Silent Retreat at Suan Mokh Monastery

HI folks!

just back from a 10 day silent retreat at a Buddhist monastery. The retreat was profound - grounded me back in reality - I had gotten lost over the past few years. Feel like I'm back in my own skin and also feel like I'll go much deeper over the next while as I only scraped the surface.

The retreat was astonishing - in terms of money alone (which is not what the Buddhist monks are interested in anyway....- it was 30 Euro/ 45 dollars for 11 days accommodation and meals as well as instruction and daily access to a beautiful hot spring on the grounds of this forest monastery! The instruction was beyond my wildest expectations, crowned by the eloquence of Thun Dhammavidu, an English monk who has the intellectual grasp of Buddhism which allows him to present in scientific and logical terms what it is really all about (calming the mind; realising in CONCRETE terms the impermanence of everything and, of all the suffering we cause ourselves by thinking things to death and over-attaching emotionally to people and things).

The grounds were peaceful, filled with wildlife (18-inch blue and grey geckos, a monitor lizard - at least it was as big as one; about 4 feet - numerous species of frogs, toads, birds, 2 large fish ponds stocked with fish; snakes, scorpions and even the mandatory pussy cats) which was astounding to see up so close, and I saw every sunset and sunrise for the 11 days there.

We were woken from our concrete beds (with wooden pillow!) at 4am by the tolling of a large resonant bell and if this sounds like torture, it was actually very easy to get used to - slept like a log the first night and thereafter! The retreat was short a yoga instructor, so I volunteered my services (with the caveat that I was not trained to instruct) and that gave me a reason to get up every morning to teach yoga for 90 minutes at 5am to the 35 women on the retreat. [Men had their own instructor. ] I enjoyed the teaching although some mornings it was tiring, but given the number of women who approached me yesterday (our departure day from Suan Mokh) to thank me and recommend I change career, I have begun to think....hmmm!

The food was vegetarian and very good; meals were served communaly and chores were shared thereafter. Most of the day was spent in 30 - 45 minute periods of sitting, walking and standing meditation with 3 'dhamma' talks (instruction) each day. Bathing in the hot springs turned into a spa event each evening (!) for us women (again men and women were segregated for this which was a relief), and even though everyone maintained absolute silence throughout the entire retreat, we all managed a lot of communication with our eyes, smiles and facial expressions. It was an eye opener and utterly enjoyable to not be in verbal communication with anyone for the 10 days. Everyone remarked on how relaxing and peaceful it was. There was no pressure to 'perform' or put forward a personality/ face as many of us do in daily life, sometimes without realising. Having the power of speech taken away was a relief in many ways and allowed one a generous helping of privacy and the ability to TRULY retreat into oneself (hence the name of the activity!).

Will definitely go back for another retreat before I leave SE Asia and am thinking a once-yearly excursion here might be in order for me. Suan Mokh monastery in Chaiya is the location. One of the world's most famous Buddhist monks, Buddhadhasa Bhikku, re-established the monastery here in the 1950s ( I think). He was one of the most understood and prolific scholars in Buddhism in the past 1,000 years and was held in high regard by scholars of all theologies and philosophies up until his death in 1993.

I'm off to AngKor Wat in Cambodia next, in a couple of days with a fellow retreatant from Canada. Then back here and up north to Chiang Mai.