The Ancient World: Meditation and Myanmar Trekking
January 26, 2016I’ve been in Myanmar for about 21 days now. The first half of my stay here was at the Dhamma Joti Vipassana center in Yangon where I participated in a meditation course for 10 days (one of the main reasons why I came to Myanmar). Vipassana is one of India’s oldest techniques of meditation and is described as self-purification through self-observation. My 10 days were spent in silence, 10.5 hours a day sitting and observing my breath and sensations throughout my body. Despite its seemingly simple task of breathing and observing, the upright, seated posture caused intense pain and my wandering mind proved utmost challenging to focus. But that was mostly the point- those aspects you worked hard to accept and endure. Each day seemed to drag on forever and I often felt as if I had signed up for prison life, but as the week progressed, I felt calmer, lighter. Ultimately, it was a 10 day confrontation with oneself ending in more clarity and a flowing sensation of serenity. I realized just how powerful meditation can be and plan to continue the practice regularly.
The first several hours after Vipassana were overwhelming: cars honking, people chatting non-stop, the hustle and bustle of Yangon city life. It was too much stimulation after a week of mental solitude and I soon got a headache. Fortunately, I had pre-booked a ticket out of the city that night with the assumption that I would need a slow transition back into the “real world”. I wanted to be in nature so I made my way Kalaw, Myanmar where I planned to go trekking through the countryside.
Once in Kalaw, I signed up for the trek and homestay with a couple from Sweden and 4 friends from all over SE Asia. We hiked a total of 35 kilometers (22 miles) from Lamine, a small village near Kalaw to the southern part of Inle Lake. After the first 19km, our group spent the night in the village of Pattu, home of the Paoh Tribe. Between the sprawl of farmland, the rustic villages, and the ancient pagodas, it felt as if we had entered an old world.
