Ever since we began this trip we have talked about learning how to meditate. Why it is so late that we manage to do something about it we don’t know. We have tried to meditate a few times before, mainly through apps like headspace but before our latest adventure we were still very inexperienced (in some ways we still are).

We found Pa Auk forest Monestary which is a buddhistic monastery in Myanmar close to Mawlawyine. This place we had recommended also many other places only accept people to come for a minimum stay of ten days which we did not prioritize time for because we had so little time left of our travel. Here they accept visitors for shorter periods of time, though they prefer you to stay longer periods of time (preferably months and years). This is mainly for your own sake because you get much more out of it. We decided to stay for five days which they, on our arrival without pre booking, accepted.

So we had five days of meditation in a forest monastery. It was a really interesting place because this was real. We have looked at many places for meditation and many are made for foreigners but this one was a buddhist monastery, the foreigners was accepted to come and stay with them but on their terms. That meant that there were almost no guidance and help you had to figure things out for your self. It also meant that you saw the real life of a monastery not anything made for tourism but functioning as it has been for decades. Very interesting.

As a first thing they split us up, so Magnus went to the monk monastery 2-3 km. further up the mountain while I, Marie, stayed at the non monastery. We did not see each other or had any contact throughout our stay (except for two notes with specific details on when and where to meet. We send these through monks and nons passing between the two monasteries). The following description takes point of departure in my, Marie’s stay at the non monastery.

On arrival I borrowed a brown skirt, white shirt and brown cloth for over the shoulder. Furthermore I borrowed cups and bowls for the meals. I was put in the foreigner yogi (the name for the new practitioners of meditation) room where we at the beginning were two yogi’s but foreigners kept arriving so when I left we were six. The room and facilities were basic but fine for my needs.



Just arrived and dressed up

I got a daily schedule looking like this:

3.30 morning bell – waking up

4.00 group sitting (meditation for everybody in the meditation hall)

5.30 breakfast (and you literally broke a fast of not eating for around 19 hours) and cleaning your room

7.30 group sitting

9.00 private time and walking meditation

10.00 lunch

13.00 group sitting

14.30 personal time and walking meditation

15.30 group sitting

17.00 personal time, walking meditation and meeting with your teacher

18.00 group sitting

19.30 dhamma talk (but in Burmese, so us foreigners often just went to bed)

They encouraged that all the time in between the group sitting meditations was spend silent and with practicing your breath and keeping your mind clear, so no reading, writing, looking at electronics etc. just being by your self. Quickly I found out that keeping silent and trying to keep the mind clear gave me the best state to meditate, I was more calm and concentrated. It was difficult though to keep silent when you live in a dormitory and new people kept on arriving. I also broke the rule of not reading because I did not know so much about buddhism and the lifestyle in monasteries and I had so many questions about everything I saw which few people could answer (because of silence and also language barrier), so my second day I went to their library and borrowed a lot of books. And actually I very much enjoyed to read about buddhism in that setting, it did put everything into perspective and I learned a LOT. I think that the point here is that everything is up to your self at this place. In meditation your progress is determined from the effort you put into it. And for me this was a time to get a feeling of how to meditate, find out more about buddhism and also how life in a monastery is. I would like though to try to take a full silent, no external input ten day retreat at some point.

So how was it like to sit in a hall full of nons in the middle of the forest in a monastery and meditate? The first meditation I attended it was hard for me to focus on meditating because I was so caught up in just this. Looking around at all these faces lost in their own little world. But then I quickly became accustomed and when I meditated I was caught up in my own space. My biggest challenge was sitting in a lotus position for hours and hours of the day. After two days my body hurt so much that I had to move around a lot which affected my concentration.



The meditation hall. The nets covering some people is for the flies and other bugs. Nothing can be more disturbing than a fly when you try to focus and concentrate.

One thing I want to mention is the atmosphere and the smiling and welcoming attitude from then nons. They were so sweet, helpful and corrected me when I, unknowingly, made mistakes (which I did a lot). They were used to foreigners coming and not knowing anything so they did not see it as an offense (luckily!)

I still see my self as a beginner in meditation. I still struggle with the basics. They say that the beginning are the hardest. To get accustomed to clear your mind and concentrate is difficult, especially when you are used to another lifestyle with many external inputs and multitasking. But I had a lot of good meditations (and some really bad and frustrating ones too) and I feel that I have built a good foundation for more meditation. What I mainly take away with me is the quiet and relaxed atmosphere. The simple life, taking time out to stand still, embracing quietness and enjoying doing nothing. I left with a feeling of wanting more and to go more into meditation and the lifestyle around it.

After five days we met up in the main office and donated some money to the monastery. They do not charge you for your stay in stead you can, on your own initiative, give a donation before you leave. There is no pressure for this and no expectations.



Reuniting with Magnus after the five days in the clothes that they have to wear at the monk monastery, yes he is wearing a skirt. We both got a food poisoning and was sick for a couple of days afterwards. So in this picture he looks a bit tired and worn out, this is due to sickness.