Obligatory Preface
I’ve previously written about my experience with the Ariya Center (see Thailand: Week 04 - Report), however, after now spending an additional five days there, I can say that my initial observations were quite wrong. For starters, the Ariya Center isn’t really a monastery, but is better described as a Buddhist practice center. They adhere to a very niche and localized version of Buddhism that’s not found outside the center.
Their belief system was developed by the center’s founder and Luang Pho (head monk), who wanted to make Buddhism more accessible to the average person. Part of Luang Pho’s beliefs is that his truth isn’t meant for all, only a select group of worthy people. This is why visitors to the center must complete an application and interview process. Additionally, monks aren’t really welcome as they’ve already found their version of the truth, which will hinder their learning. As a result, there are only two other monks present at the center (besides Luang Pho). All the other people that I previously mislabeled as monks are really just devout practitioners that live at the center.
There’s a lot to unpack about the unique beliefs and practices of the center which is out of the scope of this article, but just keep in mind that my experiences are with a very, very small division of Buddhism. As a result, it would be reckless to apply my observations and conclusions to Buddhism as a whole. You wouldn’t draw universal Christian conclusions from observing a group of Jehovah’s Witnesses, likewise, don’t use my experiences at the Ariya Center to extrapolate universal conclusions about Buddhism.
A Day in the Life
I’ve provided a schedule for what my average day at Ariya looked like. Naturally, there was little variation from day-to-day, but barring my arrival and departure days, there’s none worth mentioning.
04:15 The day starts quite early. I use my little morning time to get dressed and ready for the day. I also make sure to fit in some quiet reading time.
05:00 Everyone assembles in the cafeteria to begin morning chanting, which usually lasts between 45 to 60 minutes.
06:00 Depending on the weather, everyone spends twenty minutes either doing walking or sitting meditation.
06:30 The visitors split up into four groups in order to give the morning alms to the monks and devout practitioners, which form a single-file line and walk around the premises while carrying their alm bowl.
07:15 Once all the monks and practitioners receive their morning breakfast, the visitors collect their (meager) morning rations. A quick set of chants are then said before everyone can start (quietly) eating.
08:00 Luang Pho arrives at the cafeteria and gives a dharma talk (teaching of the Buddha). Afterwards, people have the option to present monetary donations to the center.
09:15 A class on the dharma. Usually covering a specific aspect.
10:45 Another class on the dharma.
12:00 Possibly my favorite part of the day: lunch. Unlike breakfast, lunch is self-serve, so I was able to get plenty to eat without feeling hungry, which is a good thing because unless I saved some food for later, I wouldn’t eat again until breakfast.
13:15 Once again, another class on the dharma.
14:45 Unsurprisingly so, an additional class on the dharma.
16:00 This is the only time of the day where I truly get free time. Naturally, I spent my time showering and taking a nap/listening to music.
18:00 We spent our evenings the same way we spent our mornings: chanting. 20 minutes of sitting meditation follows the 45 minutes of chanting.
19:15 I promise it’s over; this is the final class on the dharma.
21:15 After a long day, it’s finally time for sleep. I’ll tell you what, a small mat never felt so good.
My Takeaways
Honestly, I have mixed-feelings about my time at the Ariya Center. On the one hand, it was quite a mentally, physically, and emotionally tolling experiences. For starters, with traffic, it was a seven hour drive to get there. Once there, we had to immediately unload and go straight to evening chanting. Needlessly to say, I was absolutely exhausted. Unfortunately, this exhaustion never subsided during my duration there. I’m extremely stringent when it comes to sleep schedule; I almost never get less than eight hours of sleep, so I was struggling pretty hard with the whole less than seven hours of sleep thing. Similarly, the seven hours a day of dharma talks was mentally draining. Don’t get me wrong, I love to learn and will gladly sit through a lecture on almost anything. However, that same principle doesn’t apply when they only Thai vocabulary I know centers around plants and food. I had to sit through hours of Thai without any context to help me discern meaning, which is enough to make anyone tired.
However, with that being said, my experience wasn’t completely bad. After my first day of dharma talks, I realized that it wasn’t worth the effort to try and actively pay attention. After all, the information I gleamed was so insignificant, especially when you consider that I was given short English summaries after most lessons anyway. This realization made things a lot easier as I’m particularly good at keeping my mind busy. From that point onward, I spent my class time planning articles, reflecting on my experiences, and reading my kindle. I recognize that some people might have a problem with this, but this how I decided to cope with the language barrier. The center made it very clear that I wasn’t to be given English translations during the lectures and it’s not like I could’ve asked for clarification. Sure, I would’ve preferred to be able to focus on and learn what the instructors had to say, but that was just an unrealistic and unobtainable goal.
All in all, despite not having the luxurious adventure I’d hoped for, I don’t regret the experience. As of late, I’ve been fairly comfortable with my situation here, so it nice to go through something that really challenged me. I will say that is was particularly nice to be able to just inhabit my mind for the majority of the day. Often times I find myself going through the motions and thinking superficially, so being able to sit down and think for hours on end proved to be very beneficial. Lastly, it would be remiss of me not to comment on my increased understanding of Buddhism. There’s not a learning experience quite like being fully immersed in other religious practices. For this alone, I’m exceedingly grateful for my time Ariya Center. (I’m purposefully being vague here as I plan on writing a standalone article on my Buddhist observations, so stay tuned for that.)
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