have brought me/taught me. and that so many parts of my life would converge here. i taught yoga in the mornings and i LOVED teaching it, it just flowed, and everyone seemed to get so much from it. i realize that i love sharing and teaching and learning from teaching/interacting and that it has always been a secret desire to integrate healing arts into my life as a teacher and student (i think that the breema and yoga are both things i will pursue in this way).

ajahn suthep, the teacher/monk runs an organic farm in a small village called wawi and has some amazing ideas about meditation centre-food-community. they are so linked to what i felt was coming next for me in terms of transformational work (coaching, yoga, organic organizational and personal development, as well as local/international development).... so i am off to chiang MAI tomorrow to visit a woman who has a place in nature, and where there is an idea forming about organic food/cooking, meditation and healing. she is donating her space to ajahn and Wat Thaton and he suggested i go see it to see what kind of ideas i have.... so far they seemed to be very connected to the ones i've been having ...

i loved the intimacy and the independence i had here - the form of teaching is very much that the teacher is simply a guide - you must learn on your own and only then will the teacher take you to the next level. the meditation style is active, so that you can integrate into your daily life - that meditation IS your life, that your life IS your practice.