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Thailand
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Fighting traffic and smog in Bangkok Bangkok is a city that has something to offer for everyone - nothing new so far. What I found particularly interesting is, that many different worlds seem to coexist, in a much more extreme way than in Japan, or even the USA. The world presented to the casual visitor is the tourist facade. And as I only spent a few days here, it's quite difficult to break through it. People who can afford it, bypass this and enter an isolated, luxurious western world, as I noticed when I visited the Oriental Hotel for a cocktail. A little more subtle, but very visible for people who keep there eyes open, is the religious world. Monks are everywhere and easily recognized by their shaved had and bright-orange robes. And then there is the world of the average person on the street. While this world can be seen, it's almost impossible to penetrate, as language skills would be required. I was surprised to find out that Buddhist temples were a great place to experience all these worlds. Buddhism is very alive (and most male Thais become a monk for a short period of their lifes), so the temples attract tourists, monks, and natives alike. On top of that, the architecture is unbelievable beautiful! I visited some of the big temples, Wat Pho being by far the most impressive one. In addition, Wat Pho is the national headquarters for the teaching and preservation of traditional Thai medicin e, including Thai massage. It goes without saying that I got a massage there, and if feels incredible good, having the whole body penetrated with hands and feet for an hour! Another way to experience the diversity was to try out all transportation options. Soon I realized that walking is possible, but not the best option. Smog is heavy, and crossing the street is a hazard, as they have almost no traffic lights for pedestria ns. On top of that, after a few hundred meters, you are sweaty like hell, even in the early morning or late evening hours Next, I used the public buses, which is incredible cheap, but also incredible chaotic! Problem number one is, that you have to know your exact destination, so the conductor can figure out the fare, when you enter the bus. But often I only knew the gener al neighborhood I wanted to go to. One time, after I was finally on the right bus, I was spending an hour in a traffic jam (yes, those famous Bangkok jams... and no, they don't have bus lanes). There is a pretty good subway system that I used, but the n etwork is far too limited to be useful. The best transportation options are cab and Tuk-Tuks. Tuk-Tuks are these three-wheeled vehicles, that look like a scooter up front, have a passanger bench in the back, and a roof on top of it. A good place to train your negotiation skills, as the price is determined in advance, and often they ask for four times the standard fare initially. Tonight, I will check out a long distance transportation option. Namely, I will take the train south to Chaiya (roughly 640 km south of Bangkok). It will be a sleeper car with no air conditioning (only fan), but it hasn't been too hot so far, so hopefull y it won't be that bad ;-) Other things I saw in Bangkok were Museums, lots of street markets (especially China town is not too touristy), I met interesting travelers, and experienced a little nightlife, but it tends to be heavily dominated by the tourist industry (surprise!). I m et some nice travelers, though. All in all, it's a pleasant city to stay in, but I am sure that by learning a little Thai, and by living here for a short while, this place could be paradise. A few more words about the next couple of days: In Chaiya, I'll be on a meditation retreat from 11/1 to 11/11, at the Monestry Wat Suan Mokkh. Suan Mokkh has been founded by Ajaan Buddhadasa Bhikkhu (supposedly Thailand's most famous monk), and it's a f airly modern Wat. They even have a web site that also describes these retreats, which happen every month (http://www.suanmokkh.org/). During those days I won't get near a computer, so don't expect to hear from me. In fact, during that time I will remain silent, as all other participants as well. The days will be filled with meditation, yoga, instructions and talk. Moore's Law It could've been worse - fortunately, I left one day earlier than it would have been required for the meditation retreat. So by traveling tomorrow, I will still arrive in time. But all the sleeping car seats in the train were already sold out - besides that, it wasn't even clear whether trains would already be able to run by tomorrow! So I'll have to take the bus - not really the most convenient way to travel overnight, but my only option at this point, I guess. The chanting monk and the wooden pillow These words came from Tan Medhi, the "chanting monk". Every day at 5 pm we were spending an hour with him. First, he would give us some wisdom, either taken from the chants we were chanting, or right from the heart. After that, we would chant in the traditional Pali language, and repeat the meaning in English. Tan Medhi was always laughing, always cheerful. And this is very surprising for every Westerner, because on the third day of our retreat, he learned that his father has been murdered. Every time we met, he was mentioning his father in one or two sentences. That this was an example of inpermanence, an example of Dhukka - the nature of things. Why do we have to die? Because we are born. That simple. It's nature. No tears. Instead, he invited all of us to the cremation, the day after the retreat was over. I went, and while it wasn't a cheerful event, it was a social event. No tears. There might have been tears the previous seven days, when family and friends gathered every day to contemplate on death. The retreat was an amazing experience for me, and there are many, many things and aspects to it I would like to share. But where to begin? And where to end? The setup itself was amazing, like paradise (well, except the biting ants and the mosquitos, which we were supposed to chase away rather than kill, as Bhuddists don't kill intentionally) - tropical plants, lots of space, ponds, simple buildings here and there. We reduced to a simple life. We is roughly 100 travelers from all over the world - the retreat has been taking place for the past 15 years, every month. We were sleeping on hard floor on a straw mat, and our pillow was made from wood (yes, wood). No mirrors - I didn't see my face for 11 days. The idea was that with such a setup, the body wakes up once it got enough sleep - and sure enough, I usually woke up around 3:30 am - wake up time was 4 am, and the morning reading was at 4:30. The 4 hours before breakfast felt increadibly good, and included meditation and Tai Chi (or Yoga, for those who prefered that). The rest of the day was similarly structured - talks and meditation, interupted by breakfast, lunch, and hot chocolate in the evening - no dinner. Men and women were seperated, almost everywhere. They had separate dorms; they were sitting on opposite sides in the dining hall and meditation hall. Lovers were there, but as there was no talking, everybody was alone, isolated. Initially, this schedule was hard - and often there was the feeling: "When is this over, and the next thing starts?" But after only a few days this feeling faded away, because it was pointless. It was much more rewarding to just be here and now, and to be mindful about what was going on. I learned a lot about Bhuddism, but I don't want to go into this here (it would take pages, I guess, and I still have to process it myself). Same holds true for meditation, but one thing I want to share with you. I got encouragement and motivation to keep it up. By meditating so much so intense for 10 days, I could see progress. And that made me realize that one of the hardest things about meditation is to get started, as it's difficult to find a beginning in the crowded and noisy world we are living in. Also personally, I gained a lot from this retreat, I learned a lot about myself, and it helped me to understand some things I did in the past, and will help me to make future decisions. I really would like to stretch that this retreat was primary about meditation, and only secondary about Bhuddism. This was for people of every religion, every faith. Ajahn Bhuddadasa, who founded this monestry, is known for his scientific approach to follow Bhuddism to the roots (by studying the original scripts), and by studying other religions as well. I find the following text about his ideas and the retreat very insightful, and hope you will check it out: http://www.suanmokkh.org/archive/ret/haphung1.htm Tonight, I will take the ferry with some other meditators to Ko Samui, an island not too far away, where tonight and tomorow night a Bhuddist full moon festival will take place - Ajan Poh, the apt running the retreat, was inviting us to the festival. I think I'll stay there for a few days, enjoy nature, and reflect on the past 10 days. Okay, I'll enjoy the beach, too. And one last thing. This retreat wasn't for everyone. Some people couldn't take it, and left early. A bunch of people left one day early, because of a huge rave that takes place tonight as well on a different island. These people missed the evening of the tenth day, when we had a chance to present our experiences to each other. There I learned that there were enough people who took a lot from these ten days, and who left their old selves behind. Breakfast with Ajan Poh At 6:30 am we arrived at the monestry Wat Laem Saw, at the south tip of the island. Fortunately an area of the island that is barely developed so far. there are a few bungalows, and that's it. The next days I explored the area walking and found out that there were two villages around, both almost untouuched, and dominated by the coconut industry, rather than tourism. That morning on the beach by the monestry, we immediately met some of the Suan Mokkh participants, and the abt Ajan Poh. And he invited us to breakfast at the monestry. For this, you have to know that monks usually only have one meal a day, breakfast. And they get up every morning at 5 am, to collect alm food. And this was what was served for breakfast. At 7:30 am, we arrived at a little shed attached to the monestry. It was a little run down, and a few monks, several Thai people, and we Westerners were sitting down on straw mats. The food donations were simply placed on the floor. There was a ceromeny of praying, talking, and chanting involved - all in Thai, unfortunately, but Ajan Poh added some explanations for us in English. First the monks have to take some food - a bit from each bowl, that's important. Then the other people. Most of the time, I had no idea what I was eating, but it was delicious. As everybody was digging in, the whole event soon became very social. As if this wasn't enough, the next morning at 6 am (we were all still on Suan-Mokkh-get-up-at-4-am time), we met Ajan Poh again, and this time he invited us for breakfast to his parent's house. Well, Ajan Poh is 66 or so, and his parents are 94 and 92, respectively! His father was still climbing trees 3 months ago, but two weeks ago he was hospitalized, and everybody was waiting for him to die. But he was already back home, he seemed amazingly alert, and did most things by himself. What a powerful family. The food ceremony was similar like the day before - praying, talking, chanting, eating, and socializing. And there were a few friends of the family who spoke English, which was great. This was the most authentic Thailand experience I had, and honestly, the beaches can't live up to that. |
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