The Buddhist Temple

Where I went, how I got there, and what I found.

Three years ago, while on a solo trip through northern Thailand, I stepped into a local Chiang Mai restaurant for lunch. I was pleased to see no westerners inside, a good indicator of authentic spicy thai cuisine. But as soon as I sat down and struggled to communicate with the waiter, a white man that had been hidden from my view by a column leaned over to me and asked, "do you need help ordering?" He ordered a spicy noodle dish for me in fluent thai and then began telling me his story.

He had arrived in Thailand 5 years ago from Paris, France. The reason for his relocation: to meditate. His response to my question of when he would return to France still rings clearly in my mind, "I'm not going back. My life is here now." His tone was so calm, so confident, so unfamiliar, that my curiosity began gnawing at me as it does before taking action. "What the hell has this guy seen?" I inquired further about his experience and he arranged my trip to meditate for 3 days at the buddhist temple where he originally learned. I bought all-white meditation clothes at the Chiang Mai night bazaar and boarded a songthaew the next morning, headed to the town of Chom Tong. I finished the 3 days and vowed to return in the future to finish the full 21 day course. And just this month, I did just that.

Wat Chom Tong, the main temple in the town of Chom Tong, began offering meditation courses to foreigners in 1992. The International Vipassana Meditation Center has undergone significant development since then, and now contains various dormitories, a library, and a number of meditation halls, catering to both thai and international meditators. The center is run and operated by Kuhn Thanat, who also acts as an English-speaking meditation instructor, and one of the wisest individuals I've ever met.

The temple grounds are spacious, calm, and very beautiful. The international center is tucked away in a corner of the temple grounds and has a direct path to a lake with gorgeous views of the mountains and countryside. Meditators share the grounds with buddhist monks, nuns, and temple staff. Although communication was limited during the meditation course, there were a few opportunities to briefly interact with the monks at buddhist ceremonies and chanting events. As I mentioned in a previous post, my intention in coming here was to learn meditation, not buddhism, but participating in these ceremonies added a unique cultural dimension to the experience. I'm glad I did.

The center offers a 21-day "basic" meditation course as well as 10-day retreats for experienced meditators. However, you can stay as long, or as little, as you wish. I completed the basic course and would recommend others to do so as well in order to truly grasp what the hell is going on. Believe me, your mind is in for the ride of its life. You might as well do the full course, if you can, to get the most out of the experience and your time far from home. The course is very difficult, but rewarding in greater measure. I say "greater" because the difficulty doesn't stay with you, but the lessons do.

Oh, and lastly, there is no charge for either food, lodging, or meditation instruction, but they do ask that you leave a donation. Donations provide the sole source of funding for the meditation center and the money is used to build new dormitory buildings and other infrastructure needs. As I told Thanat one day, it's very ironic that one of the most valuable life skills, learned through this practice, is taught free of charge. But then again, there would be no fairness in this world if the international meditators did not donate generously in observance of the instructors' tremendous efforts in teaching such a difficult skill.

Feel free to browse through some of the photographs I took during my stay at the temple. If you do decide to take this step, I wish you the best of luck. More information can be found here: Wat Chom Tong on Google.