7-day meditation retreat in Chiang Mai

"my name is koo wan yee. i am from singapore. i left my job 6 months ago to explore new experiences."...that was my self-introduction during orientation when asked about my nationality and profession.

so here i am in a 7-day meditation retreat in suan petch kaew, a forest around 2 hours ride from chiang mai city. there were 17 participants: 1 french guy, 2 brit girls, 7 singaporeans, 3 hongkongers, 1 mexican lady, 1 american guy, 1 german and 1 malaysian guy.

my daily schedule:

05.00 Rise .....another 5mins pleeeeeease...

05.30 Meditation ( on kind and loving feelings)

06.15 Exercise....sneak into tent to, erm, meditate on warm and snoozing feelings

07.00 Breakfast ...hooray!

08.30 Morning Chanting (optional) ...sleep

09.00 Meditation Instruction

09.30 Meditation Session .....followed by short nap before lunch

11.00 Lunch .....better eat more as this is the last meal of the day

12.30 Personal time ...sleep

14.00 Meditation History

15.00 Meditation Session

16.00 Personal Time/Group discussion ....sleep, shower

17.30 Refreshment ...boo! i miss having big dinners

18.30 Evening Chanting (optional) ....sleep

19.00 Meditation Session

20.00 Dhamma Talk

21.00 Personal Time .......zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

21.30 Sleep in Peace ...snoring already

before you call me a sleepy head, read this...participants are not to play music or listen to radio. books and magazines are also not read during the retreat period. reason given was that reading requires thinking, which leads to a chain of thoughts, making it difficult to still the mind when you sit down for meditation. so i chose sleeping to aid in stilling my mind. hehe

3 "simple" steps to dhammakaya meditation:

1) relax your body

2) relax the mind and let go of all concerns and thoughts

3) maintain the mind at the centre of the body

i have a few questions...how do i relax my body when i feel pins and needles at my legs for sitting cross-legged for 1 hour? does dozing off during meditation mean that my mind is relaxed? guess not. i wonder how i can stop my mind from wandering. i wander...

"how do i travel overland from chiang mai to laos?"

"irritating mossies...go away!"

"drats! did someone just farted again?"

" i wonder what's for lunch"

i wonder...

we are also advised to maintain our mind at the centre of our bodies throughout the day. this cultivates stillness of the mind and help us feel more balanced. so, speak to the stomach!

some mornings, i asked myself why am i up at 5am? why do i have to drag myself away from the warmth of my thick blankets into the darkness and chill of the morning forest outside my tent? but when i succeed in getting the occasional deep meditation, i'm glad that i had come here to learn meditation. if i had started on my own, i would probably have given up.

i would recommend this retreat to anyone. the monks and staff genuinely want to share what they believe will lead to greater peace and happiness. now the bigger challenge for me is to continue meditating after this retreat.

info: http://www.meditationthai.org/seven-day_retreat_chiang_mai.php

cost: Bt3900