Day Fifteen: 21 January 2006

6.54
Final full day to practice. Should be diligent, determined and concentrated—not just today, but everyday and every moment I can. If I can get up for breakfast, why can’t I get up to practice? If I can groom myself for one hour a day, why can’t I use the same amount of time to groom my mind?

20.20
Final few hours at this centre. Just walked around once around the forest, ‘left, right’, ‘left, right’, and wished all beings peace and metta.

No regrets coming here. Though the stay was two weeks, it feels short now. The sayadaw said next time I should stay two months!

Many things I have learnt; about the Buddha’s teachings, about new techniques of meditation, about mindfulness, and perhaps also a little realization of the true nature of all phenomenon. But most of all, I discovered myself and saw myself (without the ‘self’) as a being with much anger, delusion, troubled thoughts and a mind which wanders. That enough is worth learning, reflecting in need of more observation.

My only hope is that once I leave here, I can bring my practice and what I’ve learnt with me wherever I go. May I remember, may I realise. May I not forget the valuable treasures and truths I discovered here. May I continue my practice and continue to trail down the path which rids the mind of defilements and suffering. And may I share the treasures with all beings so that they too can lessen the baggage they carry.

With metta…