Sorry – but a seasonal price hike at the resort, and the meeting room hire have put this retreat past our budget – it is getting up towards 3000 baht per person for the weekend, which we think is too much.
The search goes on for a nice quiet resort that we can use at a reasonable price …..
Friday 15th – Sunday 17th October
Weekend Meditation Retreat
in a Suphanburi Resort
Overview
An easy going weekend meditation retreat at a pleasant new resort in Suphanburi province, about 1 1/2 hours from Bangkok. Meditation style will be Vipassana based on the classic ‘Four Foundations of Mindfulness’ sutta that is the basis of most meditation schools. Pha Pandit will lead the meditations with Marisa Cranfil assisting with guided meditation and yoga.
Location
We will be at the brand new Juree Resort in Suphanburi outskirts. It is a lovely place, quiet, clean and restful.
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And it is not too far from Bangkok. Shared rooms are air-conditioned, as is the meditation hall. Vegetarian food will be served throughout.
Meditation
The meditation style will be Vipassana (Insight) meditation based on the classic ‘Foundations of Mindfulness’ sutta. This particular teaching forms the basis of most kinds of Vipassana teaching, and is something that all meditators should make themselves familiar with. To keep it interesting Marisa will be assisting Phra Pandit, teaching some gentle yoga and guided meditation. There will be plenty of precise meditation instructions for those who need it, and space/time for those who are experienced to get on with their own practise. One-to-one interviews will be available for anyone wishing to … though the methodology should be clear anyway. We’ll do quite a bit of group meditation. If you have your own practise style but can join in with group activity you are welcome to keep using/developing your won style of meditation.
Phra Pandit
… should be know to most of you already. This retreat comes in the middle of his annual Dhamma Talk Series, at the Pharmaceutical Association of Thailand. The Dhamma talks should be clear, light, and easy to follow. 41 year old Pandit Bhikkhu has been in the monasteries since 24 years of age, and has been ordained in Thailand for 14 years.
Marisa Cranfil
Frequent trips to Thailand as a child led to Marisa’s early interest in Asia. These impressions motivated her to study to meditation and expression through academic and experiential learning for the past 14 years around the world. Her university major from LIU in Comparative Religion included the study of qi gong, mid-eastern dance and an undergraduate thesis on comparative meditation techniques of Buddhism in China, Taiwan and Thailand. Although first exposed to Hatha Yoga in India, Marisa was trained as an Ashtanga yoga instructor in Bangkok with the intention to integrate her experiences of meditation into movement.
She has also has experience with a range of meditation methods including S.N. Goenka, Chinese Cha’n, the Pureland school and the Japanese Zen Mo’zhao.
She has assisted meditation teacher Ajahn Helen Jandamit and with retreats at the Young Buddhist’s Association of Thailand.
Schedule
| FRIDAY 15th Oct. | |
| 10:30 am | Meet and lunch at Baan Aree (lunch bought individually) |
| 11:30 am | Head off to Suphanburi in Mini-vans. |
| 1:30 pm | Arrive, settle into the rooms |
| 2:30 pm | Orientation. Sitting/walking meditation |
| 5:00 pm | Yoga (beginners and experienced) |
| 5:30 pm | Light Evening food, drinks (talking) |
| 7:30 pm | Evening Dhamma Talk. Noble Silence begins |
| SATURDAY 16th | |
| 5:00 am | Rise for dawn meditation (auspicious) |
| 7:00 am | Morning Yoga |
| 7:30 am | Breakfast |
| 9:00 am | Sitting/walking |
| 12:00 | Lunch |
| 2:00 pm | Sitting/walking/Dhamma Talk |
| 5:00 pm | Evening Yoga |
| 5:30 pm | Light Evening food/drinks |
| 7:30 pm | Evening Dhamma Talk. Sitting meditation. |
| SUNDAY 17th | |
| 5:00 am | Rise fro Dawn meditation |
| 7:00 am | Morning Yoga |
| 7:30 am | Breakfast (noble silence ends) |
| 9-12 am | Final Dhamma Talk. Feedback |
| 12:00 | Lunch |
| 1:30 pm | Leave for Bangkok |
| 3:00 pm (ish) | Send to BTS Station |
Costs/deposit
The cost of the retreat is 2650 baht per person for transport to/from Bangkok, accommodation and food. Please pay a 1000 baht deposit in advance (either at Airyasom on Monday evenings, or at the Thursday Talks). Rubby, or deputy will be in charge of the funds.
Estimating the numbers and other costs, we figure this to be the average needed to cover all expenses. If there is any remainder it will be announced and go to our group funds, to be used for future activities. The rooms at the resort are all different rates – so we have made one price for all to make it easy. We ask for your cooperation and understanding that it gets much too difficult to give different rates depending on the room. All the rooms are very nice. Some will share 2/3 to a room while there might be 6 in the larger rooms. There will be plenty of personal space – we opted for paying a little more to space people out rather than jamming people together to shave off a few hundred baht.
If anyone would really like to come, but can’t afford to, we should be able to give one or two free places.
What to Bring
Very little! We will be on meditation retreat so no need to bring suitcases. Bags that can be stowed under the minivan seats or on your lap are best as luggage area is limited – and anyway you won’t need very much while you are there! So please keep bags as small and light as possible.
Meeting Point : Baan Aree
Baan Aree Library is right on the Skytrain line. Go to Ari BTS station and walk back towards the victory monument about 20 meters and you should see the passage way to Baan Aree Library on the right hand side.
Baan Aree car park is accessible from the rear (Soi Ari 1) where you see the sign for ‘ BANANA FAMILY PARK ‘. Bus routes 8, 28, 29, 38, 54, 63, 74, 77, 108, 157, 177, 502, 503, 509, and 510 all pass by on the Pahonholtin Road side.
We plan to leave Baan Aree at 11:30 am (when it gets packed out with office workers) so arrive anytime after 9:30 am.
click map to enlarge:
click map below for a wide area view of Baan Aree location:
Booking
We still have to pay for vans and room charges for those who do not make it – so please be absolutely sure that your booking is firm. It is really hard to juggle costs if there are cancellations.
Please give your Name, Nationality, email address and phone number, plus roughly what meditation experience you have had before if any, and state if you are male or female so we can divide the rooms up – and enter into the box below:
(after you enter the information, and hit SUBMIT you will be returned to this page – don’t worry, the message will have gone through – please wait a day or two for a reply. Information is kept private and does not appear on this website.