I signed up for a 21-day meditation retreat in December with Doi Suthep Temple in Chiang Mai after experiencing burnout in most of 2024. I went in without knowing much, except it differed from the usual Vipassana I had been training under (S.N. Goenka's Vipassana Centre). Doi Suthep Meditation Centre practises both walking and sitting meditation. I was excited and slightly worried as it was my first time attempting a 21-day meditation course. My previous Vipassana experience was only 10 days.
I encounter Alison, a French lady on my way into the centre. So glad to meet her as the way in was a little daunting. The centre is atop the mountain; my taxi put me together with other tourists visiting the temple. We all had to take the same rides (with our luggage or backpack) up the cable car and carry all this baggage up and down a myriad of staircases as we searched for our way into the centre.
I quickly discovered this is a small centre with only a handful of meditation students. It was only about 12 of us when I arrived. I happened to be the oldest in this group. I figure it must be the mountain that created a barrier for the older folks, as moving from our rooms to the meditation hall and dining hall will require much climbing the stairs. But I was wrong. Subsequently, many other older folks joined the group.
This centre functions uniquely; we are allowed to sign up and join any time we prefer as long as there is an empty room. Each of us joined at a different time and chose a different duration of our stay. It ranges from 4, 10, 14 and 21 days. There is a lot of flexibility. On any occasion, if you feel the need to shorten or lengthen the days, you can do so as long as the rooms are available. Thus the number of students in the centre will fluctuate daily. Every day, there may be someone joining and someone leaving the centre.
It is indeed an international meditation retreat as I encounter students from all over the world. I met French, Germans, Czech Republicans, Canadians, Chinese, Taiwanese, Russians, Latvian, English, and Singaporeans! Out of the 3 Singaporeans I met, 2 are of Muslim heritage. Fascinating!
My usual judgemental mind starts to gauge who is a serious practitioner vs the slacker. I noticed a young girl who did not follow the walking instructions properly. My judgemental mind thinks that she was young and was not serious about receiving the instructions. I was proven wrong quickly, as she improved over the next few days and appeared in the meditation hall as long and as regularly as me!
Another young German lady who appeared most regularly in the meditation hall helped all of us to stay in our practice. This is the power of Sangha (community of practitioners), we practise with the help of others. When a community practise together, we find support and extra motivation and energy in our practice. This is a surprise for me too as I find myself unable to practise as much as she did (I had more experience in meditation than her).
There were two older men (look like in their 70s-80s) with distinct behaviours. One man showcased pre-dementia symptoms as he was not able to walk in a straight line as instructed. He wandered around the room and sat on a chair in less than 5 minutes before he started to wander again. Every day, he will attempt to open the window without success. When he walked out of the room, he would forget to close the door or be unmindful in ensuring it was done gently so that the noise of the door would not disturb other meditators. He seems agitated all the time. On the other hand, another old man was collected and at ease with himself. He was an experienced meditator as he moved slowly and gently on and off the mat. He sat with a straight spine and did not need to lean against the wall like some other beginners. This contrasting scenario reminds me that we need to practise meditation as early as possible. Picking up mindfulness at a later age is a huge challenge. When cognitive impairment sets in, it will be close to impossible to learn these important skills for the mind.
One day, a student had a small argument with another about the noise created. When witnessing the event and attempting to help the student resolve the anger, I reminded her that everyone comes to the meditation course with baggage and the goal of finding peace in their chaotic mind. Some have the misunderstanding that peace will arrive naturally in a quiet environment, but the truth is, we have to go on the path of practice in order to understand how we invite peace to stay despite the chaos in the outside world. The talk by Ajahn Siripanno below recount his journey in his first 2 weeks of meditation retreat that ends up in his decision to ordain as a monk. I marked this video at the point where he spoke about how we carry heavy luggage of our mind without awareness. Most people misunderstand that we have to let go of the luggaage, but the meditation practise merely point out to us that what we need to do is to put down the luggage instead of throwing it away.
Observing myself and others helped me to learn how unskillful the mind is in judgement and creating untrue stories of its own. I was reminded to keep an open mind when encountering new friends, reflecting and renewing my ways of thinking. Nothing is absolute in this world.
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Coming soon :
Vipassana Meditation @ Doi Suthep Temple | 4. My Practise
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