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Throughout the course the students live at the center, meditating and sleeping in the grounds under umbrellas (klod). The sight of some 300 monks, their saffron robes contrasting with the green of the lawns as they sit immobile in meditation, is indeed a moving experience. Currently the annual course is only open to males but the Foundation is now considering plans to establish an adjacent center where young may have the same training. women However, in addition to the annual Thamathayard course, the center gives tuition in meditation and lectures on Dhamma and the life of Buddha every Sunday. These occasions are open to all members of the public, male or female, and last from 9.30 in the morning to 3.30 in the afternoon. Participants generally were white as a symbol of inner as well as outer purity, and the communal nature of the gatherings is remarkably hermonious. As an indication of the popularity of the center and the spiritual guidance it offers, each Sunday there are at least 1,000 people in attendance, a large proportion of them being young, while on the first Sunday of the month, when a special merit-making ceremony is held, the congregation can be anywhere between 2,000 and 3,000 people. Conducting the courses and living at Wat Phra Thamakai are at present 12 monks. That the number is small is due to the very strict regulations under which the community lives. Anyone who has completed the Thamathayard course can enter the monkhood here but he must be prepared to follow much stricter conduct than is demanded at most other monasteries. In particular, the commitment must be a lifetime one and, among other regulations, a monk must adhere to the basic eight commandments (sinbaet) without a single transgression for a minimum of five years. The atmosphere of the "forest garden" and the obvious dedication of the students one sees there is sufficient to inspire anyone with a conviction of the value of the meditation and teaching conducted at the center. Yet it is the obvious achievement of the resident monks that strikes one most. When this writer met Thattacheevo, the second most senior monk, he had just completed a 22-hour lecture but showed no signs of weariness and, in his excellent English, was prepared to give a most lucid outline of the Thamathayard teachings. If one had any doubts about the power of meditation, Thattacheevo was tangible proof of its possibilities. Still, calm and soft-spoken, he radiated an air of complete tranquillity, a quietness that clearly sprung from enormous inner strength. Sitting near him, it was impossible not to be touched by a sense of spiritual well-being. In a lay person one might have attributed the effect to charisma, but in this case it was the reverse with the power emanating not from personal character- istics but rather from something transcending the individual ego. Thattacheevo explained that the method of meditation taught at the center was just one of the 40 ways described by Buddha. In essence it involves initial concentration on an imaginary crystal ball and gradually transferring that focal point inside to the center of the body's gravity. On the highest plane of achievement the sphere expands to incorporate the universe until ultimately Thamakai, the Buddha made visible, is encountered. The theory of meditation is complex, although it is in the practice that lies its true meaning and value. It is a value cherished and preserved at Soon Bhuthachak Patibuttham Wat Phra Thamakai, and the nature of the center and its popularity admirably illustrate the relevance of such a value to present-day society. Reprinted from Sawasdee Magazine, Sept-Oct 1984 3P Kalyanamitra.org