Summary
This writing is not about the church. And it is not about the people. It is about the pain I felt inside myself. It hurts when the space that could take me forward becomes a playground.
When I told one of my friends that I wanted to stay silent for 10 days, he said that it wouldn’t work for me.
No way, he knows me well!
But he also knows that if I wanted to, I would do it.
I’ve been silent for four days and I’ve said very little.
If I wanted to spend this time in complete silence, it wouldn’t have been a problem. But sometimes it’s easier to help a friend – who is watching my “SILENT” badge – so that he doesn’t have to Activytize the sentence “What a beautiful day we have, and I’m glad to see you” for me.
Simpler structures such as “Hello”, “I’m grateful for your help”, “Thank you” can be expressed well with a Wai, or a palm over the heart. If there’s a smiley face, we even put an exclamation point at the end of the sentence.
The silence sign really works well in excluding me from the conversation. This gave me a great opportunity to practice mindfulness.
I don’t know why, but I’ve been thinking a little bit about my next tattoo. Do you have any idea what I’m thinking?
Who does it work for?
I often feel like I could put another sign in front of every thought I have. That one that says “I might be wrong!”
But if I were that insecure, maybe it would be better if I didn’t write it at all. On the other hand, let me just say sometimes: I only express my subjective opinion, I don’t write general truths.
So, “I might be wrong!”
What I want to write about now reminds me of something: “I might be wrong!”
And the topic requires me to also write that “I might be wrong!”
The question arose in my mind: who is this place good for and who is not?
Thoughts are swirling inside me. I tried to figure out in what order to write them, where to draw the boundaries of my respect, where to be joking, where to be serious? I couldn’t find the right form.
So I decided to make a list and see if I need to say anything more.
Who is this place not for?
- For people seeking solutions to their life’s problems, seeking secrets and recipes.
- For those who have the thought “I’ll learn to meditate well here and now.”
- For those seeking spiritual transformation. (I’m not 100% sure about this.)
- For those who are committed to finding happiness.
Who is this place good for?
- For selfie queens and bearded Jesus princes staring at the sunset.
- For those who want to learn about the Thai custom of offering food.
- For those who want to try silence.
- For beginners who are getting to know volunteer work.
- For those (newbies) looking for a space to practice meditation.
In general, I think that the church is completely sincere in its message: I welcome everyone with love!
It cannot even add that “there will definitely be a reward for those who come unnecessarily.”
(I may be wrong! I may be wrong! I may be wrong!)
I think that the only way to take something from here is to put something down in return.
Either you put it down here, or you have already put it down before, but if you don’t give anything, you won’t get anything here either. Or – otherwise – you will get nothing.
The ego and this place, for example, are not friends. No one will say anything if you are the only one in a red, cute T-shirt among many people in white. No one threatens that you will have nothing. If you come here like this, you most likely don’t know yet where to bend down for the treasure.
Despite its silence, this place could be a stronghold of loving connection. In my experience, the majority (usually they don’t do volunteer work anyway) don’t appreciate even the most basic forms of courtesy. Letting women go first, waving a man in line, offering water at lunch, smiling when sitting at a common table, or accepting or indicating a good appetite…
I feel that the ego-driven majority does not yet understand (I’m afraid it will never understand) that this place would be an excellent practice space for risk-free attachments, since we are in a special space.
Together. Equal and more equal.
I don’t want to focus anymore on ego-driven selfie queens, everyone knows them, they are everywhere.
Only one slice of Thai culture is really shown here, this is the offering of food.
It is not the technique of meditation that is given here, but the opportunity.
I don’t think this place is suitable for spiritual transformation. If something brings the pupa about to transform here and the butterfly emerges here, it won’t be because of the place. But I could be wrong.
Likewise, the temple is not suitable for religious transformation. We get little from Buddhism, but I’m already saying that this is not a shortage. The purpose of this place is to welcome interested tourists with immeasurable kindness.
If you want to be a Theravada Thai forest Buddhist monk, then you should go to a more suitable temple.
Happiness will not find you here either. Unless you came to date/date, because despite the temple atmosphere, traces of this can be constantly felt.
Returning to happiness: Buddhism, as I heard from today’s first dharma talk, does not strive for happiness. That is, unless you find it yourself, no one will show you the way here.
Good advice for life. I experienced yesterday that we receive the best teachings when something comes quietly in a half-sentence.
When life advice comes, I feel two problems. On the one hand, most people have heard it many times, but have never understood it. On the other hand, this advice always shines as the secret of secrets, meaning that its existence is completely contrary to its essence.
Chen can really be practiced. The form of volunteering without the Internet that I have chosen is not fashionable. Everyone is busy with their phones. This morning I saw a guy who was on the phone in line waiting for the food offering. No one forbids this. The question inside me is quiet, old man, why are you here?
Finally, volunteer work. It seems that the majority do not want to get their hands dirty. I think those of us who do it are serious. However, I cannot ignore the fact that this work is a selfless act done for a volunteer space-occupying company.
For me, “real” volunteer work means helping people who are not voluntary space-occupiers. Homeless, war victims, orphans, the dying, the mentally ill, etc.
It means something to me where a higher form of altruism appears.
So, by the end, I feel like I said it right. Quite a few negative things have slipped out of my hands. But I could be wrong.
Maybe it wasn’t just me who asked the question:
Why am I staying?
Buy me a coffee?
If you enjoyed this story, you can buy me a coffee. You don’t have to – but it means a lot and I always turn it into a new adventure.
Buy a coffee for Steve
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Short introduction