Life in Thailand

My home countries are Thailand and India with side dishes of Nepal, Laos, and Bali.  I feel happy inside my skin in the East.

I like being in the mountains of Thailand now. Pai is a blend of primitive, sacred and wifi. Kindness and Buddhism prevail. No one swears or gets angry. No entitlement issues.

I’m less and less interested in going back to the States. It doesn’t soothe my soul.

But I do have spiritual teachers in California. I could visit them and do some good. Maybe I will set some talks up before I return so I can share what I’ve learned here in Asia with my fellow Americans: meditation, yoga, letting it be, and living in the moment.

Outside the USA there is more chance of letting holiness permeate the soul without all the commerce, playboy porn star standards of beauty and an over reliance on automobiles and pretense.

We’ve gotten caught up in buying stuff, greed, and showing off. Myself included. In the States there is very little emphasis on the sacred.

In Bali it’s a full-time job to make offerings and go to temple. My friends in Bali said, “We spend 60% of our income on temple offerings.”

In the States it’s far different. People want to hook up with money and prestige.

When I was 20-nothing I wanted the strange and fascinating. I was looking for what I have now. Freedom to explore. And time. I wanted to roam the universe.  And I needed silence.

Silence to hear what I felt; to let my soul and spirit give me its wisdom.

I’m letting my sense of wonder and awe guide me without a grand plan. My decisions are made for me. They just happen without me having much to do with it.

When I get caught up in planning I’m tense. Should I stay or what about this other country should I go there? So now I’m practicing no decisions and I like it.

Don’t be in a hurry to decide, just let things happen in the moment.

I was planning to go back to Bali after I left Thailand. But every time I set up the plane ticket online  I could not press the submit payment info. My finger wouldn’t let me.

OK, lets see what the universe has in mind for me and here I am in Chiang Mai having a great time writing and living in a little white room with an overhead fan and a view over an emerald green expanse of trees outside with birds singing. All for only $6 a day including wifi. I’m happy. 

I didn’t have a grand plan to visit Chiang Mai but there I was in Bangkok, Thailand living the high life for $15 a day in a hotel room with my own refrigerator and bathroom.

And I thought nope I’m heading out to the country for adventure. And hopped on a 12-hour train to get to the mountains, here in this hick town blended with temples.

Chiang Mai Thailand isn’t posh or pushy.

With tons of used bookstores with English books! It would take me forever to get thru them all or at least two weeks so I’m staying here and paying this low amount of rent for comfort and cleanliness.

I must be evolving. The last two nights I was woken up by other guests coming home at 3AM. And I didn’t get mad. Or jump out of bed to tell them to shut up.

I just turned over and wondered if my earplugs were nearby. But I never put them in. I just fell asleep again after they stopped talking.

Then at 5:30 AM I got up to do yoga and meditation. If they heard me I don’t feel badly. We all gotta live and let live.

Maybe I’m getting a tiny bit less self-righteous.

So I’m not reading the paper, watching the news, or in any way paying attention to the western world.

No media crap – I can let my heart tell me what to do without the overtones of CNN and Hollywood.

I don’t know who those people are on the cover of People magazine.  They all look the same. Same smiles, same sculpted bodies, whitened teeth, and blonde hair.

So if you want to experience Thailand, you can get a visa on arrival from the USA and stay for a month to try it on for size.

You’ll know after 30 days if this life is for you.