Wisdom Quarterly: backpacking

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Amazing Thailand: Buddhism in Bangkok

German iReporter Holger Bauer at Wat Bowon Niwet (CNNgo.com)

"Amazing Thailand: A Photographic Tour 2010" Day 2: Blessing Buddha statues, Golden Chedi at Doi Suthep Temple, Chiang Mai, Thailand (DocBudie/Sayid Budi/Flickr).

"My passion is to show how fascinating Bangkok looks off the tourist tracks and how Thais manage their daily lives."
- Holger Bauer

Wat [Temple] Bowon Niwet Vihara Rajavaravihara, a Buddhist temple off most tourists' radars, is located on Thanon Bowon Niwet and Thanon Phra Sumen, close to the backpacker's [paradise] of Khao San Road.

This stunning temple, [with] small canals (khlongs) and plenty of trees and flowers, provides visitors with a rare piece of calm in otherwise buzzing Bangkok.

But beautiful as the grounds are, be sure to visit the monks' retreat, which is made up of tiny, beautiful kutis with terraces surrounded by flowers. Visitors are allowed in, so you can sit with the monks as they study and have a talk, or just watch them go about their daily lives.

Many events take place at Wat Bowon Niwet, including Buddhist holidays, funerals and -- a highlight -- the inauguration of the new novice monks.

Also within the huge Wat Bowon Niwet compound is the Buddhist Thammayut Nikaya University, where the dean is more than happy to let visitors follow a lesson in one of the classes. Entrance is free... More

CNNGo Bangkok

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

My Meditation Spaceship (Tent)

Ashley Wells, Seven, CC Liu

"Inhale, Exhale, Hike" backpacking yoga trip, Canyonlands Nat'l Park (zozi.com)

Mornings of backyard relaxation or epic hiking and yoga woven around reconnecting to living in the moment? Both are available. An awe inspiring adventure trip offers days of backpacking, yoga, and travel through the red-hued rocks of Canyonlands. The same level of adventure is possible in the backyard, awakening to a morning practice in the cool outdoor air at home. Meditation means getting grounded in the moment. But "all space is here, all time is now" as Wendy Rule sings. So a tent can be a spaceship to travel anywhere in a relaxed and imaginative state. No practice? No problem. Now is the time to learn.

Learn Meditation from Wildmind

Our posture workshop is where we suggest you start if you don't already have a meditation practice (and perhaps even if you do). We'll take you step-by-step through the process of setting up a meditation posture that will allow you to be both alert and relaxed.
The mindfulness of breathing is a fundamental meditation practice that everyone should know. The benefits? You'll find that this practice helps you to calm your mind so that there's less inner chatter (especially the stuff that makes you unhappy). You'll find also that you're less distractable and better able to pay attention.
The development of loving-kindness (metta) works directly on our emotional habits, helping us to become more emotionally positive. You'll learn to be kinder to yourself: more patient, more understanding. You'll find that you're more considerate to others and that it's easier to forgive. You may even find (as others have) that others around you mysteriously become easier to be around. Hmm... wonder why that is?
Walking meditation is a great way to bring more meditation into your daily life; it's a practice that can be done even in a busy city street. In this form of practice we develop greater mindfulness of the body, but we also become more aware of our thought patterns, our emotions, and even of the outside world. It's a calming practice. Walking meditation can also be a loving-kindness practice, especially when you're walking in a public place.
Our mantra meditation section is the most popular destination for our visitors. Mantras are simply phrases that we repeat (usually internally, but they can also be chanted out loud). As well as occupying the mind and thus calming it by preventing it from getting up to the usual mischief that causes us pain, mantras also have a symbolic value that evokes spiritual qualities.
The six element practice is a profound reflection on interconnectedness and impermanence. It's a very beautiful form of meditation. It not only helps us to calm the mind and give us a reassuring sense of our place in the great scheme of things, it can be unsettling and challenging as well. Yes, I know. Reassuring and unsettling, that's Buddhist practice for ya!