Tales from Thailand 2020 #4
Above is the Chinese dragon, on New Year’s Day. We are now in the year of the Metallic Rat. Below is my favorite “dragon,” and also my closest neighbor here at S.D.S. The photo is actually the baby. Mama appeared last month and posed for five minutes, but I didn’t have my camera with me…what a tease! Mama has grown to (at least) eight feet long now. For you left-brain readers, those brick tiles in the photo are approximately 14”. This winter in Thailand, my schedule has been filled to the brim with field trips, accompanying Khun-mae and Nawng...
READ MORE / RegisterTales from Thailand 2020 #3
Greetings, dear readers. Hats. We all wear so many in these complicated times, huh? As the relentless dust and heat bore down, over six days of pickaxing holes in the dry rocky ground at SDS 2… I grew to love my Issan farmer’s hat. It became incredibly familiar and comforting as well. This is a strange disclosure for a “nudist Buddhist,” as I’ve often described myself. My sweet friend Maechee Wontawon is on the left (above photo). She’s been here at SDS 2 since its beginning eighteen months ago, and is the sole remaining founding resident....
READ MORE / RegisterTales from Thailand 2020 #2
Hello again, dear readers. And full-moon greetings from the Green Tara. (It was fun to wait for the moon to rise to just the right spot.) Thanks so much for your heartfelt response to my Tales. There are many Zero Waste Warriors out there, who have been responding with consciousness since long before my nascent attempts. I often fail to avoid single-use plastic: people give me bottles of water, or I buy something that is otherwise unavailable without wrapping.. And I’m still learning about impeccability from Captain Zero Waste. Here (below)...
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Hello again, dear readers. Yes, this time I really am in Thailand, and back home at my retreat center, where I am the official International Volunteer. I can’t seem to resist featuring this fellow (above) that I found while gardening today, though he’s actually double that size. And below, little Maechee Pim, age 9, is showing me the onions that she waters every day. I was given a royal welcome and taken to “my” house, which is always saved for me. (I still don’t understand why or how I am given these absolutely unique blessings…. but I’ve...
READ MORE / RegisterTales from Thailand – Prologue
Hello, dears. I suspect that at least some of you are thinking: Hmmm, they have saguaro cactus in Thailand? The answer is: No. I spent twelve days at the tip of the Baja peninsula in Mexico, before heading out to SE Asia.Last winter, I spontaneously made a reservation at an airbnb in Cabo San Jose, on the un-touristed side of town (I hoped). Never been there, don’t know anyone there… I’m going to re-print parts of a letter that I just sent to a few friends, because it seems to encapsulate the journey that I have been on this year:My darlings,...
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Wattle Hollow will be closed from mid-November until mid-March, friends, while Joy does service work in Thailand and Cambodia for three months. The water will be turned off. If you’d like to receive her “Tales From Thailand” stories, email Joy and you’ll be included. Scroll down the Schedule page to see what is coming up Spring and Summer 2020 at Wattle Hollow!
READ MORE / Register‘Being Where You Are’ Retreat
March 20 – 22, 2020 NOW FULL – email to be on waiting list! What happens when you combine a weekend of Ashtanga Yoga with silent contemplative Vipassana meditation? Something wonderful and insightful enough to make us want to continue this experiment for 14 years now. Join Mark Cain and Joy Fox for this mind/body exploration into a world of possibilities. You don’t need expertise in either field…..thus the title. There will be Yin Yoga and pranayama also thrown into the mix. Cost $150 (no one will be turned away for lack of funds)...
READ MORE / RegisterDharma Day
Sunday, March 29th, 2020 9:30 – 3:30 p.m. This will be our first springtime opportunity to be immersed in the practices of Vipassanastyle meditation: sitting, walking, eating, and loving-kindness exercises. There will also be a light yoga/stretching period before lunch. This is a perfect opportunity for new students to receive full instruction in these simple but profound traditions, and for older students to refresh and/or reinvent their habits of practice. The day will be spent in noble silence, except for guiding instructions and...
READ MORE / Register4-day Spring Intensive
Thursday – Sunday, April 9 – April 12, 2020 (Thursday, 10 a.m. – Sunday, 3 p.m.) NOTE: This retreat is now full. A waiting list has begun. (But there is a good chance that a few folks will drop out…if you can stand the suspense!) A silent four-day Vipassana Intensive for those of you who have been yearning for more in depth time to examine and observe where silence meets you inside, and/or the crazy mental sounds of monkeychittering that are not actually you, as you become the witness… We will have an opportunity to go...
READ MORE / RegisterNature and Bird-watching Day with Joe Neal
Saturday, April 25, 2020 Nature Day with our expert nature guide, Joe Neal… This is an annual springtime tradition now, and folks from all over the Ozarks show up…we’ll meet (9 am) at the top of the Wattle Hollow driveway on Hwy 170, and stroll slowly down-hill. (People will share their binoculars if you don’t have any). Then, we’ll share a pot-luck lunch overlooking the pond and mountains, (where Joe and others can also identify dozens of birds, just by sound….). And head down into the creek-bed, for a delightful nature walk into yet another...
READ MORE / RegisterDharma Day
Sunday, May 3, 9:30 – 3:30 p.m. This is your one-day opportunity to take a personal tour into various Vipassana meditation practices: sitting, walking, eating and metta/loving-kindness. All are welcome, though registration must be no less than three days before the retreat (e.g. the Wednesday before). A great chance for beginning meditators to get their feet wet, and for oldies to refresh their practice. We also do a mild 50-minute stretching/yoga session. Lunch will be served. No charge for this day; dana/donations are accepted....
READ MORE / RegisterQuaker gathering/ retreat time
May 8-9th, 2020 These incredible peace-makers contribute so much to our community and to world consciousness. This is their time to renew and refresh. Check with Gladys Tiffany for details.
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Wattle Hollow is a relatively small retreat center (40 acres of woodlands on a mountainside in Northwest Arkansas) with capacity for 20 - 25 folks.