Busy Week

I am back in Ban Krud at the Coconut Cottages for a hot shower and some relaxing on the beach. It has been kind of a crazy week.  I taught Mon, Tues, and Wed and then because there was no school for the High School, I hung out with the boys from last year's Power of One program, Thor and Am. All of the local High Schools had their annual "Boy/Girl Scout Camp". It is 3 days of learning about camping, hiking, science, and scouting. Thursday we went for a huge hike in the mountains. We were supposed to head up the mountain about 4 kilometers to a beautiful waterfall but we ran out of time and got a little off the trail and never made it to the top. But it was still a great hike. It was very hot and kind of like bush whacking. Then on Friday, (after a much needed good nights rest), we went to the local museum. There was a new aquarium and an aerospace museum. It was really cool and many of the exhibits had English information in addition to Thai. In the afternoon we went to a local beach where we fed wild monkeys. They are actually "Spectacled Langurs". There are several types of monkeys in Thailand and some are more dangerous than others but these are very docile and sweet. We fed them little nuts and they loved them. There were about 30 of them, some mothers with babies. What a great experience.

After that we went to a beautiful Buddhist Temple by the beach. The lead Monk teaches meditation and when he learned that I am interested in learning more about Buddhism and meditation, he sat and talked with me for a while through and interpreter. He asked me several questions about America and what I knew about meditation. Then he asked if there was anything I would like to ask him. I asked what his thoughts are about the teaching of His Holiness the Dali Lama and Tibetan Buddhism, (different than Theravada Buddhism followed here in Thailand). He said that the teaching of the Dali Lama focuses only on "quieting the monkey mind" and that it is good to learn to quiet the restless mind but also to learn to train the monkey mind through meditation practice. He said it is important to learn to train your mind to be aware of your thoughts throughout your everyday experiences. The most interesting thing he said was to watch the movie the Matrix, (I know... right?), and that it goes deep into explaining that our reality and human experience does not tell the whole story about what is really gone on. That there are alternate realities that we need to be aware of and that we can tap into these realities through mindful meditation. He went on to say that by focusing our mind and thoughts we can thereby create a different human experience. Hmmm.... Science of Mind??? I think so. It was a fantastic conversation. That evening we went to the closing ceremony for scout camp where they had a huge bonfire, dancing, songs, and skits put on by the students. What a great day.

It is Sunday, the 24th here and tomorrow is the Chinese New Year. There are many Chinese that live in Thailand so there is always a big celebration. Tonight there will be fireworks, music, and food. Should be a fun time.