So, I’ve been thinking today about how you can come to Thailand on vacation and enjoy a custom meditation retreat that is made just for you with your needs taken into consideration.
This is just something I’ve been thinking about today and I want to get my thoughts out of my head to see if this might make some sense to pursue this year.
UPDATE – We have new Deep Jhana Meditation Retreats in 2025!
10-Day Vipassana Retreats
At various temples across Thailand, you can find 10-day Vipassana retreats based on S.N. Goenka’s methods. Thousands of meditators each year visit Thailand to attend one of these long and silent retreats.
Some people have the greatest experience of their lives.
Most people don’t.
It’s not fun to go 10 days without talking. To be honest, it will seem like a waste of time for most people after just 2 days or so. Yes, there is a small (5-20%?) number of people who really get a lot out of these 10-day silent retreats, but there are many people who don’t get that much out of it.
They try to rationalize that they didn’t waste 10 days of their well-earned vacation, but you see very few people talking about the experience as something they were so happy to do.
This is why I’m considering something like a Middle Way type retreat. We plan it together, and we help you enjoy meditation at various spots around Krabi and also receive personalized instruction. Talking is encouraged, not demonized.
I think most people are far better suited for something like this. Are you?
What Is a Custom Meditation Retreat?
Well, I have never heard of such a thing but I was wondering if I could create an immersive meditative experience here in Krabi, Thailand for visitors or locals who are looking for something like this.
A Custom Meditation Experience in Krabi Could Have:
- flexible number of days
- flexible dates
- varied locations day-to-day or in one primary place
- silent retreat, minimal talking, or no restriction?
- eat regular amounts and kinds of food or fast or go vegetarian
- a little instruction or a full course – depending on experience and what one hopes to accomplish
A Custom Meditation Retreat Can be Created on Demand
At present, we have 10-day Vipassana meditation retreats and other 3 to 5-day retreats at various Buddhist temples here in Thailand. The starting time for these retreats is inflexible and travelers have to arrange their schedule to match the retreat start and end dates.
This is less than ideal because many people cannot make their schedules match.
What if you could arrange beforehand a customized schedule for a meditation retreat that takes into account the level that you’re at and what your goals are on the meditative path?
What if you could choose the number of days, the date, and the amount of meditation per day? Or even the location of meditation and how much instruction you receive? It seems to me that this would be far better than the current system of scheduled meditation retreats at the temples.
Another bonus is that meditators could choose whether or not they want to have a silent retreat or not. To me, I don’t see that much value in a silent retreat. I think talking should be kept to a minimum but to me, there’s no point in making the entire retreat silent without any talking.
Where Would this Custom Meditation Retreat Be Held?
Krabi. We live here and know this place well after 16 years. We know the temples and some other places to meditate that could offer you enough silence, and a very unique experience.
There’s a good possibility (certainty) that we could go to caves to meditate, temples, and other silent or near-silent areas.
Would a Limit on the Number of Meditators be Necessary?
Sure, it looks that way. It wouldn’t be all that custom if a group of people showed up who all had different ideas of how they wanted to spend the retreat time.
One person at a time would be ideal. Two people who know each other and can agree on what the custom meditation program should look like could probably work. Three people even. Beyond that we’ll have to start thinking about the logistics of transporting a group of people around. Three is doable. Four if everyone is small and can fit in the car! Or we could rent a tuk-tuk, songthaew, van, or something else for transportation.
Anyway, my idea was that 1-2 people could come and have a custom 2-5? day experience.
Costs?
Costs would be more considerable than regular 3-day retreats considering this would probably take up all of our time to make this happen for participants just like a 3-day retreat would. This means around $590 per day per person, depending on the schedule. That would cover airport transfers, buffet food, room, and instruction.
That’s more than the daily cost for the 3-day meditation retreats – which is around $300 per day per person – and minimum of 3 persons.
Please keep in mind, there are cheaper options if you do a 10 day Vipassana retreat at a local temple where there might be 100+ participants and silence for 10 days.
The major differences:
Custom Retreat vs 10 Day Vipassana Retreat
- Custom retreats – silent or not, up to you. 10 day Vipassana retreats are usually silent
- Food will be much better with the option to order smoothies and soda too!
- 3 meals a day vs. 1 per day.
- Eat after noon – it’s expected, not forbidden. lol. Up to you – you can fast as well if you choose.
- A custom-designed retreat focuses 100% on you and everything you need for 2-5 days. You’re just a number at the larger retreats
- Private bungalows vs dormitory-style rooms
- Flexible design of schedule
- Freedom to choose clothing type vs. sometimes strict requirements at the larger retreats
- Airport transfers and transportation during retreat
- Higher cost for custom retreats.
Free Meditation Practice Information
In keeping with my idea that as much as possible, the information I make available to you should be free to anyone who wants it I still offer the following.
Ever since I wrote “Meditation for Beginners – A 22-Day Course” at Amazon and for sale at our Jhana8.com site, I have been welcoming people who wanted to chat about meditation and their practice, and sometimes other ideas about Buddhism, life, etc.
That offer is still good – we have 1-hour (or any #) Coaching Sessions and you are welcome to come anytime (we’ll arrange a meeting) to talk about anything that’s on your mind regarding meditation or extended topics. I have really enjoyed talking with people all over the world about their meditation practice and I always gladly offer my advice.
We also offer Jhana Meditation Training by video. Vern created a 150 minute video describing the process of reaching the deep Jhana states of mind. Jhana Video Course and Coaching Call Info >
So, this custom meditation retreat wouldn’t take the place of that. This custom experience is more for people who are looking for something vastly different from the typical Buddhist meditation retreat at a temple here in Thailand.
I think the minimum stay will be 2 days and the maximum around 5.
Anyway, I’m still thinking about the idea and we’ll see if I launch this in 2025. It seems like there is probably a need for it. I think it largely depends on how many tourists make Thailand their destination during this high season which runs from November to May.
If you would consider attending such a program, please send me a message and let me know. I’d love to start getting an idea how many people might be interested in this. 🙂 Contact here.
Peace and love and compassion,
Vern
If you would like to see the meditation retreats Buddhist temples offer in Thailand, check out this page: Thailand Meditation Retreats >
Meditation coaching online and in Krabi in person is available now >
If you’re coming to Krabi and would like to know some good places where you can meditate, here is a helpful page on Krabi Meditation practice.
[Featured image from Unsplash with photographer credited on the image.]