I'm back, folks! Oh, how I miss you all. :)
It's dreadful to see how much work is piling on my desk. After one full week of dedicating myself for a very good cause, how I wish i could have had a magic wand to wave off all the overdue work from my desk! hee hee hee
Anyway, going to Chiangmai is always good to me. Not only the clean weather purified my lung that desperately needs something fresh, crisp and clean, but the meditation itself sort of cool me down tremendously. And although i tried hard not to believe in miracle, it did happen again. I could translate almost a whole chapter of the monk's book that has been stranding me for months!
Well, come to think about it, he DID ask me to meditate first before I translate so that I could "unlock the hidden code" in his writing properly. I don't know yet whether i could unlock it properly or not, but I did unlock it all right. If I didn't choose to spend time helping out and meditating as much as I did this time, I swore I could have finished translating the whole book while I was there! And if this is not a miracle, then what is? Suddenly my brain is working again! How awfully nice! As if something jumped starting it. I hope nothing stops it again. At least not yet. heh-heh
Well, what else. The weather was good. The food was excellent. No, it was Michelin Guide's Five-Star's Extraordinary I had such a hard time trying to control myself not to overeat! I had to ask my teacher whether it was me alone that felt the food tasted even better (how could it be, it was already so good before), and the teacher said, yes, it tasted even better. Must be the sweeter taste of winter-time vegetables, you see. The northern charm never ceases to amaze me. And I could sleep very well like a baby without having to use any medication at all. That in itself is another miracle, given my medical history!
And plenty of exercise for me, too. Beside leading the morning exercise. Oh, yes, I lead the ancient Chinese exercise with mindfulness in the morning. Sort of moving meditation before walking meditation and sitting meditation. That is before sunrise. It was serene. I love this before-dawn session when things are totally quiet except for occasional rooster croaking and fish jumping from the surrounding pond and (very) early birds chirping. In the distant forest the sounds of night time insects still prevails. Oh, the beauty of nature at its simplicity. I really, really don't want to come back to Bangkok. Really.
Then, there are other pluses in this course. What made it even more special to me is that I got to do what I love to do most--to bring people who have been kind to me, who have cared for me, who have given me my knowledge, who have made me what i have, to meditate in Chiangmai. This trip i got to bring two of my high school teachers, and one made it through the end of this 7 days course. Although it is designed for people of all age and health history, it is not for the fainted heart. You really have to have certain determination to complete the course. It is not designed for, in short, a quitter.
My teacher in Chiangmai always said that those who have completed this course would always be able to achieve anything thereafter in their life because once you can learn how to get over your mental barrier, you will know how to achieve almost anything. Well, at least the Dhamma or the wisdom that would come to your mind will show to you your true nature, your true limit. You will know your capability and you will know how to get what you want and when to stop and how to treat your heart and let go smartly and bravely when you get disappointed, etc.
It is a boot-camp designed for the braves in my opinion, almost like a US navy's elite SEAL training course, if you ask me. The physical training may not be that vigorous, but the mental training will be equally hard. First you have to learn how to conquer the enemy within. And that's your own mind. And that, ladies and gentlemen, would be the title of my dissertation, "Taming the enemy within: Round-the-Clock Mindfulness Training of Samurai in Japan during Peace Time (Tokugawa Period)" Bansai! (Not Kanpai!)
Sayonara!
Oops, almost forgot, the photos.
Here is me with my high school teacher at Chiangmai Airport on the way back to Bangkok. Sorry I was really busy working during the course and no time to take photos at all. This one was also taken in a hurry by myself with my Sony-Ericsson k750i phone while we are walking to board the plane back and i realized I didn't have a photo of me and my teacher for my blog!
Me and my student that just graduated from a master's program at Chula. She just lost her mom during the semester and felt down and i cheered her up and she ended up bringing her elder sister along also. Both of them felt better and happier at the end of the course and of course I was very happy about it.
Life is so uncertain. Please don't wait until you lose your mother until you think about attending a meditation course. Because most people would want to go home and tell their mom how happy they are and want to bring their mom along also next time. Well, at least i did. And my mom loved every minute of it.
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