☀️ Mission to Conquer the Weeds at Anatta Garden: When the Gardener Almost Became Fertilizer 🙏🏻

5 days ago

☀️ Mission to Conquer the Weeds at Anatta Garden: When the Gardener Almost Became Fertilizer

##Hello, my lovely friends!
Today, I'd like to share a firsthand experience from the edge of... well, the edge of my beloved Anatta Garden. It's about yesterday evening's gardening work, which seemed chill but was actually a great test of faith between me and the Thai sun!

🕙 4:30 PM. Meeting time (or the time to meet the Grim Reaper).
Everyone says that 4:30 PM is when the sun is setting, perfect for exercising in the park. But in Trang province, our home, this definition doesn't apply. The moment I step out from under the trees with my trusty lawnmower slung over my shoulder, the first thing that hits me isn't the cool breeze I dreamed of, but rather the scorching heat, like a furnace. The sun is blazing like hell, making me wonder if I'm walking in a park or into a volcano crater.

Review of mowing the lawn in a natural oven
The moment the engine roared, I realized this wasn't just about keeping the garden tidy; it was a bomb disposal mission in the middle of the Sahara Desert.

Sweat changed state just moments after I'd been swinging the lawnmower. The sweat pouring down my body began to vaporize right before my eyes. It was so hot I wanted to scream for mercy! 😝

The battlefield of blades of grass: While I grit my teeth and fight the heat, those lush green blades of grass seem to be standing tall, as if laughing at my efforts. They're probably whispering to each other, "Keep going, sister! You're almost gone, about to collapse and become fertilizer beside us! Hahaha!"

🧘‍♀️ Anatta, the near-dissolution of a self. The name of the garden, Anatta, means non-self, non-attachment. And in that scorching sun that made me dizzy, I deeply understood this teaching. I felt as if my self was dissolving into thin air; life seemed to be extinguishing, just as the garden's name suggests.

This lawn mowing session isn't just gardening; it's the ultimate form of Vipassanā meditation. It requires all the concentration I have to keep my mind from drifting off to sleep prematurely. Don't be alarmed if you see me quiet; I haven't achieved any high level of enlightenment. I'm just trying to breathe in an atmosphere hot enough to fry an egg on a blade of grass.

Finally, this task ended in exhaustion. We'll continue mowing the lawn tomorrow. The grass in the garden might still be smiling because we only cut a little, but the person doing the mowing... well, let's just say I look like I've just finished a hardcore 3-hour sauna session! 😅🫰🏻✌🏻

Thank you everyone for following my story of overcoming (and battling the scorching sun)! Thank you for all your support and encouragement. See you again next time (hoping for more shade!). For now, I'm going to go take a shower to cool off. Thank you so much! 🙏✨