Hundreds of retreatants, ninety percent of them women, climb up here to the roof on Saturdays and holidays, at the end of a long slow-walking meditation. The entire roof is a tribute to a Mongolian/Tibetan deity named Green Tara. My teacher, Maechee Sansanee, installed this naked-breasted goddess ten years ago. In Thailand, an extremely conservative group of monks hold the reins, as in most of Asia. Or as in most of the world’s religions, perhaps I could say?
Ma
echee says that women don’t need political power… they simply need to have faith in themselves, in the Buddha-dharma, to keep “jai yen”/a cool heart and serve society…
Read more…. CLICK HERE to view/download the full newsletter (pdf) Tales from Thailand #4
Wattle Hollow is a relatively small retreat center (40 acres of woodlands on a mountainside in Northwest Arkansas) with capacity for 20 - 25 folks.