Thai soccer team’s secret of survival was meditation

Ekapol Chanthawong, left, is the 25-year-old coach of the trapped boys who taught them to meditate to stay calm in the cave. Credit: Thai Navy SEALS

Cut off from the world, sitting hungry and isolated in a dark and damp cave for two weeks, how did a twelve-boy Thai soccer team, aged between 11 to 16 years, survive? They were exploring a cave in Northern Thailand when a sudden flood due to heavy rains flooded the cave and they were stranded with their coach.

This question confronted many people worldwide as they watched the rescue efforts by Navy SEALS on TV and hoped for their survival.

The short answer is: they meditated.

Yes, meditation helped them to go inwards and escape the confined cave. It also helped them to go beyond their bodies to experience stillness and calm; and above all, accept their situation totally.

The key factor in this case is their coach, 25-year-old Ekapol Chanthawong, who had meditated for around ten years as a Buddhist monk. He guided the boys into meditation when they needed it the most.

Instead of being frightened and depressed, the boys were calm and composed. Since Thailand is predominantly a Buddhist country with 94.6 per cent of the people following Buddhism, they most probably practiced Vipassana meditation.

This is a method devised by Buddha which focuses awareness on the breath. This technique helped the boys to keep alive for 17 desperate days, trapped in a flooded cave.

After more than 288 hours since Ekapol and the boys got trapped in the Tham Luang Nang Non cave, on 23 June, the group was discovered only on 2 July, after 10 days of being totally cut off from the outside world. They were cold, weak, and alone, more than two and a half miles deep inside the cave network.

When the rescuers found the group, instead of screaming, crying or shouting the boys were sitting quietly in the dark and meditating. Their secret weapon? Vipassana.

Vipassana is eminently suitable for this situation as it does not involve any movement of the body and is uniquely suited to enable people to cope with extreme tension and/or stress.

Vipassana is watching the breath. After having closed your eyes watch it go out. Then pause. And watch the gap. Now watch it coming in. Pause. And watch the gap. Now watch it going out again. And so, on and on.

Soon you go beyond your body, and later you stop thinking as you watch your breath and thus go beyond your mind too. This relaxes you fully. Thus, sitting in that dark cave, the boys were free from all tensions in their peaceful inner space.

Osho says, “Meditation is rest, absolute rest, a full stop to all activity – physical, mental, emotional. When you are in such a deep rest that nothing stirs in you, when all action as such ceases – as if you are fast asleep yet awake – you come to know who you are. Suddenly the window opens. It cannot be opened by effort because effort creates tension – and tension is the cause of our whole misery. Hence this is something very fundamental to be understood that meditation is not effort.” ¹

Source:Osho News online by Kul Bhushan