From the mountaintop

In a remote village in the mountains, our group arrived for two full days of intensive Buddhist meditation. We began with discarding our old clothes and donning an all white set. This symbolized the beginning of our spiritual journey and the purifying (white) we would do. Our training monk introduced us to the ancient tradition of Buddhist meditation in Thailand with a late-night session.

Our days started with early morning meditation when we were still at peace after a restful sleep. Later, we would have traditional Thai food served by Mali, one of the meditation organizers. We would then rest in silence until our midday meditation along the river. After lunch. we helped the community and met some locals by cutting down some brush. Then the monk would answer any and all questions we had until dinner. After dinner, we had our final meditation for the night and then released floating lanterns into the sky.

Experiencing meditation taught me how to take a step back and slow down. While I haven't learned any profound truths, I am still glad that I had this experience and will continue to meditate in the future.

If you have the chance, meditation clears the mind and helps you step back and release expectations.