Tam Wua - The magical forest monastery in northern Thailand

 

Once I completed my massage course I felt the need to get out of the busy city of Chiang Mai and return to one of my favorite sanctuaries in Thailand (where I spent Christmas 4 years ago).  Tam Wua, a monastery that is nestled among huge limestone mountains and forests in the North of Thailand, not far from Mae Song.

This enlightening place brings me to another level of awareness by touching the deepest parts of my soul and helping me to be present in the Now.
Inspiring me to write as the words were flowing through me like the sound of flowing river nearby.  Being a power place, the frequency of the energy there is quite unusual and it caused me to feel really open, happy and more light.

My hut (Kuti) was very basic but comfortable

The living arrangements are quite simple but comfortable as you get your own Kuti (small wooden house, with bedroom and attached shower/toilet).  Behind my Kuti was a small pond with Lilly pads and blooming Lotus flowers.  White and pink Lotus flowers are a reminder of the blooming of our true selves into a different state of consciousness.  This auspicious flower in Southeast Asia and other parts of the East is the subject of paintings, sculptures and of spiritual artwork in monasteries all over these parts.  Quite synchronistic because I had just written a poem the week before about a Lotus blooming.

The Blossoming 

As I look inside myself I see a flower beginning to bloom. 

The bud is ready to open to it's divine beauty. 

There is no need to fear when love is here.

Cycles of life unfold with so many lessons learned,

With lots more in the future to be discovered.

Let these thoughts dissolve now as I rest in this moment where the truth lies.

The Lotus flower cannot rush the process of blossoming. 

It waits patiently for it's opening, relishing in each moment of growth.

The flower being the fruit of the timely ripening,

Yet the beauty is in it all; its essence, bud, growth and flower. 

Life is the journey,

Growth is the gift,

Awakening is inevitable on the spiritual path.

Daily practice of Vipassana (insight into the true nature of reality, through self observation and introspection)  and mindfulness is encouraged in everything that is done during a stay there.  Sitting, walking and lying meditation are tools that are taught to help create mindfulness.  There are four monks altogether that live there.  The main monk Tan, is the teacher who liaises with the visitors speaking in Thai and English sharing his insight with us.  It felt like I was in the presence of Buddah (the awakened one) because he's reached a point of knowing the true nature of reality.  After spending 7 years, 7 months, 7 days in one of the meditation caves there, he became enlightened.  Although he doesn't advertise the fact that he has reached that level, he shared some of his story of those years in the cave.  It was very obvious to me while in his presence, listening to his teachings and seeing his compassionate smile I knew he's reached another level of consciousness.

During my visit to the forest monastery I volunteered by helping to clear the trails for walking meditation.  It was fun to contribute and share time with other visitors which included Thais and other Westerners.  We made some stairs with rocks and dirt to protect a hilly part of the pathway from erosion during the rainy season.  While we were working, the teacher monk Tan was coordinating the team guiding us in what he wanted us to do.  He offered a teaching to a few of us as he noticed a large boulder surrounded by a Banyan tree.  He said "The rock is the heart and mind, the tree is Vipassana, surrounding and protecting them from suffering."  That was one of the great things about being in Tan's presence, he would use symbols to give us teachings on Dhamma/Dharma (the law of nature). 

It inspired me to write a poem about the teaching, which I gifted to the monk afterward as I was leaving the monastery.  By placing the paper with the poem on the step next to him (tradition is that a woman can never hand anything to a monks) thanking him for his wonderful teachings on Dhamma as I said goodbye. 

The lesson on Dhamma

"The rock being the heart and mind, the tree is Vipassana, surrounding and protecting them from suffering." The monk shares his teaching with us.  

Surrounding, protecting, balancing the heart and mind as one moves effortlessly through life. 

The road has many obstacles, adversaries and challenges along the way,

Yet Dhamma makes life so simple each and every day. 

Freedom to choose our experience in life - to react or create

Will it be love or hate?

Reaction is exhausting with nothing positive to gain,

Creation makes peace and happiness possible, with no room for pain.

When one is not playing a victim in their life, there's always a choice.

Why not be responsible for your own happiness, choose Dhamma and rejoice. 

Visitors are invited to visit the meditation caves and I visited them on a number of occasions.  Meditating inside a cave is an amazing experience!  In the complete silence of the cave, I was present to the vibration of my own body, the electricity flowing through each and every cell.  It felt like I was inside the womb of the earth, feeling it's pulse and knowing that I'm always connected to this great mystery of life.  There's no separation because everything is connected in this cosmos through the cosmic web of energy.  This energy flows through every living thing on the planet making up the collective consciousness where everything is possible inside the quantum field.  Like a fractal if you break it into smaller pieces, each piece still contains the other parts but is fragmented - Nothing can be destroyed only transformed into another form.

Another blooming lotus behind my hut

What an amazing creation - life on earth! Our senses, the experience of being human, how life evolves and changes in every moment.  This is the only certainty in life - Change.  No matter what we do, see, feel - everything changes and there's no way of stopping it...just observe, observe, observe because that too will eventually change!

The land of smiles - Sawadee Ka

Returning to Thailand after 4 years, the land of smiles feels like a home away from home for me.  The warmth of this culture, friendly sunny smiles of the people and delicious food brings a wonderful feeling into my heart each time I visit.  Of all the places I've visited in the world, Thailand has really got something very special and unique.  The happiness that emanates from the locals here is obvious as their moto is "sebi sebi" which means happy happy!

Jared & I arrived in Bangkok after a short journey from Nepal.  We spent a couple of days in the crazy capital of Bangkok.  Catching the metro from the airport was fun, taking us right into the train station in Bangkok where we took a tuk tuk (small taxi) to Kao San road (the tourist hub in Bangkok) where we stayed.  After making arrangements of where we wanted to go next, I flew first to Chiang Mai because I'd registered to begin a course that was starting on Monday the 7th Nov.  Arriving first I found a good room in a lovely guesthouse with friendly people and a very cute dog named Milo. Jared stayed in Bangkok until that evening because he wanted to travel by train to see some more of Thailand, the flood conditions and to save some money.  After 14 hours of traveling, he reached Chiang Mai, where I met him at the train station at about 1am due to delays because of the flooding!

I started my Traditional Thai massage course the following day and the class was all women from multicultural places.  Some of the students were Italian, French, one Dutch, and one Austrian.  The group were great and we all connected very well as the teacher pointed out on several occasions!  Our teacher was Thai and we learned many things about Thai massage and the philosophies of this tradition from him.  I was surprised to learn this style of massage actually originated in India from the Ayurveda style.  As it crossed over from India into Thailand different adaptations were made to create the Traditional Thai massage. This news brought a smile to my face because I'd already learned Ayurveda yoga massage and their connection was apparent in many ways throughout the course.  It also gave me another perspective and building more skills in the massage field.

Sunshine school Chiang Mai (www.sunshine-massage-school.com) is where I took the course and it's a really good place to study massage if one is looking into this training.  They are accredited by many countries all around the world.  The professionalism, friendliness, good energy of the staff and teachers flows through the whole place.  The teachers love their work and the joy of teaching shines through in their lighthearted but thorough delivery of the course work.  Their passionate ways of expressing themselves is individual, as each teacher has their own unique way of inspiring students.  I enjoyed going to school each day and learning something new was truly rewarding.  Most mornings before class, I had a lovely yoga session by myself in one of the spare rooms there, to start my day flexible, centered and very clear.

Jared also done a 2 week training in a Lahu (name of the hill tribe) village in the North of Thailand through the Sunshine Network.  He really enjoyed his course too and learned many new things while integrating with local life in a small primitive village.  We just met up in Pai when he completed his course and yesterday we just exchanged our new skills.  It felt good to be able to help one another fine tune our own techniques by offering feedback to one another.

Now we are in the processing of working out the next stage of our journey...

Life, Love and Light

I just wrote this poem this morning over breakfast.  I don't usually share my poetry with others out of shyness.  However, now I've decided to move out of fear into love and share myself on another level with those that I care about.

Life, Love and Light

Light bounces off the water creating beautiful sparkles on the trees,

Light everywhere I look, the world is alive and vibrant.

Perception is the key to unlock the mysteries of this earthly experience,

Opening the heart, letting go of the mind to deeply feel this connection to the heavenly plane.

Love is in every plant that I see, a flower, a leaf, the trees all around,

A persons smile or twinkle in their eyes as love flows unbound.

Light shines through, creating rainbows as this spectrum radiates in every living thing,

Vibrating with life force; energy, consciousness, spirit - whatever the name.

This experience of Life, Love and Light...

It's all there IS in this sacred moment called NOW.

Dreams are for living

My last post was an update on the past months of the adventures of Jared and Jane but I left out how this trip came to fruition.

I met Jared in Alaska during my world trip and my travels slowed down for a couple of years so I could wait for him to finish with his career in the US Coast Guard.  Since meeting me, he felt inspired by my life of living my dreams and wanted to start living his own dreams.  Remembering some of his dreams of travel and helping in the sustainable development field with environmental issues we decided to travel together and marry.  The plans for the trip began and we both got very excited with the many possibilities the world had to offer and what we have to offer the world with the gifts we've both been given.

Some background on me and what led to my wanting to travel the world before we met.  The purpose of my journey I've been on since leaving London in 2005.  Pursuing my dreams and having a life that I love while making a difference in my life.  I've always wanted to live a life that is extraordinary!  My purpose: to learn about alternative healing modalities such as Reiki, yoga, massage, Ayurvedic medicine, herbal remedies and naturopathy. 

The first seed of inspiration was planted when I was 17 years old, I was sent by my school to go on a trip to Lourdes, in France.  For those of you who are not familiar with Lourdes, it's a sanctuary and considered a sacred place located in the foothills of the Pyrenees.  It's the place where "Our lady" (Catholics believe in the Virgin Mary) met with a young girl named Bernadette Soubirous 18 times.  People from all over the world pilgrimage to Lourdes to get blessed in the baths that are there.  The spring water in the grotto is renowned to be blessed and has healing properties.  It's recognized as a miraculous place and many miracles have been witnessed there since 1860.  During the time I spent at the grotto, I seen many apparatus for example: walking frames, walking sticks, and crutches people use hanging from a line over the main area inside the grotto indicating when a person is cured they no longer need them.  Seeing this miraculous place as a young teenager, I was deeply moved by it.  At the same time helping the elderly people (from the diocese I was a part of) gave me a good feeling inside  by helping them by taking them to the grotto for the prayer blessings and masses.  My mind began to open with awe that there are places in the world like this.  These were my first memories of being inspired to travel the world, wanting to visit other amazing places, and witness the power of miracles first hand.  Seeing new cultures, learning about their customs, exploring new ways of living while experiencing new perspectives on how to look at life.

Leaving Ireland in 1998, I moved to London and worked as an investment banker for 7 years. During that time I visited 6 countries; Greece, Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Egypt and Denmark.  The trips were short lived and I would always feel a bit sad returning to the corporate world afterwards.  The longer I worked in that industry the harder it became for me to live in that fast paced and cut throat world.  Practicing yoga and meditation definitely helped me, but I couldn't shake the nagging feeling; what am I supposed to be doing with my life? Do I have a purpose to fulfill?

Am I living an extraordinary life? Were questions that started the inquiry into the very meaning of my life and who I am.  I felt empowered to explore other possibilities of how to live my life, I have a choice! If I'm not happy, who's responsibility is it to change it?

"The Soul is the one thing you can't compromise" (are the words of a song by David Gray that touched my heart)

In 2005 I was fully prepared to leave my career life in London and jump into the unknown world of infinite possibilities!   My journey has gone in many directions and it took me to Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Alaska, India, Alaska, India, Nepal, Guatemala, Belize, Nicaragua, Costa Rica then back to Alaska again (That's when I met Jared)

This blog is my opportunity to share a little of myself and my travels with those that I love. During my previous trips I've written a lot but mostly in my journal and through group emails I'd share some of my stories.  This is a way of documenting, sharing and mapping this auspicious journey through the world as I go.  Hopefully inspiring others out there to live your dreams too.

If we get one chance at this life - why not live it extraordinarily and be open to all the possibilities we can create through living our dreams.

How time flies...

The Temple was a spectacular creation! Bells chimed inside it for 24 hours a day and gave the atmosphere a wonderful vibration to spend time in.  On the day of its burn there was a drumming circle and we danced in the baking sun - it was really symbolic

One of the 259 art pieces in the black rock desert

The art work went on and on taking days to check it all out!

The Burning Man

The Temple burning on the last night of Burning Man

Our visit to Malahide Castle in Dublin

My brother and I getting ready to play in the surf on the West coast of Ireland

 

More updates later....