Thailand - Meditation/Buddhism

irishguy1983

Anyone gone over to discover a bit more about the above topic? Maybe even done a course?

I understand my question is very vague but just looking for anything really!

Sappa

irishguy1983 wrote: »

Anyone gone over to discover a bit more about the above topic? Maybe even done a course?

I understand my question is very vague but just looking for anything really!

Yepp I have done a bit of it in Thailand.
I lived in a Buddhist retreat in Surat Thani Suun Monk was the name of it,10 days in the temple/complex.
My advice would be if your serious about this,take a months holiday to Thailand.
Use the first 10 days to stay at the Temple and the rest as a recovery relaxing holiday.
It's by no means easy but I got a lot out of it as well as respect for the Monks.
Your day begins at 4am,a short sermon in an outdoor complex,no hot water or mirrors allowed so it's a cold start with a bucket of water to wake you up.
After this you have yoga for an hour and a bit,my favourite part.
Then it's meditation for an hour and your first meal at 8am.
Each person has a daily task be it sweeping the dining area etc,breakfast is a rice soup/ congee,very nice.
You have some down time until 10am but you are allowed no literature,mp3 etc or phones plus the whole time you are there it is a silence policy and you cannot interact with others.
You can go for a walk or use the natural hot springs.
This is followed by a sermon,these are usually about life not lecturing and more meditation.
You eat again at 1 and this is your last meal of the day.
From 1-6 it's more meditation followed by a cup of coco at 6:30 and you can use the hot springs after.
7-9 we had walking group meditation and candle lit team building things all through silence.
Bed time was 9:30 and you have your own room,bit like a concrete cell with bars on the window but no glass,wooden pillow,concrete floor mattress and a mosquito net.
The last day is a 24hr fast and it's all hard work but something I am glad I did,cost was 1500baht at the time.

irishguy1983

Sappa wrote: »

Yepp I have done a bit of it in Thailand.
I lived in a Buddhist retreat in Surat Thani Suun Monk was the name of it,10 days in the temple/complex.
My advice would be if your serious about this,take a months holiday to Thailand.
Use the first 10 days to stay at the Temple and the rest as a recovery relaxing holiday.
It's by no means easy but I got a lot out of it as well as respect for the Monks.
Your day begins at 4am,a short sermon in an outdoor complex,no hot water or mirrors allowed so it's a cold start with a bucket of water to wake you up.
After this you have yoga for an hour and a bit,my favourite part.
Then it's meditation for an hour and your first meal at 8am.
Each person has a daily task be it sweeping the dining area etc,breakfast is a rice soup/ congee,very nice.
You have some down time until 10am but you are allowed no literature,mp3 etc or phones plus the whole time you are there it is a silence policy and you cannot interact with others.
You can go for a walk or use the natural hot springs.
This is followed by a sermon,these are usually about life not lecturing and more meditation.
You eat again at 1 and this is your last meal of the day.
From 1-6 it's more meditation followed by a cup of coco at 6:30 and you can use the hot springs after.
7-9 we had walking group meditation and candle lit team building things all through silence.
Bed time was 9:30 and you have your own room,bit like a concrete cell with bars on the window but no glass,wooden pillow,concrete floor mattress and a mosquito net.
The last day is a 24hr fast and it's all hard work but something I am glad I did,cost was 1500baht at the time.

Sounds pretty hardcore - how did you go about finding this? Did you just google it?

Sappa

irishguy1983 wrote: »

Sappa wrote: »

Yepp I have done a bit of it in Thailand.
I lived in a Buddhist retreat in Surat Thani Suun Monk was the name of it,10 days in the temple/complex.
My advice would be if your serious about this,take a months holiday to Thailand.
Use the first 10 days to stay at the Temple and the rest as a recovery relaxing holiday.
It's by no means easy but I got a lot out of it as well as respect for the Monks.
Your day begins at 4am,a short sermon in an outdoor complex,no hot water or mirrors allowed so it's a cold start with a bucket of water to wake you up.
After this you have yoga for an hour and a bit,my favourite part.
Then it's meditation for an hour and your first meal at 8am.
Each person has a daily task be it sweeping the dining area etc,breakfast is a rice soup/ congee,very nice.
You have some down time until 10am but you are allowed no literature,mp3 etc or phones plus the whole time you are there it is a silence policy and you cannot interact with others.
You can go for a walk or use the natural hot springs.
This is followed by a sermon,these are usually about life not lecturing and more meditation.
You eat again at 1 and this is your last meal of the day.
From 1-6 it's more meditation followed by a cup of coco at 6:30 and you can use the hot springs after.
7-9 we had walking group meditation and candle lit team building things all through silence.
Bed time was 9:30 and you have your own room,bit like a concrete cell with bars on the window but no glass,wooden pillow,concrete floor mattress and a mosquito net.
The last day is a 24hr fast and it's all hard work but something I am glad I did,cost was 1500baht at the time.

Sounds pretty hardcore - how did you go about finding this? Did you just google it?

I did it 8-9 years ago,didn't use google too much then.
Word of mouth whilst travelling but I'm sure you would find a link to it now somewhere.