Training the Monkey Mind- Part 2

Suan Mokkh, Southern Thailand
Life is what happens when you are busy making other plans
-John Lennon

It is awfully hard to just switch off your brain, and after about three days at the retreat the numbers were beginning to dwindle, the leavers were conspicuous by the unattended mats lying on the floor of the meditation hall. Being a silent retreat (no talking allowed for the duration), the participants became adept at finding other ways to communicate to their friends and partners, at one stage when returning to the dormitory after the evening session we were greeted with a message written in the sand in front of the entrance:

Back Is Killing Me
Mosquito Bites Itchy
So Hungry

I could definitely empathise with whoever was reaching out with this message.
The good news was that the mind was beginning to calm down now, the songs which were playing over and over in my head were fading away and I was beginning to experience some real calm and mindfulness when I sat down to meditate. It's amazing how, when you eliminate all the clutter going on in your head that you become so much more observant of the world around you. After the retreat was over, I had a chat for an hour with one of the other participants on the habits of ants in their natural environment and how the big ones worked together with the little ones in their daily chores. The modern human spends the majority of his time lost in thought, either about things which have passed, or things that are yet to come, never on the moment that is at hand. This is a shame because nature is pretty interesting when you stop to observe it, even the ants.
I had come over the border on the 28th of October which meant my visa would expire on the 12th of November, the day after the retreat finished. This only left me one day to get from the middle of nowhere to Kuala Lumpur, so I broke the rules and left the retreat to use the internet to make a flight booking in the nearby small village of Chaiya. This involved walking 2 kilometres down to the highway and waiting by the side of the road for a truck into town, when I got into town it was a pretty unpleasant experience after being in a peaceful, natural sanctuary after so long and I was very eager to get back to the retreat as soon as possible. Very few people in town spoke any English, the first place I came to to use to use their computer I was greeted with a flat no when I asked if I could use it. The second place the proprieters daughter was on youtube watching cartoons so she asked me to come back in a few days, it took a few minutes of pleading and explaining my situation before she reluctantly let use the terminal, much to the disgust of her daughter. There isn't much of a sense of urgency in these small towns, I suppose that there is never any cause to rush or deadlines needing to be met hence the very casual nature in which requests are met by the local villiagers. Nonetheless I needed to book a plane ticket so I left a nice tip for the owner to compensate her for her daughters hardship, she seemed to appreciate this and I felt bad about kicking her kid off her cartoons.
Booked a ticket from Surat Thani airpot to Bangkok, meaning I would be able to spend one last night in Khao San Road, the backpacker mecca and my favourite place in Bangkok. Had to take a motorbike back to the retreat and sneak back in, got ripped off by the rider but was very happy to be back in the peace and quiet just in time for Tan Ajahn's dharma talk for the evening.
After day 5 everyone who was there was there to stay, the Full Moon Party on Koh Phagnan was long finished so that temptation was removed and the basic disciplines of meditation was strong enough to enjoy the last stretch of mindfulness and quiet in the retreat.
Happy Days :)