点评:I attended retreats when the Monastery was a beautiful and simple place. Visiting over a number of years was a life-changing spiritual experience. However, over the years it was managed with a retail model in mind, for example, selling "lucky" painted rocks etc. The ambitious building works achieved by raising a lot of money and very hard physical work are very impressive and attract a lot of people that probably wouldn't go to the Monastery if it was the basic (but spiritually potent) place it used to be.
Unfortunately, the last time I went I was shocked to receive religious bigotry from the young female Thai nationals who were also on retreat. These were the girls who snuck back in to the women's quarters at midnight on a silent retreat!
So it's with sadness that I feel the Monastery has, for me at least, lost the essence of what it once was.
翻译:当年寺院还是个美丽而简朴的地方时,我曾参加过一些静修。多年来,多次到访寺院,是一次改变人生的精神体验。然而,多年来,寺院的经营模式一直偏重于零售,例如出售“吉祥”彩绘石头等等。这些雄心勃勃的建筑工程,通过筹集大量资金和辛勤的体力劳动,令人印象深刻,也吸引了许多人前来。如果寺院还是像以前那样简陋(但精神力量强大)的地方,这些人可能不会来。
不幸的是,上次我去寺院时,震惊地发现,那些同样在静修的泰国年轻女性表现出了宗教偏见。正是这些女孩在午夜偷偷溜回女宿舍,进行静修!
因此,我感到悲伤的是,至少对我来说,寺院已经失去了昔日的精髓。