Now when you think of Bangkok there are probably all kinds of words that you can associate with that city. But tranquil and meditative is probably not in that group of words. Yet, there are a lot of people who practice and learn about meditation in Bangkok.
In fact, you’d be surprised how much meditation is a normal part of daily life for many people.
Even in many schools pupils practice meditation during breaks.
There are many different ways to understand meditation. Some people think that meditation is “doing nothing”. But doing nothing is very easy. Just doing nothing and falling asleep is not meditation.
Meditation also doesn’t mean that you get into some kind of “mental space ship”
There are also many meditation courses in Bangkok that are open to anyone to attend.
There’s Wat Mahathat, an old temple where every day meditation instructions are given. Not all of the monks speak English, but there’s almost always someone around who does and who can assist. Also, there are quite a few Western monks.
Then there is the World Fellowship of Buddhists. This one is located near the Emporium shopping mall, at the BTS station Phrom Phong on Sukhumvit road. Next to the Emporium there is a park, the Benjasiri Park. And behind is the fellowship.
They have meditation classes with monks who speak English and you can find lots of information on Theravada Buddhism, which is the predominant school of Buddhism in Thailand.
Another place for foreigners to study about meditation in Bangkok is Wat Bowonniwet and Wat Pak Nam.
And then you can of course always practice walking meditation during a Bangkok sightseeing trip 😉