During the recent Mayan calendar change, Ajahn Chandako taught a retreat focussing on the end of the world. Although the theme was somewhat tongue in cheek, the retreat explored the very real phenomena of cessation and its relationship to peace. Both in a practical way, visible here and now, and in the long term sense of the non-arising of the five khandas, cessation of suffering (dukkha) is central to understanding the teachings of the Buddha. The retreatants also represented the world in another way, as the culturally diverse participants hailed from 18 different nationalities.
