| A monk's routine in rural Thailand varied | | | | experiential, and making one's way through |
| little no matter where he stayed. In the | | | | the maze of sensations and impressions that |
| afternoons, I would join the monks at the | | | | result from deep concentration that can |
| well near the main hall where we each drew a | | | | culminate in jhanas can be mind-boggling. I |
| bucket of cold water for our bath. This | | | | soon found myself writing a monk in Australia |
| bathing area also served as a meeting place | | | | that I had become acquainted with years ago |
| where the monks met twice a month to make | | | | at Wat Pah Nanachat in 1981, and had since |
| their brooms for sweeping the paths and to | | | | moved on to a monastery in Perth, Australia |
| wash and dye their donated robes by boiling | | | | where he currently was the abbot. He was a |
| them with the orange bark from the jackfruit | | | | monk well known for his familiarity with |
| tree. (We were treated to a hot bath every | | | | jhanas, and his advice was exactly what I |
| two weeks!). | | | | needed to help me get past some obstacles. He |
| | | | was an interesting monk, his three-page |
| I would walk back to my hut after the bath | | | | letter back to me was hand printed and spaced |
| and practice meditation for the rest of the | | | | with such precision that I was positive it |
| evening and usually late into the night. How | | | | was done with a fancy computer font, but upon |
| could I be happier? I had two geckos as | | | | close examination (under a magnifying glass |
| companions and my meditation was improving, | | | | years later), sure enough, tiny microscopic |
| too. I was beginning to feel at ease with | | | | dissimilarities could be seen between the |
| this practice; the fertile soil my heart was | | | | characters. |
| growing in. | | | | |
| | | | In addition to working on jhanas, there was |
| I was feeling increasingly at home in nature. | | | | the everyday routine to follow. A little |
| The unique aspect of nature is its vastness - | | | | before sunrise, I would make my way through |
| I could take in as much as I wanted and not | | | | the night on a narrow trail to the hall, |
| diminish it. While I was there, I tried to | | | | being careful of the Russell Vipers that |
| attain jhanas, deep states of concentration | | | | liked to curl up in the middle of the paths |
| that systematically relinquishes attachments | | | | looking very much like little piles of |
| to the eye, ear, nose, tongue, and body | | | | leaves. In the hall, we would all meet and |
| sensual sensations, as well as attachments to | | | | then start walking to the villages nearby to |
| directed thought and mental evaluations; | | | | collect our alms, a custom that has been |
| rapture, pleasure, equanimity, form, infinite | | | | unchanged for twenty-five hundred years. At |
| space, infinite consciousness, nothingness, | | | | this wat, we didn't meditate as a group; |
| and neither perception nor non-perception. | | | | everybody was supposed to be advanced enough |
| | | | to be on their own! |
| Jhanas are complicated. They are | | | | |