Going forth

[luangtom]

Chok dee, my friend. I admire your conviction and determination. I, too, have struggled to find "that which is right" for me. I visit a small Lao-Isaan temple here in NE Georgia. When in Thailand, I visit Wat Pa Ban That in Udon Thani and I have been gifted with a number of the books of Dhamma via Pannavaddho Bhikkhu, now deceased. He was a profound man, English by birth, and a translator for Luangta Maha Bua for decades.

I wish you all of the best in this life-changing move. Again, chok dee.

[bassai]

I've finally shed a huge amount of my daily existence. My wife is set up in her own place, our divorce paper work has all been completed and filed, all of our common responsibilities have been severed, and I was actually able to give my beloved 66 Mustang to my daughter. It was hard watching her drive off in it, especially after putting $2000.00 into it to fix some of the mechanical problems I had been neglecting for some time, but it was amazing how quickly I detached after it left my sight. I've observed myself calling it her car a couple of times. Of course there were a few phone calls we had where I had to instruct her on the proper starting procedures. She's in for an education owning a 46 year old hot rod!

It's a great feeling shedding all of the noise in my life. There are still some more steps I need to take and I'm still attached to worldly business for a while longer, but it's just the nature of my present dhamma and will change in time to come. It's very refreshing to begin to just focus on my practice an have some clarity of thought.

Right at the end of July I was fortunate enough to be invited by Maha Somchai to accompany him on a retreat in the redwood forest at the Dhammadharini-Aranya Bodhi Hermitage. This is in a very primitive setting and was absolutely spectacular as a venue to practice the Dhamma. Talk about "Thundering Silence"!

It's run by a small group of nuns with the focus being to provide a safe and secluded place for women to practice and I really admire the effort and work they have put into it. The nuns just don't get the kind of support that the Thai temples generate and it takes a lot of commitment for them to keep going.


sleeping quarters.jpg
my sleeping quarters

meditation spot deep in redwoods.jpg
deep forest meditation spot

bathing pool deep in forest.jpg
deep forest bathing pool (cold)

forest nymph.jpg
forest nymph

our hosts and MahaSomchai.jpg
Maha Somchai and our hosts

Really understand now why The Lord Buddha tells us to go out into the forest and practice under a tree!

[luangtom]

I salute you for following your Path. Do keep us posted, as you are able.

[bassai]

Been pretty much a temple bum lately, bouncing around whats available. I just back from a week at the Abhayayiri Buddhist Monastery up in the Redwood Valley here in California. This immediately after spending 5 days down in Fremont at Wat Buddhanusorn.

Talk about a study in contrast! Wat Buddhanusorn is almost a constant hive of activity from early in the morning until evening. In a sense it's a Thai village temple on steroids.During the week there are children there for summer school, a daily rotating group of people coming to provide the daily meal, a constant stream of people to have an audience with the abbot, wedding ceremony's, funeral ceremony's, deliveries for the food court, 2-3 days of preparing for the food court, and the all sorts of random people just dropping in for all sorts of reasons.

Then there's Abhayagiri, which is fairly remote and only gets a lot of visitors on Wan Phra days. And, compared to Wat Buddhanusorn. that's and overstatement. There just a couple of resident supporters, maybe about 5 to 7 people staying for different lengths of time and about 10 monks this time. After morning Puja at 5 AM there's a light chore, then a very spartan breakfast, a couple of hours of work practice, lunch and then it's a ghost town until 5:30 tea and evening Puja at 7 PM

Wat Buddhanusorn has traffic and trains rushing by at all hours and Abhayagiri doesn't seem to have 15 continuous feet of flat ground, except for walking meditation paths cut into the mountain!

I'm extremely fortunate to have such two contrasting venues and two very adept and respected Abbots in Phra Maha Prasert and Ajahn Pasanno so close to me.

Being able to so suddenly and radically change environments has been very beneficial to my meditation practice I believe. Not being able to be lulled into a familiarity of place and routine of practice has had the effect of keeping me more alert and focused in my meditation practice. There's not much room for complacency. Then I'm suddenly back couch surfing in the lay world being exposed to the mundane sameness of ,,,,,,,,

All very intresting.

http://www.abhayagiri.org/about

http://www.watbuddha.org/

[bassai]

I just finished reading all the post in this thread and my first impression is that I’m amazed by all that has happened since I last posted almost 6 months ago.

Since that last post I spent a considerable amount of time living at Wat Buddhanusorn in Fremont, California. During that time I made friends with many of the regular supporters, learned how to make boat noodles and generally fell into the temple routine. I was able to practice meditation and study extensively and it was an entirely enjoyable and fulfilling experience. One thing I learned, as I mentioned in an earlier post, “that no matter where you go, there you are.” Changing the external circumstances of my life, while having a positive effect on me overall, brought into clearer focus the internal life that I had to deal with.

One thing that became clear to me is that, as much as being a monk and living a spiritual life appealed to me, I am not particularly of the inclination to submit myself to the authority of other people. I have a pretty clear understanding now of why 40 seems to be the cut off age of becoming a monk. Living at the temple for an extended time gave me a good indication of what I would be involving myself in beyond meditating and studying Dhamma. Essentially I came to realize that becoming a monk wasn’t quite what I needed to do.

There’re quite a few other factors involved in my decision as well. One of the big ones, perhaps the biggest, is that I’m a very physical person and enjoy the sensuality of the physical nature of the body. Now there is a lot that can be said about that defilement, but I feel denying it led to as much suffering as reveling in it.

Another aspect was when I came to Thailand last year for a couple of months, to travel and visit some monasteries, and help my daughter get acclimated in her teaching job in Simahaphot, Thailand seduced me once again. My first day in Bangkok the street performs playing Mor Larm were pretty much singing my siren song.

I spent those two months doing some traveling, helping my friend get to some monasteries, helping my daughter with her school experiences, considering what my options were and what I was going to do. At the end of those 2 months I went back to California and agonized for about 2 weeks and decided that I wasn’t going to be a monk, nor was I going to go back to work and live the rat race in California. I calculated my finances and decided that I had enough to live on until I could collect an early pension. Then I bought my ticket to Thailand.

So now here I am smack in the middle of Krung Thep in Huay Kwang on Ratchada Rd, with a warehouse sized night club down the end of my Soi and more enormous Karaoke/Massage palaces than I can count in 1 city block. The location was chosen more for the price and closeness to the MRT than the entertainment venues , I’ve never been to much of a club goer, but it is quite a change from living at the Wat or out in Issan country. I’ll be starting Thai language classes in March and am now nesting in my new abode. I’m quite amused that 8 months ago I was shedding material possessions and now I’m re acquiring them.

The great thing is the clarity I feel now.

[Susana]

Life is a journey, after all.

[Marie]

Bassai,

Trust yourself. Think for yourself. Act for yourself. Speak for yourself. Be yourself. Imitation is suicide.~ Michael Rawls