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Photograph courtesy of Dennis Augustine

Life in Yangon, Myanmar, is much different than in Saratoga. Local resident Dennis Augustine (center) knew that when he traveled to Southeast Asia to visit the nation said to be among the poorest in the world. Augustine left Yangon to attend the Kyaswa Monastery in the mountains, where he studied meditation.

Augustine simplifies his life after his Myanmar meditation study

By Jason Sweeney

There are plenty of success stories in Saratoga. While some who have achieved success spend their leisure time at country clubs or in villas in Tuscany, Dennis Augustine prefers the chants and gongs of a mountain monastery in Myanmar.

Augustine grew up on the wrong side of the tracks in gritty Hoboken, N.J. Through hard work and determination, he completed his studies and became a podiatrist, eventually opening his own practice in San Jose.

As his practice grew, he bought and sold real estate on the side. Augustine became a financial success, with all the outward appearances that come with it.

However, for the ambitious self-described perfectionist, money did not buy happiness or peace of mind. Following a back injury, he decided to undergo a lifestyle shift. He gave up his podiatry practice and began a quest for spiritual enlightenment.

His quest led him to study meditation and to travel off the beaten path. His latest trip was earlier this year, when he left his home and family in Saratoga and set out for Yangon, Myanmar.

Myanmar, located in tropical Southeast Asia, is one of the poorest nations in the world. It had been known as Burma before the country's ruling military junta changed the name.

Augustine flew into the country's capital, Yangon, formerly called Rangoon, on Jan. 15. The city was hot and crowded. It lacked many of the Western influences found in Southeast Asian cities such as Bangkok or Jakarta. Power outages were a daily occurrence, and poverty was evident. For locals, a dollar equaled a day's wages.

"It was amazing to see that there's been very little change there," Augustine said. "We're so spoiled in the West and used to having things our way and everything at our disposal. Burma is very humbling."

Augustine left Yangon for the Kyaswa Monastery in the mountains, where master meditation teacher Sayudaw Lakkhana teaches a meditation practice called Vipassana.

"Vipassana means seeing things clearly," Augustine said. "It's also called insight meditation. What I like about this sort of practice is that it's practical in your day-to-day life."

Augustine arrived at the monastery with a group of about 30 people from several countries. They had each paid $300 for three weeks of food, lodging and meditation guidance. When they arrived at the monastery, they took monastic vows. This meant no drinking, no sex and no eating after noon.

"It was very simplified living," Augustine said. Lodging was a small wooden hut on stilts that contained a desk, a closet and a bed covered by a mosquito net.

Male students wore white T-shirts and a traditional Burmese wrap that goes down to the ankles, called a longyi. Female students wore a brown uniform that Augustine said looked somewhat like a Brownie uniform.

Each morning a gong awoke the students at 4 a.m. Bald monks and nuns led their foreign students through the day's first meditation session in the meditation hall. "Starting at 4 a.m. was quite a challenge for me," Augustine said.

The group meditated each morning on meditation cushions for one hour. Following the first meditation session, they practiced walking meditation, which Augustine described as a slow deliberate walk that helps in maintaining mindfulness.

"El Camino and Kaiser use this practice to help with anxiety, stress, depression and to lower blood pressure," he said.

The group then traveled in a procession, chanting as they walked down stone steps to the dining hall. They sat in silence on the floor at a low table and ate papaya, chicken, pork and rice served with tea.

Augustine said he felt no cravings while at the monastery. "I always joke with people how I'm addicted to chocolate, but I didn't miss it. I think it was the support of the group, and that we kept busy."

Silence was maintained at all times. The only talking allowed was in the afternoon during 15- to 30-minute discussions with teachers regarding meditation practice.

"By not talking and slowing things down, you see things more clearly," Augustine said. "Chattering all the time can be distracting.

"I think this kind of practice can teach good lessons to young people. You learn the impermanence of things. Uncomfortable thoughts will rise and fall away if you just learn to go with it. Sometimes we actually believe our thoughts. But thoughts are just thoughts. They rise and they fall away, and whatever you resist persists and blocks your way."

Now back in the United States, Augustine said meditation and travel to places such as Myanmar have taught him a sense of humility and have enabled him not to be emotionally attached to material things. He said that practices such as Vipassana meditation offer benefits to people in busy Silicon Valley, where multi-tasking has become a way of life. "It's a way to slow everything down and recharge your batteries."