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VOLUME XV, Number 1 January - June 2025
Meditation Practice
And Spiritual Encounter
With Thai Buddhist Monastics “God blew his breath into Adam:
Take care of God's breath in you!”
(Phra Medhivajarapundit)
Six members of the Italian and Korean commissions for Monastic Interreligious Dialogue spent two weeks (November 26 to December 10, 2024) in Thailand for a program of spiritual exchange with Thai Buddhist monks and an intense introduction to the practice of Vipassanā meditation. Planning for this program, which began several years ago, incorporated many of the elements of the Spiritual Exchange program with Japanese Zen Buddhists that has been ongoing for several decades now.
The experience was conceived and then implemented with Father Daniele Mazza, an Italian missionary of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME) who has been in Thailand since 2008 and became the institute's regional superior for Southeast Asia in 2023. He has dedicated his ministry to interreligious dialogue, particularly with Thai Buddhism, and this year received a doctorate in Buddhist studies from the International Buddhist Studies College (IBSC) of Mahachulalongkornajavidyalaya University in Bangkok. His knowledge of Buddhism, his familiarity with the Thai monastic sangha, and his attentive accompaniment of the group were key to the rewarding outcome of this spiritual exchange.
The group consisted of Brother Matteo Nicolini-Zani, a monk from the Monastery of Bose and coordinator of the Italian commission of DIM•MID; Brother Alberto Maria Osenga and Brother Davide Castronovo, monks from the Benedictine Monastery of Dumenza; Sister Benedetta Bucchi, a nun from the Monastery of the Perpetual Adorers of the Blessed Sacrament in Monza; Sister Sara Ricciardi, a nun of the Poor Clare Monastery in Urbino; and Father Anselmo Park, Prior of the Benedictine Abbey of Waegwan in South Korea and coordinator of that country’s commission of DIM•MID.
The heart of this spiritual exchange program was a week-long meditation retreat that was preceded by three days of preparation (November 27-29) during which the group, hosted by the PIME fathers in the Santa Cristina retreat house adjacent to the Mary Mother of Mercy parish in Nonthaburi (a suburb of Bangkok), was introduced by Father Daniele to the fundamentals and practice of Vipassanā meditation in the form that would be proposed to us in the following days. We were also able to learn about the local church's charitable work through visits to a nearby slum, to the Saint Martin Foundation's “Houses of Hope,” homes for children from severely disadvantaged families, and to the “House of Angels,” a home for children with severe disabilities and some of their mothers.
In addition, we visited centers of two different Buddhist monastic traditions present in Thailand: the Wat Po complex of the majority Theravāda tradition and the Wat Boromracha Kanchanaphisek of the Chinese Mahāyāna tradition. At the latter monastery, the group had the joy of meeting and engaging in fraternal dialogue with the young Abbot Zhui, who had recently spent six months at the Collegio Sant'Anselmo in Rome, where he was able to deepen his knowledge of Christianity and Benedictine monasticism. The group was also invited to participate in a meaningful memorial ceremony for Cardinal Miguel Ángel Ayuso Guixot, prefect of the Vatican's Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue, who had passed away a few days earlier.
From November 30 to December 7, the group was invited to take part in the annual month-long meditation retreat that the IBSC organized at the Religious Development Center in Camp Son, Phetchabun Province, about 400 kilometers north of Bangkok. Supported by an efficient organizational staff and a large group of volunteers who prepared the two daily meals (at 6:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m.), the group was able to join all the other participants in an intensive practice of “mindfulness” or “clear vision” (vipassanā) meditation, based on the “fundamentals of mindfulness” (satipatthāna) elaborated by the Buddha and offered to us by a team of meditation masters who teach at the IBSC. The practice alternated times of seated meditation with times of walking meditation.
The three daily meditation sessions (4:00-5:30 a.m.; 9:30-10:30 a.m.; 1:00-9:00 p.m.) were accompanied by the daily teachings (“dhamma talks”) of Sayadaw Bhaddanta Wirosana, a renowned Burmese meditation master, Phra Bundit Cittasamvaro, of English origin, and Phra Medhivajarapundit, director of the IBSC. We had the joy of a brief but intense moment of encounter with Phra Medhivajarapundit who welcomed us and told us how happy he was that Christian monastics had come to learn the art of “mindful presence” (sati) and “concentration” (samādhi). He also encouraged us to develop this practice within our Christian spiritual life.
This week of intense practice also allowed us to meet, get to know, and make friends with some of the more than two hundred and fifty participants, mostly young monks and nuns from different countries in Asia (Thailand, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam, Bangladesh, China, and Bhutan) who are students at IBSC. During breaks from practice or while walking in the lush natural surroundings of lakes and forests, we enjoyed spontaneous moments of dialogue about our respective religious paths, our monastic traditions, and our practices of meditation and prayer.
Upon our return to Bangkok, on December 8 we accompanied Father Daniele to Mahachulalongkornajavidyalaya University for a graduation ceremony during which he received his doctoral degree. Afterward, we had a joyful reunion with some of IBSC student monks with whom we had shared the previous week’s meditation retreat. A visit to the nearby archaeological site of Ayutthaya the ancient capital of the kingdom of Siam, crowned that festive day. On the following day we had a spirited and fruitful discussion of all that we had experienced, which, in everyone's opinion, was extremely beneficial, albeit demanding and challenging.
We hope that the rich experience we have had can open further paths of encounter and collaboration with the people we have met and the institutions that have welcomed us so warmly. We believe that this is one of the ways the Holy Spirit is calling us to be of service to the monastic world and, indeed, the entire ecclesial community.
Translated by William Skudlarek |
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