Meditating in 1997 Thailand (Part 1 of 7)
Janet and I couldn't stay at Bhavana as a married couple, so a kind nun at the Bhavana Society referred Janet to a friend of hers;a Buddhist nun living in Thailand, thinking that Janet might be interested in going back to Southeast Asia.
When Janet got in touch with the nun, she invited Janet to join both her and her abbot along with two other senior monks, on a trip they were planning to California, Canada and Mexico.
Janet could ordain during the trip, and then accompany them back to Thailand and live at Wat Phratat Foon with the nun, with Ajahn Lee, and Ajahn Luen.
So Janet was off, leaving me behind to dispose of our belongings...
again, which now included a mobile home! The old Toyota was still running, amazingly, and I was able to sell it for about what I initially paid for it, and by some stroke of pure luck, I was able to sell the mobile home as well.
I moved in with Bhante G again, for awhile, before heading for Thailand and Wat Pah Baan That.
I would be two hundred kilometers from where Janet was staying, far enough away so that we would see each other occasionally, but not close enough to interfere with each other's practice (or raise eyebrows with the villagers).
Janet made herself right at home in Thailand again, living out in the jungle with nothing but a small bamboo platform and a mosquito net.
Her meditation deepened quickly, walking for hours back and forth alongside her little "tent," and somehow protected from the cobras that roamed the gardens that she weeded.
Walking meditation created more of a challenge to keep her mind concentrated than did sitting meditation, and when she could become concentrated while walking, her sitting became even more refined.
Janet's abbot was enigmatic, and more - Janet was certain he could read minds.
She once tested him by thinking...
if you can read my mind; walk over here, right now, past where I am standing (she was standing in an area where he rarely entered.
Well, in only a few minutes, you guessed it; there he was! One day, when I was visiting Janet's monastery, I watched him work some more magic.
He was talking to a seriously distressed young village woman who was supposedly possessed with some kind of psychosis - screaming and thrashing about in the courtyard of the monastery.
Her family and a crowd of villagers had gathered and were looking on as the abbot smoked one cigarette after another while calmly talking to her for hours.
Finally, the girl curled up on the courtyard pavement and went to sleep, and from what I understand, was never troubled again.
My home monastery was Wat Pah Baan That, home of unquestionably the most renowned meditation monk now living in Thailand; Acharn Maha Boowa.
I didn't see too much of him as a layperson, and never spoke to him personally, but the little contact I did have was impressive.
Whenever I was near him, I experienced an unusual peaceful feeling, and he didn't affect me in any kind of a wearying way, as if everything was as it should be.
He always seemed tranquil and comfortable.
I never seen him excited, but at times he expressed annoyance if not downright anger, regarding some of his young monk's behavior! You knew where you stood with him at all times, and he knew what you were, intuitively.
He was about eighty-two at the time.
He was fearless as well.
While I was there, a cancerous tumor was discovered in his bowel that had invaded the lining of the bowel itself and was spreading.
A battery of doctors from Bangkok insisted that he undergo immediate surgery, but instead, and without the slightest concern as if he only had a headache or something, he opted for some Chinese herbs relying on the power of his meditation to take care of things.
(He's still alive today, ten years later).
The wat (monastery) was extremely busy.
Thousands of lay supporters from all over Thailand were constantly coming and going to make offerings and pay respects during the holidays; it was not unusual to have ten-thousand attend the wat during a special occasion, with busloads of people from Bangkok.
Acharn Maha Boowa spoke differently to monks than he did to lay people.
With monks, he discussed the intricacies of meditation and spiritual training, but with lay people, he talked about things that would make their lives better.
Heunderstood that they didn't have the time or inclination to go deeply into meditation, even though some of the lay people, surprisingly, became quite advanced in Samadhi within the context of a busy lay life.
When Janet got in touch with the nun, she invited Janet to join both her and her abbot along with two other senior monks, on a trip they were planning to California, Canada and Mexico.
Janet could ordain during the trip, and then accompany them back to Thailand and live at Wat Phratat Foon with the nun, with Ajahn Lee, and Ajahn Luen.
So Janet was off, leaving me behind to dispose of our belongings...
again, which now included a mobile home! The old Toyota was still running, amazingly, and I was able to sell it for about what I initially paid for it, and by some stroke of pure luck, I was able to sell the mobile home as well.
I moved in with Bhante G again, for awhile, before heading for Thailand and Wat Pah Baan That.
I would be two hundred kilometers from where Janet was staying, far enough away so that we would see each other occasionally, but not close enough to interfere with each other's practice (or raise eyebrows with the villagers).
Janet made herself right at home in Thailand again, living out in the jungle with nothing but a small bamboo platform and a mosquito net.
Her meditation deepened quickly, walking for hours back and forth alongside her little "tent," and somehow protected from the cobras that roamed the gardens that she weeded.
Walking meditation created more of a challenge to keep her mind concentrated than did sitting meditation, and when she could become concentrated while walking, her sitting became even more refined.
Janet's abbot was enigmatic, and more - Janet was certain he could read minds.
She once tested him by thinking...
if you can read my mind; walk over here, right now, past where I am standing (she was standing in an area where he rarely entered.
Well, in only a few minutes, you guessed it; there he was! One day, when I was visiting Janet's monastery, I watched him work some more magic.
He was talking to a seriously distressed young village woman who was supposedly possessed with some kind of psychosis - screaming and thrashing about in the courtyard of the monastery.
Her family and a crowd of villagers had gathered and were looking on as the abbot smoked one cigarette after another while calmly talking to her for hours.
Finally, the girl curled up on the courtyard pavement and went to sleep, and from what I understand, was never troubled again.
My home monastery was Wat Pah Baan That, home of unquestionably the most renowned meditation monk now living in Thailand; Acharn Maha Boowa.
I didn't see too much of him as a layperson, and never spoke to him personally, but the little contact I did have was impressive.
Whenever I was near him, I experienced an unusual peaceful feeling, and he didn't affect me in any kind of a wearying way, as if everything was as it should be.
He always seemed tranquil and comfortable.
I never seen him excited, but at times he expressed annoyance if not downright anger, regarding some of his young monk's behavior! You knew where you stood with him at all times, and he knew what you were, intuitively.
He was about eighty-two at the time.
He was fearless as well.
While I was there, a cancerous tumor was discovered in his bowel that had invaded the lining of the bowel itself and was spreading.
A battery of doctors from Bangkok insisted that he undergo immediate surgery, but instead, and without the slightest concern as if he only had a headache or something, he opted for some Chinese herbs relying on the power of his meditation to take care of things.
(He's still alive today, ten years later).
The wat (monastery) was extremely busy.
Thousands of lay supporters from all over Thailand were constantly coming and going to make offerings and pay respects during the holidays; it was not unusual to have ten-thousand attend the wat during a special occasion, with busloads of people from Bangkok.
Acharn Maha Boowa spoke differently to monks than he did to lay people.
With monks, he discussed the intricacies of meditation and spiritual training, but with lay people, he talked about things that would make their lives better.
Heunderstood that they didn't have the time or inclination to go deeply into meditation, even though some of the lay people, surprisingly, became quite advanced in Samadhi within the context of a busy lay life.
