Are you interested in learning Vipassana Meditation?
Please read over all the information below to learn about our program.
Note that you have to be willing to follow the 8 precepts, and have a minimum of 10 days available (unfortunately, we cannot make any exceptions).
If you are interested in joining, you can make a reservation from 1 to 2 weeks in advance by calling the number below between 8am and 10pm, local Thailand time. Before you call, please have ready the dates you plan to attend (courses start 7 days a week), and call
We look forward to seeing you.
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Mental Development is a personal experience.
It does not matter if you are Buddhist, Christian, Jewish or Moslem.
Nor is it important what nationality or color you are, since each person in the world is longing for a better life.
The Insight Meditation technique taught here is
a way to prepare a path to
a better, peaceful life through clear understanding about oneself.
Wat Ram Poeng offers a 26-day basic course in Vipassana (Insight) Meditation under the guidance of a Teacher on an on-going basis.
For meditators who have completed the basic course, a 10-day Insight Meditation retreat can be taken, which builds on the 26-day basic course.
For those who do not have time to join the full basic course, the Monastery offers the chance to try out the practice, but not for less than 10 days or more than 6 weeks, without special permission.
If you wish to join the Insight Meditation course offered here, please come to the administration office with your intentions, or contact us using one of the methods listed upon this page, and further arrangements can be made.
***The best way to book a place is to come to the centre some days before you wish to begin. This is necessary anyway, as we cannot fully confirm your booking until you have visited the centre.(For the new one who has never been here before.)
Once you have received official permission, please prepare the following items:
Requirements:
The customary offering for the opening ceremony:
1. Eleven white lotus flowers (or other white flowers).
2. Eleven yellow or orange candles.
3. Eleven incense sticks.
In addition:
4. Your valid passport and visa.
5. Two passport photos.
6. One photocopy of the photo, signature and visa pages of your valid passport.
7. A working alarm clock or timer. You must be able to set it to increments of five minutes.
8. At least two sets of white clothing.
*For men: Loose, modest, non-transparent white trousers and a shirt. White underwear is a must.
**For women: Loose, modest, non-transparent white sarong or trousers, a loose white shirt with sleeves and a white ‘sa-bai’
(a white scarf, which is worn over the breast and around the shoulder). White underwear (inc. bra) is a must.
9. Personal items (soap, shampoo, toothpaste, towel, sandals, etc.) Some essentials are available at the Temple Shop.
Interests
General Rules for Meditators:
What does it mean to stay in a monastery?
Inside the monastery, the Eight Precepts are followed.
The following points should also be noted:
1. You and your clothing must always be clean, proper and hygienic.
You need to wear white clothing day and night.
2. Keep your room neat and tidy.
(The First Precept, to refrain from destroying living creatures, implies that we shouldn’t create situations in which it is easy to destroy living creatures. Having food attracts insects and animals to our rooms,
so we should refrain from having it there, since it makes the First Precept easier for us to break.)
3. Keep the bathroom and toilet clean, in order to prevent fungi and bacteria.
4.Meditators are not allowed to talk about their personal meditation practice or experience. Do not discuss or compare your meditation practice with each other. Your experience is your own, and may not be the same as others’.
5. You are not allowed to mix the practice with other techniques.
6. You are only allowed to smoke cigarettes in your room, but it would be better to avoid that burdensome habit.
7. No kissing, hugging, holding hands, massaging or any other physical contact is allowed. No sun-bathing.
8. While taking a bath or sleeping, make sure that the door and window/curtains are closed and locked.
9. The Meditator’s rooms are for their privacy. Visitors are not allowed to enter the Meditator’s rooms.
10. Meditators should not visit others in their rooms. Men are not allowed to enter women’s rooms. Women are not allowed to enter men’s rooms.
11. No socializing, gossiping, etc.
12. No reading—this includes Buddhist books. No writing (letters, diaries, etc.). No listening to radios, tapes, CDs, etc. No telephone calls during your practice. Please switch of mobile phone during the course.
13. Meditators are not allowed to leave the Monastery area without
the permission of the Teacher.
14. If you are tired during the day, you may lay down and rest in your room, but meditators are not allowed to sleep during the day.
15. Please unplug all electrical appliances when not in use, and turn off all lights, fans, etc., when leaving your room.
16. Temple Authorities reserve the right to refuse entry, or to expel anyone in the case of disrespect regarding the rules or instructions.
17. Upon completion of the course, meditators must pay respect to the Teacher at the Closing Ceremony, and gain further advice from him/her about the practice.
18. Meditators are responsible for the loss or damage of Temple properties.
19. All Temple properties must be returned and the meditator’s room must cleaned before leaving. Imagine you are the next person who will use the room. Don’t forget to return your key to the foreign office.
20. Each night in Wan Phra (Buddha Day), meditators have to join the ceremony, is called “Wain-tien” or “Padakkhina”, walking around the pagoda 3 times to worship the Triple Gem, at 8:00 P.M. in the main hall.
21. Donations are appreciated. All donations should be made at the Temple office, where an official receipt can be obtained.
Daily Routine:
4:00 A.M. The bell or your alarm clock wakes you up for practice. Starting with the Mindfulness Prostration,
you continue with mindful Walking and then Sitting practice.
NOTE: Always start with ‘Mindful Walking’, then when you stop walking, take your place immediately for the sitting practice.
6:00 A.M. The bell rings for breakfast. It is your responsibility to follow the bell and arrive in the dining hall on time, because prayers are chanted before each meal. Late comers will not be served.
Alms food is considered sacred; take only as much as you will eat.
Eat slowly, mindfully, and preferably alone. This means no talking—
does not make conversation during or after meals, as doing so is disruptive to mindfulness.
Wash your dish and glass immediately after eating.
Take care of your rubbish; there is a place for it near the sink where you wash your dishes.
After breakfast, you may clean, wash and bathe. Then, it is again time for practice until the bell rings for lunch.
10:30 A.M. The bell rings for lunch. Follow the same guidelines as breakfast. Afterwards, it is again time for practice until Reporting.
Reporting: This is typically at two o’clock for Foreign Meditators,
but may change depending on the Teacher’s schedule. Please check the whiteboard in the Teacher’s Office each day, in case the reporting time has been changed.
10:00 P.M. Sleeping may begin, while dressed in your white clothing.
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The Four Foundations of Mindfulness Explained
Acknowledging is the heart of Insight Meditation. It is the continual work of mindfulness to be aware and acknowledge. Insight meditation, through the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, focuses on the body,
the feelings, the mind (thought) and objects of the mind.
Literally, the four foundations of mindfulness serve as the base of mindfulness.
Practically, they are the state of being continually mindful of what happens to the five aggregates (which are: body, feelings, perceptions, mental formations and consciousness).
1. Mindfulness of the Body is to contemplate bodily action and sensations. This includes, for example, acknowledging or being conscious of the lifting, stepping and placing of the feet during walking meditation, and acknowledging the rising and falling of the abdomen in sitting meditation.
2. Mindfulness of One’s Feelings is to contemplate the happiness/suffering/neutrality of your experience. That is, to acknowledge happiness, to know how happy one is, or to acknowledge misery, and to know how miserable one is, or to acknowledge the neutral feeling which is neither happiness nor misery.
3. Mindfulness of the Mind (Thought) is to contemplate one’s thoughts or to be conscious of the passion, anger, delusion, sloth, distraction, peace, etc. in the thought. While in meditation our minds may think of the past or the future. We then take that thought as the momentary focus of the meditation by acknowledging ‘thinking-thinking-thinking’ before returning our focus to the breath or the feet.
4. Mindfulness of Objects of the Mind is to contemplate mental recognition and other volitional activities. Recognition is to know something when perceiving it. Volitional activities happen when we think about or comment on something. While we think, we must be mindful of thinking. When we are desirous, angry, slothful, restless, or doubtful as a result of thinking or external stimulation, we must be mindful too.
In short, the foundation of mindfulness is the principle of continually practicing mindfulness.
We should be conscious of what we are doing both physically and mentally in the present moment. We contemplate the present only, not the past or future.
The present moment is immensely important to meditation practice. Acknowledging the body/mind in the present moment develops and strengthens momentary concentration. Without acknowledgement of the present moment, meditation practice cannot progress, because momentary concentration cannot occur.
Continuity is also important. Be mindful from the moment you wake up until the moment you fall asleep at night. We have to acknowledge our daily activities.
When we rest after meditation, we may begin to talk without mindfulness. When this happens, the mind wanders away and gets distracted. Thus the momentary concentration developed in meditation will weaken.
The goal of Insight Meditation is to gain a clear, complete understanding of the three obvious characteristics: Impermanence, Suffering and Non-self. Having gained an insight into the three characteristics, the meditator realizes that everything in this world is transient, subject to suffering and uncontrollable. Thus the mind abandons the desire to acquire, to have and to be.
Lord Buddha gave five purposes for insight meditation:
To purify the mind.
To get rid of sorrows and lamentations.
To get rid of physical and mental sufferings.
To understand the truth of life.
To extinguish suffering and gain Nibbana (nirvana).
The Four Foundations of Mindfulness are the heart of the Buddha’s teaching. The Lord Buddha repeatedly taught them to his disciples from the time of his enlightenment until his ceasing. As he stated strongly and clearly in the Mahasatipatthana Sutta:
“Look, you who find the cycle of rebirth harmful, the four foundations of mindfulness are the only way to the purification of all sorrows and lamentations, the end of all suffering and grief, and the attainment of Nibbana (nirvana).”
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UNDERTAKING THE EIGHT PRECEPTS
To undertake the Eight Precepts:
1. I undertake the precept to refrain from destroying living creatures.
2. I undertake the precept to refrain from taking what is not given.
3. I undertake the precept to refrain from any kind of erotic behavior.
4. I undertake the precept to refrain from incorrect speech.
5. I undertake the precept to refrain from intoxicating liquor and drugs, which lead to carelessness.
6. I undertake the precept to refrain from eating at the wrong time.
7. I undertake the precept to refrain from dancing, singing, music, going to shows, wearing garlands and beautifying myself with perfumes and cosmetics.
8. I undertake the precept to refrain from lying on high or luxurious sleeping beds.
i learnt vipassanna meditation here and it is a tool i'll keep with me for life now - i thoroughly recommend anyone who can to go here and learn true meditation
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