Dear Readers, I spent two weeks in Thailand. Arrived home a few days ago. Here are links to my photos taken in small corners of the Garden of Eden. Love Christopher. It was my first visit back to Thailand in 12 years. I was a Buddhist monk in Thailand and India from 1970 – 1976.
Dear Friends in the Dharma,
Once again, I wish to thank Suanmok-Bangkok and BIA for kindly inviting me to attend the international conference and 14 day visit to the forest monastery to mark 111 years since the birth of Ajahn Buddhadasa (1906 – 1993), the sublime revolutionary of Buddhism of the 20th century.
I appreciated the excellent talks from senior monks in Thailand as well as from a host of international speakers. There is certainly a depth of wisdom in the Buddhist tradition which explores more and more inner and outer realities.
I took many notes and learnt a great deal during the visit in late May/early June, 2017.
Thank you, also, for kindly inviting me to offer teachings on spiritual/religious/social/political action at the conference, as well as give teachings/practices in southern Thailand.
Ajahn Poh, who lived for decades in the forest of Wat Suanmoke with Ajahn, provided internationals and Suanmoke/BIA volunteers/guides with wonderful hospitality at his meditation centre on Koh Samui island.
We are blessed to have benefited from the teachings of Ajahn Buddhadasa. It is quite remarkable what can emerge out of a single human being, who ordains at the age of 20 years and spends the rest of his life engaged in the depths of samatha-vipassana meditation, exploring/reflecting on the texts of the teachings of the Buddha and dwelling in the forest for more than 60 years.
Ajahn Buddhadasa offered us radical teachings on:
- non-clinging,
- application of the arts,
- a vision of change for institutional religion
- emptiness,
- dissolution of “I” and “my”,
- inquiry into the depths and essence of religion,
- Dharma socialism
- teachings on liberation,
- critiques of consumerism/materialism
- ultimate truth beyond egotism and insights into conventional truth
- and much more.
BIA in Bangkok preserves the extensive archives of Ajahn Buddhadasa – thousands of cassettes of his Dharma teachings, makes available hundreds of books, large and small, keeps his diaries, notes, preserves his walking canes and even his small clocks. BIA has an immense task to make more of the teachings available to Thai people as well as ensure translation in other languages.
Please let me know of any way that I can give support to Suanmoke and BIA through my websites, social media and various centre where I teach.
I hope the huge centre in the heart of Bangkok at the end of the park can become known worldwide as a major centre for spiritual exploration, promotion of spiritual/religious arts and meetings/conferences for teachings/practices into the truth of experiences, the importance of knowledge and the transformative power of communication.
The voice of Ajahn Buddhadasa continues to have immense relevance.
Links to Around 490 Photos
I enclose for your interest five links to the photos that I took during the 14 days in Thailand.
Please feel free to use any of them for your flyers, programmes etc.
To see as a slide show, click on small square on top right hand side of the page.
To see in full screen, click on the small black horizontal lines on top right hand side, and then click on Full Screen.
- Suanmoke Bangkok (137 photos)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/christophertitmuss/albums/72157681532720734
2. Wat Suanmoke, Chai Ya, Surat Thani (120 Photos) includes photos of the hut I stayed in as a monk.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/christophertitmuss/albums/72157684786676395/page1
3. Wat Chai Na, Nakornsridhammaraj (63 photos). I spent three years in this Vipassanna monastery from 1970-1973 as a monk.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/christophertitmuss/albums/72157682728872120
4. Koh Samui island (120 Photos). Photos of Ajahn Poh’s monastery in the hills and more.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/christophertitmuss/albums/72157684775130025
5. Ko Phangan island (51 photos)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/christophertitmuss/albums/72157681823955653
(with some Dharma friends, we went to visit the cave on Koh Phangan, where I spent nine months as a monk in 1973. As you can see, some building work took place in the cave in the years after.
Do feel free to pass this page onto others.
warmest wishes
Christopher
Three Bows
Christopher
- www.ChristopherTitmuss.org/blogWeekly Dharma Blog
- www.ChristopherTitmuss.net Books, Essays, Videos, Audio Library, Poems, Schedule
- www.MindfulnessTrainingCourse.orgMindfulness Teacher Training Course and more
- www.InsightMeditation.orgDharma Teachings & Practices, Vipassana, Annual Schedule
- www.DharmaEnquiry.orgCommunication, Speech, Leadership, Authority, Critiques
- www.MeditationInIndia.orgSarnath, near Varanasi, February Retreats and Other Retreats
- www.DharmaYatra.orgAnnual Pilgrimage in Late July in Southern France.