Ad hoc day trip for dana at the BMSM Pa-Auk Dhammavijaya Meditation Center

One fine random Saturday morning (as things usually are with my family), we decided to take a day trip down to Dengkil for dana (food offering) to the Buddhist monks and Yogis at the BMSM Pa-Auk Dhammavijaya Meditation Center, Dengkil, Selangor.

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It had been more than 2 years since our last visit here - as you might well know (unless you were away on another planet), due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. Usually, as Dengkil was nearly 2 hours from our home by car (subject to traffic conditions), we usually only came here on special occasions, such as the Kathina festival which marks the end of the 3 month Vassa (monsoon season retreat), usually around October or November each year.

The Dhammavijaya Meditation Center is located a short distance off the main road, along the Langat River. There is a large area beside the meditation center allocated for parking, though during festivals it can get filled up quite fast. There is some construction going on further up the river, as there are many trucks and lorries driving past - need to take care when parking your car.

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I'm happy to note that the place was well taken care of. The devotees and volunteers made sure that everything was clean and maintained. Even during "off-peak" times like these, there were as usual some yogis on site in the middle of their meditation retreat. The caretakers were mostly local volunteers and foreigners from Myanmar, who ensured at least the there was enough to eat every day. Typically, there were only two meals per day - one early in the morning and one at ~11am. No food after lunch, though no prohibition on drinks. In general, the place is always open to public who wish to bring food offerings. Though there is no actual prohibition of meat, food is usually vegetarian and fruits with seesd removed.

After the chanting and short dhamma talk, devotees would line up to take the food prepared to the monks. Don't have to worry about offering what you brought or to offer to a specific monk - it's a gesture of offering from the common pool to the Sangha (Buddhist practitioners, i.e., monks).

Once the food offering is done, and after a quick blessing, the devotees and yogis adjourn to the common mess hall for a meal - pot-luck style. So, a good practice is to bring at least enough food in proportion to the people in your group (a little extra never hurts), so everything balances out in the end.

It's good to be back here after so long, though there are many new faces - even the monks rotate from time to time. Well, in a few months, it will be time for the Kathina festival once again, so my family and I will surely be back for our (almost) annual dana.

Kathina day @ Dhammavijaya Meditation Center, Dengkil (15 Oct 2017)

The program for the day (thankfully, in English)

A routine life makes time pass by relatively quickly. Before you know it, even annual events such as these seem to come around once again. Briefly, the Kathina day marks the end of the 3-month Vassa (meditation retreat) period observed by Buddhist devotees. Usually starting sometime in July and ending in October (referencing the lunar calendar, hence the slight change each year).

Looking at the planned agenda for the day, I noted that we'd have to be there by 8.30am. Based on experience, it would be a 1.5 hour drive, assuming ideal traffic conditions. Leaving at 7.00am, most of the people would still be in bed or at the breakfast table, but due to the Deepavali holiday on Wednesday, plus the entire week being a school holiday, it's anyone's guess how many vehicles would be on the road.

Fortunately, it was an uneventful, smooth journey, with my kids resuming their briefly interrupted sleep in the back of the car. We arrived comfortable on time with some minutes to spare. This year, there seemed to be less people around. Usually, there was a huge crowd, half comprising locals (Malaysians, or Singaporeans who look like Malaysians) and the other half made up of Myanmar nationals (workers). Last year, the car park was full, both with cars driven by locals and buses rented by the foreigners. Not able to explain why there were less people around this year, however, there was still a huge crowd.

A mixture of Malaysians and Myanmar nationals in the compound

There were stalls set up in the compound in front of the dormitory / Sima Hall, where devotees could make donations or purchase robes / other requisites to "dana" (donate) to the Sangha (monks) later during the ceremony. There were also some tents set up where the food was arranged (prepared by the organizers and also some brought by the devotees). There were some limited number of tables and seats prepared, but people ended up eating wherever they could find a spot (includes the steps, sides of buildings, or just standing in the worst case). Fortunately, elderly and kids are given priority, so no major issues here.

It was a hot day - perfect weather for cendol!

Weather was good that day, meaning it was not raining. That would have been a major concern, given that there was insufficient shelter and covered walkway between the buildings.

As some of the people were observing Buddhist Precepts which include not eating after 1pm, the organizers ensured everything took place as scheduled. This included the Puja chanting, offering of requisites and also a short Dhamma talk. This year, in order to speed things up, the food was lined up on the tables by the sides, where the monks took their food (sort of like a buffet). The usual modus operandi was for the devotees to line up and take the food, to offer to the monks sequentially.

Food was plentiful, both in quantity and variety, mixed with local style as well as Myanmar style dishes. Taking a spoonful of each, my plate was also full halfway through.

With everything going smoothly, we were done and on our way back home shortly after lunch. Again, the luck was with us as the South-bound traffic was light as well. Just some minor congestion after the Air Keroh toll exit at the MITC intersection, which has been under construction for some time. Well, that's it for this year's Kathina celebration - Sadhu, Sadhu, Sadhu!

By the way, photos here were taken on my venerable Samsung Galaxy Note 2, due to the untimely passing of my Xiaomi Redmi 1S. Sourcing now for a replacement....

A family trip to Penang to see the Venerable Pa-Auk Tawya Sayadaw

Last year end, my family and I journeyed to Penang with the intention to see Pa-Auk Sayadaw, more formally known as "Venerable Pa-Auk Tawya Sayadaw". Pa-Auk Sayadaw (also known as the Venerable Sayadaw Ashin Acinna, is a Buddhist monk from a Theravada Buddhist Monastery (Pa-Auk Tawya Forest Monastery) in Myanmar.

Incidentally, Sayadaw is a Burmese honorific title which means "respected teacher". A respected teacher indeed, Sayadaw Pa-Auk is well renowned from here to as far west as the United States. A link here to a US-based website : http://www.paauk.org/index.html

It was an uneventful drive to Penang, taking me a little over 5 hours to arrive, traveling at speeds limited by heavy traffic (notably after Damansara and at Juru) and of course, legislation. The sky was cloudy all the way, with sporadic light showers that spared us from the heat of the usually blazing sun.


After putting up a night at an in-law's place, the next morning we went to the Nandaka Vihara Meditation Society, to offer some "Dana" to a group of visiting Buddhist monks. There were many devotees too. Unfortunately, on that day, the renowned Pa-Auk Sayadaw did not come to the hall to receive the afternoon Dana with the rest of the monks. I didn't manage to find out why, but I was told he'd be conducting a meditation session that night, and give a dhamma talk on the following one.

The Nandaka Vihara Meditation Society was situated somewhere off the main roads near Bukit Mertajam. An ideal place for meditation, serene due to its seclusion. Unfortunately, that made finding the way there a little tricky, even with a GPS. Fortunately, my in-laws were well versed with the lay of the land, so I only needed to use my GPS to lock down the exact co-ordinates, in case I needed to find my way back there on my own some day. Here's the map:-

Nandaka Vihara - N5 21.365 E100 29.695
Trail begins at - N5 21.313 E100 29.477

Well, it was surprising to see a huge crowd turn out for both days, bringing offerings of food and robes for the monks. Note that monks generally do not directly accept money, since they have renounced the material world, so donations to the temple are usually passed to their assistants (called Kapiahs).

On the second day, Pa-Auk Sayadaw indeed came down to the main hall, which was just as packed with devotees as the day before. While the rest of the Bhikkus ate after offerings of Dana, Pa-Auk Sayadaw returned to his hillside Kutti (monk's quarters) which was situated deeper into the Nandaka Vihara Meditation Society grounds.

Devotees hiked up the gentle sloping hillside to Pa-Auk Sayadaw's Kutti, and made offerings of Dana here, as Pa-Auk Sayadaw did not join the main congregation in the hall below. Incidentally, monks only take food at the *right time* which is between sunrise and before noon. This is in accordance to the Sixth Precept. Normally, lay persons like us can try to observe Five Precepts, while Eight, Ten and beyond are for those who are well into Buddhism.

It was a great opportunity to participate in this event. It was well worth it to me and my family (for those who are spiritually-inclined), in spite of having to drive over 500 kilometers to the Northern Malaysian state of Penang. Luckily Bukit Mertajam was on the mainland, as traffic over the Penang Bridge could often be heavy and unpredictable.

Sahdu, sadhu, sadhu!

My first meditation retreat with Sayalay Dipankara

Funny how some things, no matter how improbable, manage to happen anyway....

A few months back, there was a meditation retreat conducted by Sayalay Dipankara in Ipoh (where my sister-in-law was the sole attendee from my family). It was quite hard to envision being able to pull oneself away from work for almost 2 weeks. And to spend all that time in meditation (something that I was vaguely familiar of, but never been practiced at this magnitude). Like going from a Sony Playstation console to the tracks of the Indy 500 overnight!

Anyway, as fate would have it, 2009 was the year of the economic crisis (or "cleansing", thinking along more positive lines). My company had pre-planned a series of shutdowns, infamously known as "short work weeks", throughout strategically time periods in the year. Well, at that point in time, the last two weeks of 2009 was gazetted as a plant-wide shut down. Well, I thought to myself, that meant that I had only to take an additional 3 days to join Sayalay's next retreat in Penang. So, work was no longer an obstacle (heh, heh - though sometime later, business seemed to pick up, so we shut down for only 1 week instead of 2. Too late to abort, though...!).

Honestly, my primary reason to come along initially was to spare my wife the stressful drive all the way up to Penang, a journey that took us 500km from our home. Secondary was my interest to experience first hand what meditation was all about. Prior to this, I had participated briefly in some on-the-spot meditation sessions conducted at local Buddhist establishments by visiting Sayadaws and monks. Apart from that, I did a bit of reading, but as there is a vast difference between reading about the taste of eating an apple versus actually eating one, I decided that there was just no better way to go than to experience it first-hand. The best thing is that Sayalay Dipankara was quite fluent in English - usually I stay clear of Buddhist activities in this country as they are usually held solely in Chinese (a language that I understand as much as I do German). Anyway, for those who require, there was a translation done into Chinese done after every few sentences from Sayalay.

It was a fairly large group of us that went for this meditation retreat. Me and my wife, mother-in-law, sister-in-law + husband, sister-in-law only, brother-in-law and husband of sister-in-law. All from my wife's side (you could say that the "Force" is strong on that side of the family).

The retreat was organized by the Vivekavana Buddhist Society (http://www.vivekavana.com), and held at the (co-sponsor) Butterworth Buddhist Association (http://www.bba.com.my) (many thanks to them for providing us with a good location where we spent our next 10 days). The event was from 16th Dec to 25 Dec 2009.

On the first day, we were briefed on the do's and don'ts of the retreat. First and foremost, we were required to adhere to the 8 Precepts during the entire course of the retreat. Not to be confused with the Noble 8 Fold Path. Well, you can find more details here : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Precepts

Another rule was to observe "Noble Silence" - that is, don't communicate with others unnecessary (except with the teacher, Sayalay). This encompassed all forms of communication, ie, SMS and e-mail for those who live in this tech-savvy age. So, during this time, as my out-of-office message said, I had no access to my phone or e-mail. Not to mention how distracting that would be, and counter-productive for the intended results of the retreat.

Well, to avoid more distractions, I left me camera back home. So, sorry, no photos for this blog entry...!

Sayalay was a great teacher. Throughout the 10 days, she guided us through interview sessions and Dhamma talks through the Anapanasati meditation techniques, which was to improve deep concentration. This was one of the core / fundamental meditation techniques to serve as a backbone / framework. There was apparently a few levels of meditation to achieve in this technique alone. As the retreat progressed, we found out later that there were in all 40 meditation techniques thought by the Buddha (40? I thought at first Sayalay said 14!).

We slept in separate male and female dorms. A typical day starts at 4.30am, where a member of the organizing committee goes around at roughly 4.15am to awaken the yogis (participants of the meditation retreat) with an unfamiliar instrument. I believe initially that it was a wooden block that made a "tok-tok" sound. Someday later, it changed into a metal chime "ting-ting", which was again unfamiliar. This was actually quite effective as an alarm, and by day 2, my internal clock managed to recalibrate so I didn't make use of my alarm clock.

Waking up, the first thing is to proceed to the meditation hall for a morning sitting. Right up to 6.30am, where we took breakfast. After that it was cleaning time (we were assigned duties. My task was to mop the meditation hall every alternate day. Was OK, considering I just moved into my new house, only minor hassle was that there were 14 of us, and only 7 mops. Also, due to "Noble Silence", sometimes the same patch of floor was mopped 3 times before someone highlighted it). By 7.30am / 8.00am, it was back in the meditation hall to meditate until 11.00am. Lunch time. Precept #6 is to abstain from solid food after noon. Yes, that meant that after 12.00pm, the next meal would be at 6.30am the following day! The definition of solid food was a little vague (considering what they had to eat back then in the time of the Buddha), but it was stated on the notice board that this excluded Milo, Coffee, etc.. Somehow, honey was allowed, but since I didn't share the same dietary preferences as Winnie the Pooh, I just made my way through the day with plain drinking water.

Food was served buffet-style. After taking our food and sitting down (again, at respective designated male and female tables), we silently contemplated on the food before us before starting to eat. We all washed our own eating utensils before leaving the dining hall.

After lunch, we had our bi-daily chores to perform, and from 12.00pm to 1.30pm it was the first rest time. At 1.30pm, "ting-ting" and it was off to the meditation hall for more meditation until the second break time at 6.00pm. At 7.30pm, almost every other night, Sayalay would give a "short" dhamma talk (which sometimes lasted right until 9.00pm). Otherwise it would be a final night meditation session. We turned in early at night, as the next morning the entire cycle would repeat itself (remember, wake up at 4.30am!).

In spite of excellent facilities, it was quite a challenge finding peace of mind and isolation in the meditation hall. Firstly, we were located somewhat close to an air force base, so quite frequently, there were jets flying low and overhead (from my days of playing video games , they looked like F4 or F5's to me). Also, the houses beside us were being renovated. The owners were probably in a hurry to move in, perhaps before the new year, as renovation work sometimes began as early as 3.00am!

While meditating, we alternated between sitting cross-legged and walking meditation. Even with the mats and cushions provided, sitting upright for hours gave me a lot of pain in my knees, thighs and lower back. Walking meditation was to alleviate this, but as there were roughly 80 of us in the meditation hall, I did not exactly follow the scheduled times for sitting / walking, as when everyone stood up to walk, we were too busy avoiding each other to focus on the breath, which was the object of meditation for these 10 days.

First day went by painfully and slowly (at least for a novice like me). As the days passed, I found it was getting more tolerable (doesn't get easier, but you cope with it better). On some days, the mind seemed focused and still. On others, it was an epic struggle to reign in wandering thoughts. Keeping the mind focused on a single object is much harder than it sounds. Especially that you need to keep it there for as long as possible.

It was a strange experience. Though there were so many of us around, there was practically no interaction as we observed "Noble Silence". Interaction with each other would only encourage wandering thoughts, and make it stray from the true objective. We only had direct interaction with Sayalay Dipankara in two scheduled interview sessions. Though there was a free interview session, practically all of my questions were answered either during the scheduled interviews, or during the dhamma talks.

On the second last day of the retreat, some of us were already thinking of going home, and started to interact for the first time. It was during this time that some of us exchanged e-mails and contact info, to keep in touch from then after. On the last day, we helped clean up the place for the last time before saying our farewells and heading home. After being away for so long, we did not stay on a little longer in Penang. Perhaps next time, as I wanted to visit Kek Lok Si temple where the pavilion that now shelters the large statue of the Goddess of Mercy (Kuan Yin) had just been completed. Traffic was quite smooth flowing all the way South, though the same cannot be said for the other side of the road.

Sayalay will be taking a short (6 month) break, but she would be back in Malaysia in October 2010 (Ipoh). Meanwhile, for those with a higher level of determination can sign up to attend a 2 month session coming up in Feb / March 2010 in Myanmar. My brother-in-law (yet another one of my wife's brothers) will be going for this, so we all wish him much progress in his meditation, and look forward to hear of his experience upon his return. More information on Sayalay Dipankara and the Cakkavala Meditation Center can be found here : http://www.cakkavala.org/index.htm

Well, I'm certainly glad that I took up the opportunity to attend this 10 day meditation retreat. It has provided me with profound new insight, and contemplation on many matters that I have not given such degree of thought before. Not sure if there is any truth to the Zen adage - "when the student is ready, the teacher will appear"....

To Ipoh to meet Sayalay Dipankara

Lately, I've been using up my vacation entitlements. No, it's not for attending job interviews. Most of the time, it's due to the existing corporate top-down directive to take "short work week", which sort of helps clear annual leave balance by the end of the year (that's when annual leave "zerorization" occurs). This time though, I took a half day off plus the weekend to bring my family to Ipoh, for a rare chance to meet up with the great meditation teacher, Sayalay Dipankara (more information on here over at : http://www.cakkavala.org/SayalayDipankara.htm and http://www.bodhikusuma.com/metta/sayalay_dipankara.html)

This was a memorable occasion for us, as it was the first time that Charmaine would be traveling in a car for such a long journey. Setting off on a full tank of gas, we arrived at our destination some 5 hours later (adhering strictly to the legal limits, though I feel that I was the only driver that was doing so). Hah, Charmaine was quite excited, as she did not sleep at all through the journey. Consolation though is that she slept soundly all through the night...! :)

Wasn't any time to go sightseeing. We just managed to have a quick dinner at the Yishen Vegetarian Restaurant (co-ordinates N 04°35.932' E101°07.186') and put up a night at the Heritage Hotel. Incidentally, the Heritage Hotel underground car park does not have an elevator leading to the lobby, only stairs. If you have any elderly or disabled passengers, do drop them off at the front entrance before parking your car.

Anyway, the next day, I GPS-ed the way to the Pureland temple (that's what you have to type to find it on the map - actual name of Po Re Yan did not turn up on my Garmin Nuvi 300). Typical for temples in Ipoh, this one was built right up against a limestone mountain (some temples here were actually built INTO the mountains). Quite a distance off the main road (look for the sign that says "Taman Saikat"), it was quiet enough to serve as a serene mediation center to yogis.

We managed to meet up with the revered Sayalay Dipankara briefly after the yogis has their meal time, and made some offerings of dana. It was too dark to get a decent photo with my Lumix FX520 though. For occasions like these, I'd need my DSLR and sub F2.0 lens. By then, it was noon, so we had our lunch before setting off on our journey back home. Didn't want to leave too late, as that would have meant arriving late in the evening after sundown.

Just for reference and info, spending 90% of the time on the highway, my Vios (previous generation model, not the current one that looks like a "Dugong") managed to clock 620km on one full tank of BHP 95. This is with a full load of 5 adults + 1 child (and the trunk was full as well).

Well, for those of you who are interested, there will be a 10-Day Meditation Retreat by Sayalay Dipankara in Butterworth, Penang, Malaysia from 16 to 25 December, 2009. Do contact them at the Cakkavala Meditation Center (Website is http://www.cakkavala.org/index.htm) if you wish to sign up. Depending on circumstances, I may sign up too, as it would be a pity to pass up such a golden opportunity to progress in one's meditation abilities....

Wesak Day in Melaka - 2009

Yesterday (9th May) was Wesak Day (some call it Vesak Day). Generally known as "Buddha's Birthday", this date actually marks the birth, enlightenment and passing of Lord Siddhartha Gautama Buddha.


Annually in Melaka we have the Wesak Day procession. This is where the many Buddhist societies (even those from the schools) parade through the streets of Melaka with their colorful and decorated floats. The path is more or less pre-defined:-


1. Start off at Seck Kia Eenh Temple at Gajah Berang.
2. Walk towards Kampung Lapan (old Great wall).
3. Go towards Fajar shopping complex.
4. Turn right, go ahead and turn left after the traffic lights.
5. Go over the new Bailey bridge (next to the old one which has been disassembled).
6. Turn right at Lim Tian Puan restaurant, march straight all the way past Renaissance hotel, Jalan Bendahara, Public Bank.
7. Turn right at the Stadhuys, over the bridge and turn left and right in to Heeren street (parallel and next to the famous Jonker street).
8. Go all the way straight past Jalan Ong Kim Wee and turn right into Gajah Berang, thus arriving once again at Seck Kia Eenh Temple.


This parade actually took place on Friday night, the eve of Wesak Day. This year, my wife and I waited at the bus stop in front of Orchid Hotel (opposite Renaissance Hotel) to watch the procession. Actually, the plan was to have a drink at the Pizza Hut at the traffic light intersection. This was when we found out the pizza joint had already closed down for some time already! Hmm, haven't been in this part of town in ages....


Well, initially, the streets were devoid of people and filled with cars as usual. But as time went by, more and more people turned up to watch. Usually, the procession will start their journey at 5.30pm or so. This year, it was exceptionally slow, as we only saw the head of the parade at around 8.00pm. It was not clear why, but their march was not smooth. There were many frequent stops and the pace was quite slow. Hmm, could be the traffic that was not blocked entirely along the path meant that progress was slow for safety's sake.

Anyway, there were at least 15~20 groups with dozens of followers (in some cases, perhaps a hundred or two). Each of them had nicely decorated float that were brightly lit by lights. Some were made quite creatively too. There were small floats that could be carried on shoulder, medium size floats that were pushed along by devotees, and huge ones that either were built on top of lorries or appeared to be powered by some motor and steering mechanism (though I doubt it was street-legal). There were also devotees going up to the crowd collecting donations, carrying incense burners and distributing sweets and gifts.


Standing there at the road side, we met some of my working colleagues who had joined in the parade as part of their own buddhist societies. Somehow, they managed to spot us first before we spotted them among the huge crowd - I wonder how...?

Compared to what I have seen in previous years, there is still a large crowd turning up (at least as large as before, if not even larger). By the time we headed for home, it was already pass 9.30pm. Next year, perhaps we will try to join the procession to get more involved in the experience.

The next morning, we proceeded to the Bukit Beruang Meditation Center (official name eludes me) for some chanting, then we popped by the Tzu Chi Center at Batu Berendam for a quick recon (the actual function will be held the next morning - everyone was busy in preparation). Finally, we went to the Seck Kia Eenh Temple itself. We parked at the Gajah Berang School and walked over to the temple. It was packed with throngs of people - more than I could remember from previous years.




On our way home, we bumped into Mok CY (our friend and wife of Lee KY, our good friend also). She too came with her family and kids to visit the temple.

For more photos, please check out my Gallery HERE.

Well, thus was the celebration of this event from my humble perspective. Like I mentioned earlier, next year will try something different and get more involved. Till 2010 then!

Wesak Day celebrations at Bukit Beruang

The celebrations for this year's Wesak Day (Buddha's Birthday), although toned down in light of the recent China and Myanmar disasters, are still on. This morning, my wife and I went to the Buddhasassananuggaha Buddhist Society in Bukit Beruang for some prayers and Metta meditation. Met up with my in-laws over there, and, due to lack of communication, found that my uncle, aunt and cousin were there too (a coincidential mini-family gathering!).

Started off at 10am with some chanting and meditation, followed by a slow walk around the meditation center compound carrying flowers, and finally the symbolic "bathing of Budda" statue.

Had to leave before lunch, as my mother called - little baby girl crying for milk back home....

Wesak day celebration at Tzu Chi Foundation Melaka

In conjunction with the celebration of Lord Buddha's birthday, there was today a "Buddha bathing ceremony" held at the Tzu Chi Foundation Melaka, which is situated in Batu Berendam Free trade zone (opposite National Semiconductors). Their global website can be accessed HERE, as well as some info on Wikipedia.

This year is the first time they are doing it outdoors (previous year, done indoors). There were 2 sessions in the morning - my wife and I decided to come for the one that starts at 10.00am. Arrived there at 9.30am, not a moment too soon, as the parking lots were already full, forcing us to park on the road shoulder (like many others).

Anyway, going in, we went into the main hall, where there was shown a short presentation on the recent China and Myanmar natural disasters (earthquake and cyclone respectively). After that, we made our way systematically outdoors, where the people were arranged in an orderly fashion in the huge garden, before the entire ritual of bathing the Buddha was carried out.

Well, we also gave some donation to the charity fund for the needy, and hope that the victims of the recent misfortunes will have relief from their sufferings.

A little souvenir that I got from them today....

A visit to the Alokarama Meditation Center on Christmas Day

It was Christmas day, and what did I do? Pay a visit to the Alokarama Meditation Center.

The meditation center is situated in Asahan. Technically, it still in Melaka, though it's at the border of 3 states - Melaka, Negeri Sembilan and Johor. To get to the place, you have to turn off the main road and take a small dirt trail for around a kilometer before you finally arrive at the gate. It's a pretty low key place - no fancy big signpost or even a tiny little one to mark itself on the map. You'll have to know that you're coming here, otherwise, you'd never have guessed.

Being situated in a relatively remote situation, the place was really quiet and peaceful - ideal for its role as a meditation center and retreat.

I brought along my wife and also my grandparents, who, interestingly enough are related to the Spiritual Advisor, Venerable Mahinda, who was also based in Australia, but comes to Malaysia from time to time. We brought along some red bean soup to offer as Dana to the Yogis.

It took us around an hour to get there, distance was roughly 50km, but the road was quite windy (my grandmother was a little queasy with motion sickness, so we went along slowly). My grandmother also didn't feel too comfortable in my Civic (pre-Koni FSD), so we used my wife's Vios for this trip.

The Alokarama meditation center was actually built in what appears to be an orchard. There were many fruit trees, including the infamous durian tree (you don't want to be caught with one of those falling on your car, or worse, on your head!).

This is the shrine. There are other buildings around like the meditation hall, kitchen, etc..

 
Plenty of parking over here, just don't park under a durian tree....

Due to my rush in getting up and out of the house, I brought along my full DSLR camera kit, minus my memory card. So, have to fall back on my Sony Ericsson W810i for photos....

One word of advice, do plan your trip here accordingly. As I mentioned before, you need to traverse a 1km dirt road, so if you ever go there after it rains....

 
It's gonna take some effort to get those front tires clean again

 
And more back-breaking effort getting those read wheels cleaned too!