It's been awhile...

A few updates from this side of the sun...We've been driving on the left, running for the Burmese border, is that an opium museum? We decided to skip the taxis, buses, and trains and rent a car to independently explore "The Northern Most of Thailand". Yep, another road trip. Hanging out at the Golden Triangle where Laos, Thailand and Burma meet and where anything is possible... Then meditating for 3 weeks at one of the holiest sites in Thailand, then back to Burma dodging the military junta, then another trip to the islands to vacation from vacation... And now, where do we go from here? Mellow Laos, a land-locked country, influenced by its neighboring Southeast Asian sisters and once a French colony, with great baguettes and croissants. Why not? It's only a 14-hour bus ride... we could use a little Communism in our diet...

After Laos, we're setting up shop for a couple of months. We found an apartment in beautiful Chiang Mai overlooking the mountain side so that we can relish in the culture and, of course, give back a bit. Maddie is working with a human rights organization helping to empower and teach Burmese refugee women while, Matt teaches English to Buddhist monks.

We can't forget to mention all the amazing people we've met along the way... Ajahn Puttasack, the very funny, full of stories meditation teacher we enjoyed 21 days with. Phra Oil, the young statuesque monk we spent many nights looking out over Chiang Mai with. Noelle, the Swiss pilot who flies a Russian billionaire's dog to Italy for haircuts. Takashi, the Japanese linguist, who's too smart for this world, and who tried to eat a gecko (really, we have a picture), and all the wonderful people who have welcomed us into their culture with warm smiles, great food and big hearts. So yeah, we've been busy, but in ways that we prefer to be. Read on for a recap of our crazy adventures...


All white, yet very dark...


One of the most intense temples...



The mighty Mekong River...




You know you're jealous...


Yeah, we're tourists...

Unplugging from the Matrix: Meditation Overload

"You think that we should only sign up for 10 days? But the brochure suggests 21 for the foundation course, I'm going for the full course... " Three days later I was begging to be free. "Please let me go, I just want mangoes and dinner and a hot shower in a mosquito free room. Please... I'm begging you!!! I can't do it, maybe it's not for me. It sounds good on paper, but maybe my body can't handle it. Look! It's breaking down. My allergies are preventing me from breathing, my bowels have stopped defecating and the fleas are eating me alive. I want to meditate, really I do. But, it's just too much."
"I told you so." Maddie loves saying that. She did suggest staying for only 10 days... But choosing her words carefully, she offered compassionately, "We'll get past the culture shock. It'll take a few days, but in the end it'll be a rewarding experience. Shit, I worked in Africa with no running water and electricity we can definitely do this... " Blah blah blah... She then spent the next hour running in circles, her arms flailing wildly to avoid a bee, and the next 18 days slapping mosquitoes, fleas, ants and anything else that decided to land or crawl on her.
Day 4. Whew, that was a rough one. I almost didn't make it. The mind really doesn't like this stuff.
As if having our last meal at 11am each day, sleeping on the floor with nothing more than a mat, and meditating for hours at a time wasn't challenging enough, the last four days of our retreat was spent doing a thing called "Determination." We had no idea that a meditation foundation course gave final exams! For the last four days of our course we were not allowed to leave our rooms, speak, shower, and get this... sleep! No sleeping for four days!!! We asked our teacher why we needed to go through such an arduous process and his response was, as always, "It's good for you!" He elaborated, that by separating ourselves from the body it gave us an opportunity to further explore the mind. This method was used to strip away all the external comforts and distractions that we cling to so that what we're left with is our fears, doubts, restlessness and delusions. It's similar to the film "The Matrix" in which Morpheus has offered Neo two options, "To see the world as it truly is or to remain asleep continuing to serve his desires and false idols." Needless to say, this process is a trying one, every step is challenged by the mind. Doubt arises, nearly convincing you to give up but you persevere. Sleepiness begs you to lie down, but you walk on. Restlessness and boredom make your skin crawl and your mind scream out internally, begging you to concede. But, 18 days of preparation and a lifetime of stubbornness served us well. We came out of 4 days of seclusion a little dirtier, very exhausted and maybe even a little wiser. We've just completed one of the most intense 21 days of our lives and now we're ready to EAT!!! Mexican, Italian, Thai food they're all on the menu, but we won't forget to savor this memorable experience and all the sadistic torture we've put our bodies through to accomplish it.


Doi Suthep, our home for 21 days...


Hungry novice monks on their alms round at 6am...


Our favorite nun filling their bowls...


A long line for food!


Lounging in the shade...


Dog day afternoon...


Takashi vs. The Gecko


We swear it's only 10:59!


The cutest locals...


EnLIGHTening...



This post is dedicated to Ajahn Puttasack.

Post Traumatic IBA Syndrome... (Koh Pha-ngan, Thailand)

Our pilgrimage was suppose to take us into Tibet and then to North India for more spiritual realization, but we decided to take a detour to get back to our roots in Thailand where Theravadan Buddhism is practiced. Also, Maddie wanted to get back to her own islander roots of drinking coconuts, being a beach bum and getting a tan darker than Corey's. Ahhhh.... who needs to meditate when you have a hammock and the sea that feels like a warm and soothing bath at your disposal? Actually, there's a lot for both of us in Southeast Asia... a place where we can truly delve into our practice and simultaneously do human rights work with Burmese refugees and the hill tribes. Another passion that's taking some time to be fully realized. So while we're working on getting the details underway Bottle Beach seemed the best resting place... The pictures say it all. :)























"M" an ex-monk...

LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL!

Homage to the Little Lama

Lost In Translation... (Nepal)

Like eager, yet nervous school children ready to begin kindergarten we packed our Buddha books, tried to be on our best behaviour and retreated to the International Buddhist Academy (IBA) for some hardcore dharma (teachings) and sangha (community). Excitement filled our souls as we were about to embark on a journey inward in order to deepen our wisdom about Buddhist practice. This sounds great, right??? Wide-eyed and ready to soak up all the dharma knowledge that Venerable Kenpo Appey Rinpoche was about to offer on "Parting From The Four Attachments" we took refuge in the hopes of becoming more enlightened... or for a better rebirth in our next life (that is if you believe in that kind of stuff).

Religion or philosophy? It didn't take long for the skepticism and questions to arise... What does it mean to spin those prayers wheels? How could such actions possibly cleanse my karma? Why must I prostrate three times? Why am I touching my head to the floor repeatedly with my hand in a prayer position? All these actions only feel like submission and oppression to a doctrine that I don't fully understand or agree with. Why am I chanting prayers that don't resonate with my spirit? Why does philosophy become co-opted by religion? I don't ever recall signing up for these meaningless rituals. It was 10 straight days of catechism (Sunday school for Catholics) telling us to follow this path or else you'll end up in one of the ten hell realms. Not just one hell, but ten!!! All this dogma that's fear-based was the very reason why I became anti-religious in the first place. It took me years to dismantle my Catholic conditioning (sorry Mom and Dad). The idea of darwinism and evolution was beginning to sound more enticing as I was on the verge of a spiritual crisis. I panicked from fear of having fallen into one of those religious ideologies full of delusion and corruption, so by the second day I rebelled and skipped the teachings, locked myself in my room and practiced yoga hoping that if I stretched enough it would help me to rejuvenate my spiritual path.

As I emerged from my cave, I began to express my frustration to others about feeling like I was a part of a cult and what a horrible person I must be for refusing to adhere to these commandments and questioning constantly about what happened to the simplicity of what I know Buddhism to be? I realized that I wasn't the only one not connecting to the teachings, as a matter of fact, most of us didn't fully agree with the message that was lost in translation. I felt relieved knowing that I had a community who I could relate to and discuss the differences between the Eastern traditions. My sangha became my teacher for those 10 days and they helped me to survive those poorly translated dharma talks and those awkward prostrations I resisted doing, but only to get dirty, judgmental sneers when I didn't because everyone thought I looked Tibetan (yeah, apparently I look Nepalese too!) and if I didn't I was shaming their faith and culture. So I succumbed to doing them anyway. Awkwardly.

Let it be clear that we are not Buddha bashing it's just that for us the Mahayana view seemed very far removed from the Buddhism we've been influenced by in the West. We learned how interwoven Tibetan Buddhism is with its culture and that there's no separation between religion or culture. So of course it's a bit more difficult for us to connect with these ideas. The geographical isolation of Tibet has allowed them to develop and retain their own version of Buddhism which is beautiful and mystical on so many levels. We are extremely grateful for their generosity for sharing and making accessible such an important facet of Buddhism despite the displacement of their culture and people. But we realized that their teachings, which is based on scripture and theory, is very different than the experiential approach that we're accustomed to. Our time at IBA expanded our understanding about our own spiritual path. It helped us to know which views to leave behind and which perspectives actually connect with our own inner exploration and investigation. We're beginning to discover that whether one follows Mahayana or Theravada Buddhism or Hinduism or even Christianity it all eventually leads to the same place. But who really knows anyway? What matters is not so much the theory, philosophy or rituals of any doctrine, but rather ones direct experience and how one applies those experiences in order to better themselves and all of humanity. This is what our dharma is and has always been.

After those ten days we discovered another sangha in this world, another home, more lifelong friends... because through all the skepticism, fear, and the search for meaning, in the end what matters and what teaches you most are the relationships you develop. We'll definitely be back in Nepal to visit our family. But by the end of the retreat we were on "Tibetan-Buddhism" overload and wanted to recharge and process the experience on an isolated, white sand beach with emerald green water and where the closest thing to religion was a 16 year old kid named "M" who was an ex-monk, with ink gracing his back and stoned on a daily basis...

The IBA Cult...


"Monking" around...

The view from IBA...

Pure devotion...



Monks on the go...

We are family!!!

Pretending to be good students....

After 10 days of sitting with 300 monks...

Row row row your boat... (Pokhara, Nepal)

Matt finally got convinced (after much resistance and under the condition that Maddie paddles) to take a boat ride around Phewa Lake even after reading in the local newspaper that a British man was found dead while fishing a few days earlier. The cause of his death remains a mystery... After a hard trek, a nice and peaceful excursion to one of Nepal's most beautiful lakes sounded divine (to Maddie at least). So along with Dimitri Petrov a cigarette rolling, avante garde, Russian literary professor from St. Petersburg, the threesome set sail on a three hour tour.

Mr. Dimitri Petrov, the only Russian aristocrat "rucksacker" in this side of the world...

As Maddie promised...


Three strenuous strokes later...

Foiled again... Sucker!

Pokhara lies amidst the Annapurna range and on a clear day one can see the reflection of the Himalayas. Pokhara was discovered by a bunch of hippies in the 70's and from the looks of it, some never left. It's quite beautiful once you get past the rubbish and the plethora of tourists. It's not our favorite place in Nepal, but it's a good place to rest for a few days after a trek. We were just eager to get back to our Dharma practice and attend a 10 day retreat in Boudha.

Phewa Lake







Another lost hippie...