NotYetArahan

mesh steel was 20 x 20 cm, I think 3 mm thick

No. But the area needed levelling, so a tractor came to push away mud and grass for a couple of hours.

The m2 price included gravel installed at the sides of the road, slope 1:2.5 approx.

Only at the walking area the m2 price included digging 7.5 cm.

Anyway, digging is cheap.

For car park you need 10 cm of concrete thickness. I paid 310 Baht/m2

For walking area you need 7.5 cm of concrete. I paid 280 Baht/m2. My Thai uncle paid 260 Baht/m2

This was all in April 2012: all together 200 m2

The practise of pindabat is beneficial in a number of ways. One of the benefits is that monks will feel grateful for the offerings given by the lay supporters. This will help them keep the right effort to continue practising.

During my ordination I felt this strongly and I know from other monks that they felt the same.

Indeed the habit is to not to thank the giver for the reasons stated in other post above. However, the feeling of gratitude by the monks is still important and supporting their practise.

I understand I can only talk for a few monks. However, how would you feel when people offer you something? I think it is a very human emotion to feel gratitude. I think the vast majority of monks are grateful for the offerings.

Good to know that by offering food to a monk you not only support his body but also stimulate his practise.

I have about 50 Dutch books. Mainly travelbooks, no literature. If someone is interested PM me and I will take the books with me next time we come to Chinag Mai.

Forum rules only allow the use of English. Translated to English - mario2008

You can ask the Dutch consulate in Chiang Mai. He will give you the address of a photographer. We used him and had no problems getting a new Dutch passport. I am afraid I forgot the address.

If you are interested in meditation as well you can go to a forest monestary. They have only one meal a day at around 8.00 am. The first week you will feel very hungry during the afternoon and evening, but you get used to it. Normally I loose around 1 kg/week.

If you are not interested in meditation, better find another place !

take care

In my daily life I (also) have long stretches of time I forget to be mindful.

One technique I use is to create a "bell of mindfulness". For instance, when I work with wood work tools I regularly don ear protectors. When I do this I breath in/out 3 times mindfully. Many of these "bells of mindfulness" are possible. In this way you will daily regularly be pulled back from forgetfulness.

I find this is helpful.

The bookshop of Suan Mokh in Bangkok has a good selection of dhamma books. Also friendly price.

Thanks FabianFred.

I actually hoped on a number of interesting monasteries to choose from, but maybe is it correct to assume that they are in short supply?

So is the International Forest Monastery the only forest monastery in Thailand with a number of Western monks?

I planned to ordain for 3 months beginning of next year and I am looking for a forest monestary where one or preferrably more (senior) foreign monks are residing (my Thai is unfortunately sufficient for simple conversation only).

I have looked at the website of the international forest monastery and noticed that "direct" ordination is not possible. I am not sure about the ordination procedures at Wat Pa Baan Taad.

Can anybody recomment a "suitable forest monestary with (senior) foreign monks" ?

Thanks,

By the way, I don't do this for fun or tradition, but see it as a step on my dhamma-path, taken seriously and hoping to learn a lot !

When I went for my first retreat and came for the daily interview to the monk I used to ask questions (in the beginning). The answer was always to go back to my meditation pillow and continue practising.

And did that help?

I expected this question somehow.

Although it was frustrating to be send back to the cushion, it was good to just do the retreat concentrating on the practice and leave alone the mental acrobatics.

Also nowadays I can not get too interested in the theoreticalies but concentrate as good as possible on the mindfulnes practice which brings "easy living". I think a balance is required between knowledge from practice and knowledge from learning. In my case I am still more eager to practice than to study.

This varies per person of course.

When I went for my first retreat and came for the daily interview to the monk I used to ask questions (in the beginning). The answer was always to go back to my meditation pillow and continue practising.

Does anybody know about some routes for long distance walking, say 200 to 300 km? Or does anybody know of a nice route for walking? Walking along the highway is not my cup of tea. Furthermore the maps I have are so large scale that I can not plot any interesting walks.

Thanks

can you make a bung? waterproof glue.

Sorry "thatguy", but here my English is lacking. Could you explain what is a "bung". Thanks.

I have some teak woord with here and there around 1 to 2 cm diameter holes. When I use the wood in house I fill the holes with this white latex glue mixed with sawdust (sandpaper dust). That works fine.

However, for use outside this is not good enough I have experienced. Does anybody have an idea what I can use to fill the holes and will hold up in rain & sunshine? The stuff should be sold in Thailand of course.

Best regards and thanks for the suggestions.

Transport of planks indeed not allowed. Logs bought with the right certifcates you can transport home. You can have locals with right machinary to set up equipment in your garden and cut the logs for you.

You could ask a local shop to sew one for you. If no buck wheat can be found you could stuff with cotton.

You should be able to order at the Plum Village webside

http://www.plumvillage.org/

Indeed lots of actions are motivated by this. However, if you see this clearly you can take this aspect out of the equation and then decide whether the action you want to do is fruitfull or not fruitfull

I think it is an excellent question everybody should ask him/herself. The answer could provide some focus for the future.

Actually the Buddha said you should contemplate that the out-breath you do now will be the last one. No more in-breath. (Or was it that the spoon of food you take at this moment will be the last one? Anyway, you are advised to contemplate that death could be just one breath away. This will help focus on living in the here and now.)

A few months ago we rented a Ford tracktor with blade in front and these row of wheels in the back. OK for levelling of the road. Costs including diesel and operator was 400 Baht/hour. Also including mob/demob.

This was 150 km South of Chiang Mai

A monk said somewhere jokingly (forgive me: I can not remember the name of the monk and neither the book I read it in) that if you have to eat the meat, better to eat the elephant because less animals have to be killed in your lifetime.

The quote does not take greater negative karma due to killing a bigger animal into equation.

There are some lay groups in Bangkok and Chiang Mai quite active following the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh (I still struggle with the spelling). During Songkran festival there is a 5 day family retreat near Bangkok. Maybe interesting. In the near future a dependance monestary will be set up East of Bangkok. That will provide great opportunity to practise.