I didn’t fall out of bed

The Saturday before my time in the forest for retreat. I fell out of bed. It was strange I knew I was on the edge, but I swung my leg over to sit up and ran out of bed. So boom the floor, and my left elbow made contact and mouth and the wardrobe made contact. The result was a bruise and cut that was more of a reminder of awareness than damage to the body and only minor damage to the ego.

When I arrived at the Wat or monastery, I was prepared for a difference from Doi Suthep…but I was not sure in what way and how this would affect my practice.

I would describe this group as minimalist, - little instruction, little furnishings, and little monitoring of you behavior. On the other side, little restriction means more personal responsibility. To do what you need to do with what you have to make yourself ready to be mindful and see things as they are rather than the way they "should" be. "Should" is outside Vipassana and is replaced with what does it mean and what are you experiencing.

The process of being open-hearted started at the desk and continues are I am dealing with things as presented.

The cost of the experience was 220 baht a day and 90 baht for bedding. I marked the amounts in the box and then gave the monk 100. There is a process, and there must be an accounting for the extra money. Out came the calculator and eraser and I sat as the Monk corrected the document …Bedding 90, Room 660, Donation 250. Next. Ah… "where is the bedding?" – "next door." Next door was another office and a monk who was busy on his computer review dharma sites. I could quickly see a refrigeratorwith cokes, milk and juice drinks and water. Next to that was a rack of coffees, tea, and some other 'mystery' drinks. At the end were skinny packs of material that turned out to be a blaket, sheet, and pillow. I was ready…. So up the steps I went to room 2W. The room was 10x10 with a big window and a little porch leading to a narrow dead fly area. What was not in the room… a bed. Lesson one. Things don't always have to be they was you are conditioned to have be… and you can still be happy. I did check with one of the others and found that, in fact, there was no form bed but you could take some straw mats to cover the cement floor. It was not extreemly cool, so one might opt to put the skinning blanket under you and on top of the mats. I added the skiny sheet to the skinny blanket on top of the skinny mats… and thus I made my bed…and was ready to go about my retreat….with no frear of falling out of bed only the potential of falling on the bed.