With a last big group hug and a few teary eyes we left the Minfulness Project, with the hope to come back and the gratitude to have found so much energy there in the past 10 days. While a part of us wishes that we could have stayed a bit longer, the other is urging to disover the next adventure. We have shared a very precious time with all the volunteers and their kindeness, and we hope our path might join again in the future.
The Mindfulness Project is set in the surroundings of the little town of Khon Kaen in the North East of Thailand. Many aspects of this step of our journey made it very special and unique, especially to me.
We took an overnight train from Bangkok to Khon Kaen, which was in itself very calming and pleasant to me. I love sleeping on the move.
We arrived on the project on the night of the 7th, sweaty and tired, feeling grateful towards the driver of the pick-up that brought us there and a bit overwhelmed by the number of names we had to remember: there was about 40 volunteers on our first few days. On a more personnal level, I was also preoccupied by some news I had from home; my little brother had let me know a few days ealier that my grandad was on his last legs. Nonetheless, we sat down with everyone else under the sala, around what they call the “talking circle”.
Vero and Luna, two volunteers on the project
A usual day on the Project:
The days in the Mindfulness Center are all following the same routine, which ultimately helps us to settle in our meditation practice and to keep a balanced rythm. We start the day with the sound of the gong at 5:30 and begin our yoga class at 6, followed by about half an hour of meditation. Then comes Korma Yoga: all volunteers find little cleaning jobs or gardening ones, some of us prepare breakfast, we make sure for the next 45 minutes that the centre is in a good state to start a new day. The gong rings again to invite all of us to help ourselves to some breakfast and we wait until each one of us is served to start eating, all together. It is only after breakfast that we break the noble silence that we have been respecting since waking up. Observing this non-talking moment is quite a bless when living in a community. After breakfast we are all starting work, in the permaculture garden, in the kitchen or on building sites mainly. Sometimes other jobs turn up, there is always something to be done when it comes to build a holistic centre. At 2 the gong calls for lunch time and until 6 the schedule is free. 6 is the time of the talking circle: all sat in a circle under the sala, we follow Christian (the founder of the project) who addresses us with two questions: the first one is always to describe the favourite moment of our day, the second differs each time. It is there to help us opening up and going deep in ourselves to communicate truely with other volunteers. Finally, the day ends with a discussion led by Christian who teaches us some principles of mindfulness and meditation, reviews with us some aspects of Buddhism and shares some memories of his experience as a monk or with his wife Anya. The conversation always flows, and is often eyes-opening.
A snake hanging on one of the trees from the beautiful garden
The first day of our stay in the project, I got the news from France of my grandad’s death.
Despite the difficulty to cope with the fact that I was unable to be there for my family during this hard time, I found myself very lucky and grateful to be where I was at this moment. The kindness of all of the people who were around me, the meditation and the care given by Christian and his team who offered me a ritual on the day of the funerals all helped me to feel hope and love when I needed it.
Davide and Keri, two of the Project's team members.
The death of my grandad made me realise what the Mindfuless Project is really about. If we are to save the environment, if we are to create alternative styles of living, the most important thing that needs to beshared first is selfless love. Towards ourselves and others. I understand this might sound weird but I am convinced on some level there is a way to give self-selfless love. Through this and strong human connections, we can be powerful enough to create sustainable ways of living.
Liam and Christian on our last day. The building of a new beautiful connection.
I had a deep and fulfilling experience in the Mindfulness Project and would like to thank all of those who shared it with me. It is a very chilled and settling space that Christian is trying to build out there. I would like to wish all of the luck and happiness for the future of this garden of life, and hope that all will happen for the best with it, in kindness.
View of the sun setting from the centre
To all of you, may you be happy. And sail on.