Last week my friend David passed on some vintage Ajahn Dhammavidu, the beloved British monk who teaches 10 day "Mindfulness of Breathing" retreats in the tradition of Ajahn Buddhdadasa at Suan Mokkh International Meditation Center (Southern Thailand). If you're planning a trip to Southern Thailand and you're interested in practising some meditation in an ideal environment, go here. Nevermind the fact that the food is delicious and there are natural hot springs on the premises - the program is extremely well organized, the environment and teaching supportive and thus is an excellent way to dip you're feet into the unexcelled waters of the Dharma.
And of course there is the inimitable Tan Dhammavidu. Juliann and I had the good fortune attend a retreat with him back in February on our way home to San Francisco. He has a wonderful way of speaking. I like his talks because he brims with wry and unsurpressable good humour while illuminating the timeless and admittedly sobering themes of the Buddha's teaching. What themes? Dissatisfaction and the end of dissatisfaction; the nature of pleasure and pain; and the possibility of awakening to a limitless inner freedom to be realized directly, here and now, in this very life for our own benefit and the benefit of others.
If you've been to Suan Mokkh then you already know you're in for a treat. If you're unfamiliar with the theory and practice of Buddhadharma (the Buddha's teaching) it may challenge your beliefs about who and what you are. There's even a significant risk that it could repel you quite deeply. At least for a little while. But if you listen carefully and with an open mind it may very well point you towards something you've never noticed though it has always been right there in front of you - something more radiant and breathtaking than a full moon set free from a cloud.
