Setting the Scene
Right, so I'm in Bangkok. Annie and I are off to a Wat for some Vipassana meditation teaching. The heat is simmering, creating waves in the air. We arrive, and I'm buzzing with excitement and expectation. I mean, what more could one want? An authentic setting, a genuine teacher-it's perfect, innit?
The Meditation Begins
The session begins. There's standing, intending to walk, walking, intending to turn, turning, intending to sit, sitting. I'm absolutely chuffed, convinced I'm nailing it.
Enter the Mosquitoes
But I hadn't accounted for one tiny detail: mosquitoes the size of moths. You see, mosquitoes that merely tolerated me in South Africa, biting only when desperate, seemed to find me irresistibly delicious in Bangkok. I'd been trailing a smog of repellent everywhere I went, which had precisely zero effect on these behemoths. Once seated, they homed in like heat-seeking missiles.
Lessons in Humility
So, my first undoing was the smug judgement that I was 'rocking it'. The second? Those blasted mosquitoes. It's a lesson for all you meditation novices out there: there will always be undoings. If it's not your monkey mind playing havoc, it's the environment making you squirm, or it's those pesky emotions stirring up trouble.
The Universal Challenges of Meditation
These are the hurdles we face each time we plonk ourselves down to meditate. Beware the moth-like mosquitoes and remember the old saying: "the devil is in the details".
Words of Wisdom
Just keep returning to your breath, or whatever you're meant to be focusing on. Gently, kindly, keep opening that door and dropping back in. Accept things as they are, in the present moment, no judgement.
As Anita Roddick wisely quipped, "If you think you're too small to have an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito."
Image from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
YOU ARE READING
Zen and the Art of Mosquito Warfare
Non-FictionIn this humorous and insightful personal essay, a Western traveller recounts their attempt at Vipassana meditation in a Bangkok temple. What begins as an eagerly anticipated spiritual experience quickly turns into an unexpected battle of wills-betwe...
