Meditation, Yoga and Rock Climbing
Starting 2012, second weekend of each month. Your choice, plus option to stay on for the entire week.
Here's what's on offer:
From Friday evening through to Sunday evening, all guests get to experience the best that Rim Rock has to offer. All activities are optional so, as Thais often say; 'up to you'.
.......a mix of Yoga, meditation (guided and non-guided), good food at Rim Rock's beautifully secluded setting. Some of the options which you may want to join in on: crafts, fire circles, story telling, acoustic music (do you play guitar or sing?), rock climbing, and creative painting on some of the large boulders there. Details, schedule, and pricing below........
Friday afternoon: If you don't have your own way of getting there, we meet in town at Friday 3:30 pm - to then ride out to Rim Rock. We meet at Baanchivitmai Bakery. It has a big green and yellow sign with word BAKERY, and is located just across from the southwest corner of the old downtown bus station. You can get there early, and indulge in their great menu, but please don't be late. You'll be met by Ken, a tall thin Californian with short-cropped hair.
After a 15 minute ride, we get to Rim Rock, and get oriented, as regards lodging, bathrooms, showers and possibly a thumbnail tour around the five acre (12 rai) property.
A casual and delicious dinner will be served soon after - in the open air restaurant, around the time the sun sets, which highlights the view from on high, with a 270 degree panorama of orchards and hills rolling on for miles.
After a short break, the fire circle will be sparked. After introductions, a guide will tell an hour long story about Milarepa, a Tibetan poet who roamed the northern slopes of the Himalayas 900 years ago. The fire circle may then segue on to discussion and/or to acoustic music, possibly even some sing-along. Concurrently anyone who chooses to do do other things can find the hot tub or......
Saturday: Wake around 8 am. Yoga at White Rock for anyone interested, ending in a brief meditation (guided or un-guided, depending on who is leading the yoga session).
9 to 10, breakfast
Afterwards, a more in-depth tour of the property, including mention of its unique geology and highlighting some of the dozens of fruits, nuts and ornamentals growing in the vicinity.
The remainder of Saturday morning consists of several choices: free time, meditation, creative painting on rock, discussion of spirituality, or possibly a music or craft workshop.
Lunch at noon.
After lunch, the choice of activities could continue from those of the morning, but could also include rock climbing or a 2 hour trek through the countryside to lovely Lion Hill, which sets alongside a river and has two major caves. One is a 'Tam Phra' (Buddha Cave) whereas the other (3 Bear Cave) is larger and goes right through the hill - with some climbing.
As the fire circle is being fueled with wood, anyone who chooses, can partake in a kirtan. Kirtan is an ancient Sanskrit word which translates roughly to: 'walking in single file while chanting together.' At Rim Rock, we do kirtan around the house-sized 'White Rock.' Don't knock it 'til you've tried it. It can be quite enjoyable and spiritually stimulating. Like everything else in this tentative schedule, it's optional.
Sunday's activities are similar to Saturday's, so you needn't fret about having to choose one activity and miss out on another. You could do one activity on one day, and the other on the other day. It's also possible to combine activities, because Boomerang Adventure Park (under the same owners as Rim Rock) is alongside the trail which connects Rim Rock and Lion Hill on the way to the river.
Back to town by 5 pm Sunday evening, unless staying longer.
Weekend, from only Bt.5400 (us$180) per person
Full week, from Friday to Friday is double the cost of the weekend.
Group discounts available.
click here if interested in joining in
Not ready to pick a date - no problem, just email us.
Added note: In keeping with the theme of 'taking a break from the rat race' we discourage internet use while at Rim Rock. Additionally, we ask guests to turn off their phones. Plus, no vehicles are allowed up the hill (tell it to the driver, if someone is driving you to RR). Arriving vehicles are requested to either park below the hill or, if they must, drive only up to the 'Worker House' - which is part way up the hill and has a turn-around area. Most of you reading this will understand these requests. The weekend is tailored to commune with the beautiful natural setting, each other, and spirituality. It's only 50 hours, and not too long to be away from internal combustion engines and all our digital toys, is it? Oh ok, cameras are alright to bring.
Anyone who wants to leave the premises during the weekend can do so on their own steam. We don't operate a shuttle system, except for the beginning and ending of the weekend, or if someone really has to leave for an important reason.
A note about 'creative painting on rock' at Rim Rock: There are endless numbers of limestone boulders and rock faces at the 5 acre site and another nearby site. They're various colors, but the majority are gray. Actually, the gray coloring is a very thin covering. For the creative painting, you takes a copper wire brush and gently brush the layer away, revealing the white color of the rock. The cleared area can be as small or as reasonably large as you please. Then using water colors, you paint what you please, although there are some guidelines on subject matter, as follows:
You are welcome to paint anything natural, other than human likenesses. In other words, any animal, plant, landscape, fungi, astronomical, cosmic, make-believe or realistic. In keeping with the non-human theme, we discourage painting Buddhas or fairies or human headed animals (monitors, mermaids, gnomes, etc). The premise is: the world has plenty enough artistic depictions of people, particularly spiritual icons. Similarly, we ask that the paintings not contain letters or words, and try to avoid symbols, such as crucifixes, Om signs, Egyptian 'key of life', smiley faces, arrows, male/female symbols or numbers - generally, any man made symbols are to be avoided, if possible. And please, no profanity.
You may think the above-mentioned restrictions render the creative process difficult, but think again. The whole natural world evolved for hundreds of millions of years before man appeared - ....for over ten billion years, if you believe the 'big bang theory.' There are myriad creative topics to paint which don't rely upon people images or man-made symbols & icons.
Anyhow, that's the theme behind creative painting upon the rocks at Rim Rock. If you choose to wipe away your creation, then it's easy to do, and the thin gray covering will return to the rock within months. However, if you and a RR guide agree to keep the artwork, we may put a sealer on it, and it will become semi-permanent. No amount of sealer will maintain it forever, so the rocks will wind up reverting to their natural state - some time in the not-too-distant future.
