Forest Path - Amaravati Buddhist Monastery

186 forest path
plate glass looked over a perfectly tended garden lawn. Above the
mirror-like granite floor an impressive roof hung loftily emanating
soft and even golden light. A huge hand-woven woolen rug with a
bold geometric design of black with reds and yellows lay at the foot
between two large dark leather sofas. On one of these large lounges
sat myself and a Thai layman, and sitting alone on the other was my
teacher. Amid such contrived beauty, cleanliness and order the look
on my teacher’s face was probably that of equanimity, yet that word
somehow doesn’t capture it. Cool, relaxed, detached and unmoved,
the air around him was not a vacuum. It seemed in fact a pronouncement,
saying something about where to place one’s efforts and attentions
in order to know that which is most worthy of reverence.
In Melbourne, we were received by members of the Buddhist
Society of Victoria. It was an inspiring sight to see a room full of
practising Buddhists from many different ethnic origins. Here, in
the evenings, Tan Ajan gave several Dhamma teachings followed by
questions and answers, all of which were translated. Many practitioners
were keen to ask specific questions about their meditation
practice and Tan Ajan was pleased with their energy and willingness
to learn. People stayed for hours listening to the answers to
questions and all of the evenings ended quite late.
It was a pleasure to be practising the dhammas of listening and
meditating among sincere Australians. As most of my Dhamma
experience is associated with Thailand, these occasions helped me to
feel more of the global relevance of the Dhamma and to feel less
isolated from where I began my life. Tan Ajan instructed me that I
must practise very hard to develop my skills well, so that I could
come back and truly help these people. Although I was flattered by
his faith in me, I was more than a little daunted at the prospect.
After four days in Melbourne it was time for me to separate from my
teacher. He and the others would stay on for a while and then fly to
our branch monastery in Perth. I would be going alone to Sydney,
travelling to the Blue Mountains to spend a few days with my eldest
sister and her children. From there I would go back to Sydney to
meet one of the monks and we would fly to Brisbane together. It
would be a valuable support having a friend who was a monk as my
companion and I felt lucky that he had been willing to meet up with
me again. After performing the ceremony for asking forgiveness, I