Monks in Thailand. Photo / Unsplash
Eager to quieten your busy mind and master meditation? At these three spots, you can learn from monks themselves, writes Ron Emmons.
When I arrived in Thailand many moons ago to work as an English teacher, one aspect of the country that appealed to me – besides the tropical landscapes, spicy food and friendly people – was the chance to learn about meditation.
I worked in Chiang Mai in the country’s north, and when I had a month off, I decided to take a meditation course at Wat Ram Poeng, just outside the city.
I soon discovered meditation is about 1% theory and 99% practice. The theory is easy; find a comfortable place to sit with spine erect, put your full attention on the air passing in and out of your nostrils, stop thinking and keep aware of what is happening in the present moment.
The practice is not so easy, and many quit before completing the course, unable to control the monkey mind, which just won’t cooperate. I came close to running off to Koh Samui several times but my shaved head kept me at the temple, meditating on my vanity.
These days, what with global conflicts flooding our screens, climate change fulfilling scientists’ despairing predictions and a certain world leader acting like a tyrant, the need is stronger than ever to rein in our emotions, to somehow detach ourselves from depressing events and strive for equanimity.
One way to achieve this is by practising meditation with an English-speaking teacher. Fortunately, Chiang Mai has plenty of opportunities to practise Vipassana (insight) meditation, but while other temples may offer instruction in Thai, the following three temples – Wat Suan Dok, Wat Umong and Wat Ram Poeng – welcome foreign visitors with an interest in the practice, whatever their religious affiliation. Though the dhamma is given for free, a donation towards meals and lodging on completion of the course is appropriate.
All these temples are located to the west of Chiang Mai’s old city, and all could be visited in half a day, giving a strong taste of the atmosphere in a meditation temple. Options for visitors range from an informal chat with monks about Buddhist ideas to a 26-day stay, focusing on inner development.
The first temple is Wat Suan Dok, where the Monk Chat and Meditation Retreat office is tucked away beyond a huge assembly hall and stupas containing the remains of former Chiang Mai royalty, who ruled the northern region, once known as Lanna (‘a million rice fields’), until it was subsumed into Siam in the late 19th century.
Monks are available from 4pm-7pm on Monday to Friday for an informal chat. Most monks who join the conversations here are students at the Chiang Mai campus of the Mahachulalongkornrajavidyala University, set in the grounds of Wat Suan Dok, and this cultural exchange helps visitors to understand Buddhism better while the monks get the chance to improve their English skills. Meditation courses ranging from half a day to four days are available too. See their website for schedule and registration.
Contact monkchat2023@gmail.com
A few kilometres west of Wat Suan Dok, snuggled at the base of Doi Suthep (Chiang Mai’s guardian mountain), is Wat Umong, where the meditation centre offers 3-day courses with a strict schedule of practice from 5am-9pm each day. However, there is not always an English-speaking meditation teacher in residence, so it’s best to email for up-to-date information. There are usually dhamma talks on Sunday afternoons in a pavilion beside the lake.
Students stay in basic accommodation, in different buildings for males and females, wear white clothing and eat two meals a day (breakfast and lunch; nothing after noon). Sitting meditation is usually conducted in the meditation centre while walking meditation may be practised anywhere in this forest monastery. Participants are also expected to help out with tasks like sweeping leaves and washing dishes.
watumong.com or email umongmedcenter@yahoo.com
A short way south of Wat Umong, Wat Ram Poeng offers the Mother of All Meditation Courses in this writer’s humble opinion. The 26-day course begins gently, with practice in sitting and walking for a few hours each day, and ends with a commitment, or “determination”, to be fully aware of the present moment for three days and nights. This might seem an impossible task to a normal busy person, yet can be attained by constant practice. Courses begin two or three times each month (see website for dates) and registration is just 500 baht ($26).
After exploring the grounds of the temple and perhaps watching a few foreigners practising sitting or walking meditation, there’s just one decision to make: do I head back to town and my life as it was, or do I enter the Foreign Meditation Office and sign up to follow the dhamma trail?
watrampoeng.com/vipassana-course
The writer travelled at their own expense.