Back from the 10 Day Vipassana Course

Wrapped in an envelope of silence, in a jungle of beauty and sound we spent 10 days working on being aware and equanimous. 

Getting to the Center included an hour bus ride from Phitsanulok into the hills and along a famous river further into the jungle to a small village where the bus stopped for locals and our group of 5 foreigners (Rajiv, Marianne, 1 German young man living in Australia, another German man from Berlin and 1 Portugese man) to disembark.  At that point we had to negotiate for a way to get to the Vipassana Center 15 minutes away.  The usual transport on the back of a motorcycle was obviously inadequate for 5 people and their luggage.  The motorcycle driver understood our situation.  He left us indicating he would return.  The pickup he drove up in shortly proved to be the solution.  He assured us he knew where Dhamma Abha was taking us over one lane jungle roads until he stopped at the registration site.

Greetings in English and warm welcomes were our first encounters with the course managers.  Both of us became more aware of the beautiful setting we would be living in for 10 days as we were shown our rooms and explored the grounds.  Outside the men's dorms stood 10 ft. ginger plants with blossoms of salmon colored wax flowers.  Behind the dorms was a lake with a small island reached by a bridge.  The meditation hall topped with a golden Thai bell shaped stupa was next to the women's dorms.  Doves flew around the stupa and roosted and cooed on the eves of the dorms.

As the course progressed and our silence within became more pronounced, the jungles intensity of life and sounds also became more pronounced.  One of the many ant observations was a 3 inch wide colony moving across a walkway for nearly 24 hours ending with the queen being carried aloft by a group of 25 to 30 workers.  A unique lizard to us made its presence known by a 2 part honk repeated several times.  Our first thought was that the source was a large bird.

The food was a distraction even more than usual.  The delicious Thai vegetarian dishes seemed gourmet compared to the simple street food we were experiencing in Bangkok and Phitsanulok.  It was also our introduction to vegetables, soup, rice or noodles for breakfast.  Toast and instant coffee were available, too.

After talking resumed on the tenth day, travelers' plans and stories were exchanged with enthusiasm.  Rajiv found out a fellow meditator was a famous Thai film director, Pen-ek Ratanaruang.  (Google him.)  The Thai young people were impressed.

                                                                                                                         

PEACE AND LOVE

RAJIV AND MARIANNE