Finding the Middle Path in Thailand

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Welcome to the Eastwesticism podcast where our host Todd PErelmuter shares the lessons he's learned spending eight years living with gurus, monks, lamas, and shamans across 35 countries and five continents. Join in the journey as he brings the best scientifically proven methods for living your best life from the east and the west, straight to you. The path to peace, love, health and happiness starts here. 

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Hi, and welcome back to path to peace with Todd Perelmuter. I'm your host Todd Perelmuter.

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In a couple earlier podcasts, I talked about a couple meditation retreats that I went on. One was a very expensive one, it was kind of like a resort in India, and it was very expensive, and very luxurious. And you get your own room. And everything was optional. You know, come to meditation, if you want come to yoga, if you want. There was maybe one meditation, one yoga class each day, very laid back. Very pleasant. Nice if you're looking for vacation, and just a place to relax, massages, the whole works.

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I also spoke in another podcast about the toughest, strictest, most difficult meditation retreat I had ever been on. This one was 12 days long.

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Waking up at 4am mandatory 12 hours of meditation per day, grueling. Just very difficult. The rooms were the bleakest felt like prison cells. And we even each got a private meditation cell, which did feel like a prison cell it was about a four foot by two foot room, just enough space to sit down. And that was also a very profound and transformative experience.

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By day seven or eight, I was in pure  enlightenment, there was no thoughts entering my mind. And it was very difficult to get to. But once I hit about day eight or nine, it was very profound transformation. My mind had run through every conversation I've ever had 1000 times every song I've ever heard a million times, every line in a movie I didn't even know I remember just every thing that my mind could grasp at, you know, there was no talking for the whole retreat, there was no reading, no writing, no phones.

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And so after about seven or eight days of letting your mind just unwind and just get through all that grasping that the mind does. It just stopped, there was nothing else. And I couldn't even tell if I was thinking, or if I wasn't thinking because the thoughts were getting quieter and quieter until eventually I couldn't even hear them. And I realized they weren't there. And it was the new experience that was truly breathtaking. 

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But the problem with that one was it was so difficult, it was 12 hours of meditation, and you're just burnt out at the end. And so I didn't continue a daily meditation practice after that. I hadn't done much meditation before that. And so this was like a crash course, but a little too much. And it wasn't sustainable. And so all of that progress was lost, because I didn't keep it going. 

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And on the flip side, the luxury ashram there was not much transformation. It was relaxing and pleasant, but it was lacking some structure and some tools that I could take forward with me. And these two places really symbolized the two extremes, you know, too easy and too difficult. And the Buddha taught a concept called the middle path that is so beautiful. And it's so wise, because the middle path is always the right path. Too difficult, is unsustainable, too easy. You might as well be doing nothing. And in every aspect of our lives. 

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There is this middle path, not to this not to that, just that sweet spot right in the middle. And if we live our lives like this, you know, not overly consuming food or intoxicants, but also not living a highly restricted, miserable life that completely shunts all joy and pleasure. With the middle path, we work, and we do what needs to get done. And we do it with ease. 

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Because we're not overworking and we're not under working. We're in that middle path. Because even today, workaholism is a major addiction. And it's very alluring. And society pushes us to achieve that. And people brag how little sleep they get, and it can be easy to get swept in that. And so today, I'm going to share my next retreat. When I went on. After finishing the retreat in Rishikesh, India, I set out to Thailand, where I had scheduled a nother meditation retreat. And this one was in Koh Samui, an island off the mainland of Thailand.

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And this was just the place I was looking for this is that middle place, the hardest retreat was 12 days, the easiest one was three days, this was seven days right in the middle, right, that sweet spot. And instead of meditating 12 hours, we meditated about six hours every day. And we even got to break it up. Because we would, we would do half sitting meditation and half walking, meditation. 

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And just that getting up and moving around was such a relief, made all the difference, it was so nice, instead of sitting down, so much to get up and walk around, and we made it a practice. And we did eating meditation as a practice while we ate our meals. And all of this helped not only bring meditation into my life, in the morning, when I'm sitting down, but to bring it through my entire day, and to make my life a meditation practice in a sustainable and easy way. The meditation teacher was strict, but not too strict. 

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The place was absolutely spectacularly beautiful. It was on top of a mountain in a tropical island off the coast of Thailand, and the plants in the frogs, and the birds. just breathtaking. I mean, just just that alone, could bring enlightenment to some people. But overall, just the the warmth of this place, the beauty and the teachings, the Buddhist monks who had meditate with the class, to bring some peace and calm energy to everybody. And you felt it and it was only good feelings, but you, you felt good because you were getting the benefits.

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Not from relaxing too much. It did have its difficulties. This was the first time I knew what a Wooden Pillow was, which is a block of wood, you put your head on to sleep at night, which may work if you are a person who sleeps on your back the whole night. But if you're like me, you like the side you like rolling over. You do not want a hard block of wood under your head, but I used to sweatshirt as a pillow. 

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And I don't feel bad about it. Because I knew that this place is know your limits. Know your limits. Push yourself but don't push too hard. Everybody's different. It was but it was a really great experience to to live with this minimalism, this extreme minimalism and to realize you don't need anything and to realize the happiness is coming from within. We slept with mosquito nets in a room of maybe 100 wooden beds, which again is just raised boards we sleep on. That part wasn't as bad as the pillow part. 

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But it was just it's a beautiful challenge. And it's not the easiest, but it's not supposed to be and it's not the hardest, and it's not supposed to be. It's the perfect middle path.

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And this place I just can't recommend enough. It's called dip Yvonne, which means haven of light. And they they do have English meditation retreats that anyone can take.

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And I didn't reach that incredible deep meditative state that I achieved at the incredibly strict retreat. However, when I left this place, I was able to continue my meditation practice.

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And so the benefit of that place far outweighs the temporary experience of the Vipassana strict retreat, which I also recommend, and is incredibly powerful to get to glimpse enlightenment and to see that goal and feel that goal and know what we're working towards the know what's possible. And I might even do it again. 

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Because once you've done a lot of retreats, that was my first retreat, but once you've done many, then it's then you can do harder things. It's like lifting weights. When you first start, you can't do much. But the more you do, the less hard it is to lift that original weight. So I would love to try it again. And I'm eager to do so. Especially with how far I've come. But maybe jumping in into the hardest, most difficult meditation retreat that exists before ever even really meditating regularly in my entire life. 

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Not the best idea, but no regrets. It was incredible. And I learned so much. And but this this one in Thailand was so special, so magical. If you're ever in Thailand, check it out. message us on social media at @toddperel. But just remember, always in life, try to find that middle path. And it may be difficult to see. But the more we meditate, the more clearer it becomes. And it really applies to everything in our lives.

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 Anorexia is bad and obesity isn't good either. But that middle is, is where all the music, all the magic, all the beauty lies. And when we meditate, we literally are centering ourselves. We are literally embodying that middle path. Because when we center ourselves in meditation, or mindfulness, we're not bouncing off the walls excited and happy. And we're not depressed and miserable and crying. We're right in that center right in that piece in the middle, and that is what is in the middle peace and stillness and spaciousness. 

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And that is what gives our lives the room for reflection. Appreciation, love and joy. 

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So thank you so much for listening. Be sure to connect with us on twitter or instagram at @toddperel. Be sure to give us a review and share this podcast with anyone who might like to hear it. Be sure to subscribe. And thank you so much for listening, peace and love.

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