Bangkok (CNN) — A pulsating cosmopolis of 10 million, Bangkok at instances looks as if probably the most unlikely Buddhist metropolis on earth, regardless of the glittering spires of its famed shrines and temples.
It’s tempting to view the latter as quaint background filler, or as clichéd vacationer traps thronged with international guests.
In the meantime, everybody else appears to be caught in slow-moving site visitors shuttling backwards and forwards between condos and workplace buildings, whereas hordes of staff from the outer provinces rework development websites into makeshift villages.
After sundown, the scene switches to busy street-food stalls and the most recent Michelin-starred bistros. Previous to the pandemic, bars, nightclubs, therapeutic massage parlors and dwell music venues competed to squeeze the final out of your waking hours earlier than it begins yet again.
Sure, Bangkok’s weapons of mass distraction make all of it too simple to fill one’s life with out sparing even a second for self-reflection.
That’s a pity, as a result of past the grit and glitz lies one of many metropolis’s biggest charms — the chance to decelerate, flip inward, and discover some stillness on the coronary heart of chaos by means of meditation.
Buddhism in Thailand
Nearly all of Thais observe Theravada Buddhism, thought of the earliest existent college of Buddhism and the custom most targeted on meditation.
Virtually each wat — Buddhist monastery — in Bangkok affords instruction on tips on how to meditate, typically with a corridor devoted to observe, or on the very least, ground area the place laypeople can sit down, fold their legs, and observe fundamental psychological strategies which can be for probably the most half distinctive to Buddhism.
Bangkok is stuffed with alternatives to decelerate and discover stillness by means of meditation.
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Along with the monasteries discovered all throughout the town, Bangkok affords a variety of standalone meditation facilities that additionally arrange common instruction, drop-in classes and meditation retreats.
For guests and residents alike, working towards meditation in Thailand affords the prospect to step again, extract one’s self from the rat race for a short while, and try the larger image. For some, it additionally aids restoration from nervousness, melancholy and trauma within the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
What type of meditation is hottest in Thailand?
The primary type of Buddhist meditation taught in Thailand is mindfulness, identified within the historical Pali — the sacred language of Theravada Buddhism — as satipatthana.
Meditating helps us domesticate these emotions, maintaining us calm and aware of our actions.
Not like meditation in some religions, there isn’t any must suppress thought. All ideas in addition to transient bodily sensations, together with ache and discomfort, are thought of legitimate meditation objects, slightly than distractions.
Elena Antonova, senior lecturer on the Brunel College London, is a cognitive neuroscientist who research the results of mindfulness meditation on mind construction and performance.
“It’s so necessary once we begin meditating to place to the aspect preconceived concepts that mindfulness meditation or meditation typically is about having a thoughts freed from ideas,” she tells CNN.
“There isn’t a good or dangerous meditation by way of what number of ideas are there. What’s necessary and what defines it as a aware meditation is are we conscious of those ideas as placing occasions within the thoughts, or are we so caught up in them that we utterly lose observe (of our) our bodies and every thing that surrounds us?”
The primary type of meditation taught in Thailand is satipatthana — mindfulness.
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In Thailand’s Buddhist temples, individuals usually sit with the correct foot on the left thigh, the left foot below the correct thigh, and the correct hand positioned upon the left in your lap with thumbs touching. However you’ll be able to sit in any place you’d like and use a cushion or a chair.
Meditation begins by following the rising and falling of 1’s breath, both on the nostril or on the stomach, after which shifts to different bodily or psychological phenomena as they randomly seem.
Observe your ideas as they come up, however all the time return to your base — the inhalation and exhalation of your breath.
Well being advantages of meditation
The end result? Being aware of 1’s ideas, emotions and temper whereas meditating can carry over into on a regular basis life, making it simpler to remain within the second, and never get slowed down by petty worries.
Decrease blood strain, steadier coronary heart rhythms, improved circulation and different wellness upgrades are additionally generally reported.
“Mindfulness has an impact on growing hippocampal quantity, and that has been proven in a variety of research … it will probably occur even after eight weeks of mindfulness-based stress discount,” Antonova tells CNN. “The hippocampus is a crucial construction. It’s concerned in reminiscence consolidation and formation in addition to retrieval.
“With meditation, it’s finest to think about it as a time for oneself, time to nourish one’s well-being — form of a psychological hygiene spa second, actually,” says Antonova. “And we solely want about 10 minutes a day so long as we do it constantly.”
Listed here are some beneficial locations in and round Bangkok the place one can be taught meditation from starting to superior ranges, be part of common meditation teams and observe on one’s personal.
Wat Mahathat Worldwide Meditation Heart
Wat Mahathat Yuwaratrangsarit affords free meditation sesions for foreigners.
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Based within the 18th century, Wat Mahathat occupies a 20-acre compound close to the Chao Phraya River and the world-famous Temple of the Emerald Buddha. The monastery boasts Bangkok’s oldest frequently open meditation heart, headquartered in Part 5, an older constructing tucked away within the southern half of the compound amid monks’ residences.
Right here, members sit collectively in quiet, air-conditioned halls. Though quickly closed through the pandemic, the middle usually opens for observe and instruction from 1 to 4 p.m. and 6 to eight p.m. every day.
Each Saturday, there’s a particular session for foreigners, however on different days of the week you’ll be able to often discover an English-speaking monk or a long-term lay resident capable of train or interpret for Thai instructors.
Instruction is predicated on a system of mindfulness popularized by the late Myanmar meditation grasp Mahasi Sayadaw.
All nationalities and religions are welcome, and there’s no must make a reservation upfront. There isn’t a value for instruction, nor are donations pressed.
For members who want to keep in a single day, lodging and meals are additionally supplied for free of charge. White clothes is required for each short- and long-term visits, and is offered for buy on the heart’s library. Inside the middle, idle chat and using cellphones are prohibited.
Wat Arun Meditation Heart
This is likely one of the extra stunning finds in Bangkok, hidden away at the back of Wat Arun, removed from the busy riverfront and scenic major stupa, a serious vacationer attraction.
Present in part of the monastery the place few vacationers enterprise, the middle occupies an 18th-century constructing of red-lacquered partitions, wood-plank flooring and tidy courtyards.
Hartanto Gunawan, the meditation heart’s director and teacher, hails from Indonesia, the place he left a place as CEO of a multinational to dwell as a monk in northern Thailand.
He left the monkhood after 4 years to determine a nonprofit college at Wat Arun for deprived women susceptible to human trafficking, with the meditation heart as an adjunct to assist cope with trauma.
Bangkok’s historic Wat Arun.
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Individuals of all religions and meditation traditions are welcome to observe right here and even to remain in a single day with out value. Regular hours for the middle are from 9 a.m. to five p.m. every day; not like different Bangkok facilities, this one has remained open through the pandemic.
Ajahn Hartanto speaks good English, and teaches what he calls “analysis meditation”. Relatively than merely concentrating or quietening the thoughts, he says we should use it for self-enquiry: to know who we’re and why we’re right here.
“A terrorist or felony can have a concentrated thoughts and nonetheless pull the set off,” he explains. “So, a concentrated thoughts can nonetheless be very harmful.”
Little Bangkok Sangha (Little Bang)
A preferred group amongst Bangkok expats, Little Bang acquired its begin in 2007 as a set of six talks performed by Western monks.
Led by Pandit Bhikkhu, a New Zealand-born monk who resides at Wat Paknam, the group developed right into a web-based clearinghouse for dhamma talks, guided meditations, retreats and different Buddhist-related actions.
Common Monday night group meditations from 6:30-8 p.m. are held on the Rojana Dhamma Basis, often guided by Pandit Bhikkhu or visiting meditation academics.
Contributors often arrive a bit early for tea or espresso and to fulfill newcomers earlier than sitting down for meditation. That is adopted by a chat and open dialogue.
Pandit Bhikkhu has a really down-to-earth, casual method through which everybody from freshmen to skilled meditators feels welcome. Cushions are supplied, and there’s no cost for the night.
Throughout current pandemic months, the Monday classes at Rojana Dhamma Basis have been quickly changed by Zoom meditation classes held each second Monday of the month.
The web site is properly price visiting to find out about different meditation-related occasions all through the town.
Wat Prayong Worldwide Meditation Heart
In the event you’re prepared for one thing extra rigorous than a one-day session, this heart at Wat Prayong on the outskirts of Bangkok hosts seven-day meditation retreats through the first week of each month from November to February solely.
Roughly an hour’s drive from central Bangkok, Wat Prayong is a comparatively new monastery surrounded by rice fields in a peaceable space.
This system is organized by Mae Chee Brigitte, an Austrian Buddhist nun who was honored by the UN as an “excellent girl in Buddhism” in 2009.
Relying on who’s attending, instruction could also be in English, German or Thai, or a mixture of all three. The week-long retreat trains members in Buddhist philosophy and way of life, together with directions on bowing and chanting, dialogue classes with monks, mindfulness meditation and attentiveness to Buddhist ethical rules.
The rigorous coaching schedule runs from 4:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. on days two by means of six, and a half day on the primary and final days. The retreats are freed from cost. The most recent retreat season started on November 1, 2021.
Wat Sanghathan
Simply reached through a brief stroll from Chao Phraya River Categorical Pier N29, Wat Sanghathan occupies round 50 acres of bushes, ponds and canals close to the river. (The video on the high of the web page was filmed at this temple)
This can be a favourite amongst these trying to prepare a self-retreat, with instruction in mindfulness meditation and Buddhist philosophy from the English-speaking abbot, Ajahn Sanong Katapunyo or from a resident nun who additionally teaches in English.
Like many different temples, you don’t have to be non secular to be taught meditation at Wat Sanghathan. The monks right here stress that it’s not one thing reserved for particular instances and sacred locations — it’s a day-in and day-out observe that may be noticed even when you’re doing mundane issues like consuming your meals or brushing your enamel.
Individuals meditate in a central Bangkok temple.
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At Wat Sanghathan they observe a meditation observe referred to as “Vipassana Kammathana” which is predicated on the 4 foundations of mindfulness — consciousness of physique, emotions, ideas and phenomena.
The every day schedule runs from 4 a.m. to 9 p.m., throughout which you’re anticipated to attend morning and night chanting classes (you don’t need to chant in the event you don’t need, simply be there) in one of many chapels.
For the remainder of the day, you’re free to observe sitting and strolling meditation by yourself time.
Strolling meditation differs barely. As an alternative of focusing in your respiration, you focus in your toes.
First, join together with your area by briefly standing and doing a psychological sweep of the physique from the highest of the top all the way down to the toes and again up once more. Then, put your proper hand over your left and place in entrance of you or at your decrease again. Subsequent, start strolling, lifting the correct foot and stepping it ahead slowly.
In case your ideas stray and also you’re unable to focus, cease, be aware these emotions which can be distracting you and return to the strolling.
Why stroll? The temple’s academics say it helps construct power and focus whereas grounding you to the current.
Easy lodging plus morning and noon meals are supplied to college students, freed from cost.
White clothes, accessible for buy on the wat, is necessary for in a single day stays. Usually guests are permitted to remain as much as one week nevertheless it’s potential to increase your observe with the abbot’s approval. Males may request short-term ordination as a monk.
Joe Cummings was one in every of Lonely Planet’s first authors, creating the seminal Lonely Planet Thailand information, adopted by different titles for nations within the area. He’s additionally the writer of “Buddhist Temples of Thailand” (Marshall Cavendish) and “Meditation Temples of Thailand: A Information” (Silkworm Books). Joe makes his residence in Bangkok, the place he writes commonly for CNN Journey and different publications around the globe.
