The Retreat - Pt. 1

We often get news of retreats being held at other temples and monasteries and on one such occasion, Head Nun asked me whether I would like to attend the one being held at a Thai monastery about two hours from our temple.  She said it's open only to monks and since our nuns are unable to attend, it would be good for me to go and perhaps learn something new.  I thought it was a good idea and looked forward to the retreat.

In the early morning of the retreat, a small bus chartered by the Chief Monk of the monastery where the retreat was to be held, came to pick me up and also picked up a few other monks from various other temples.  I heard that there would be 10 of us participating.  Being the only cat monk attending, I was not surprised when I boarded the bus, that I became the subject of laughter and ridicule, especially from the monk in the seat across the aisle.  He looked about 25 and had a scowl on his face.  I knew I shouldn't but I disliked him on the spot.

"Look who's here, Brothers," he jeered.  "A cat's joining us .... hahaha ...hey, want some fish?"  

I decided it was best to keep quiet, so I curled up and went to sleep.  After a bumpy journey, we finally arrived at the monastery.  We got down from the bus and lined up in front of the old building where the Chief Monk, Ajahn Channarong was waiting.  He greeted us cordially, briefly explained the programme for the 3 days/2 nights retreat and sent us to our rooms with strict instructions to be present for meditation in one hour.  He also made it very clear that we were not allowed to wander around the monastery and were to stay quietly in our rooms once the day's programme was over. 

A couple of stony faced monks showed us to our rooms and to my dismay, I found that I would be sharing with the loudmouth in the bus whom they called "Bro. Chen-chio" or "CC" for short.  The room was small with only one bed and I had been given a basket with a cushion and blanket to sleep in near the window.  

"Well, cat," said CC. "Looks like we're going to have each other for company the next three days and guess what, I'm allergic to cats," and he promptly moved the basket to outside the toilet door.  I guess anyone else would have kicked up a storm but I remembered what Head Nun taught me about anger and tolerance, so I controlled myself and said nothing.  "It's going to be a long three days," I sighed to myself. 

CC promptly went to sleep after he had unpacked.  I sat by the window and did some prayers and when the time came to go for meditation, I tried to wake him up but he refused to get up, so I went off first.  I wondered how he could have become a monk when he could not discipline himself.

CC was of course late for meditation.  After we finished, Ajahn Channarong called him aside and I suspect he was told off.  For the rest of the day, he remained quiet and subdued.  I found that Ajahn C. was a very good speaker and gave us an excellent discourse on The Four Noble Truths.  It was good revision for me and I was grateful for it.  

We had a light snack before going to bed and CC slept like a log but not before he blamed me for being late for meditation.  I ignored him of course, you just don't argue with people like that.

That night I found it difficult to sleep.  They say when you go to a new place, this often happens.  I decided to get up for a walk.  It was against the rules but I just couldn't lie there staring at the ceiling. I slipped quietly out of the room and wandered down the corridor.  It was quite dark and apart from a few cicadas, there was complete silence.  Then suddenly I heard the sound of music.  It seemed to be coming from a room down the corridor, so I headed in that direction.  It was indeed the most beautiful music I had ever heard, I don't know how to describe it, perhaps it could be called "celestial music".  I paused in front of the door to the room and peeped into the keyhole but it was too dark to see anything.  

Then I nearly jumped out of my skin when someone (or something) tapped my shoulder.  I looked up and saw that it was Ajahn C.  

"I told you all to stay in your room and not wander about," he said quietly.  "Go back to your room at once!"

I nodded and bolted down the corridor and back into my room.  Now I was in hot soup.  I would surely be punished the next day.  Tired and frightened, I soon fell asleep.

The next morning, someone banged on our door making a big racket.  I had forgotten we had to get up early this morning to do some "field work".  Apart from meditation, we were to help plant some vegetables in the monastery's vegetable garden.  I managed to drag CC out of bed and soon we were at the veg garden working with the other monks.  Some of the monks hadn't planted anything before in their life and were at a loss what to do.  If it weren't for the help of two of the monastery monks, we would have made a complete mess of the garden!  After that, we were told to get a quick shower and prepare for meditation and more lectures.

I had expected Ajahn C. to give me a scolding but he made no mention of the incident the night before and behaved like it never happened.  I didn't mention it to CC either, I knew he would only scoff at me and say I had been dreaming.  But again, that night, I couldn't sleep.  My curiosity had got the better of me (as usual) and I was dying to see what was inside the "music room" and who were playing that lovely music.

Again I slipped out and went to the room where the music was coming from.  I listened for a while, then tried the door again but it wouldn't budge.  I was about to give up when the door slowly creaked open ....

(To be continued)