The 'Village Head Man' anounced on the P.A. system yesterday evening that the Monks would be going around the village between 2am and 4am this morning on a sort of arms round; according to the wife. My immediate response was that she must be mistaken and he probably said 2pm.

but sure enough 2am and the monks bell could be heard.

I couldn't see anything on our Calendar.

Anyone know whats going on ? why 2am ?

they needa snack while watching football matches........

they needa snack while watching football matches........

Its definately a possibility. They do have a Satelite Dish at the Local Wat; Just for the dhamma channel broadcasts I imagine ;-)

But I think our current Abbott is the real thing, unlike some in the past. Never see him wearing shoes on his walkabout which is a sign of a proper monk in my world at least.

I'm not a buddhist but I do like the Idea of a 'real' monk at the wat for a change and so would like to support him in is efforts as long as the 2am think is only an annual event.

The vinaya doesn't permit monks to go on alms round before dawn. They can walk around for other reasons though.

I think almost no monks in Thailand wear shoes while on alms round.

The reason I ask the question is I'm used to seeing them at around 6am. Vinaya or not , 2 am seems a bit extreme and I wondered if it was a special day , one off etc... If he continues ringing his bell at 2am on a regular basis I'm sure the Villagers will get upset as they are particularly busy at the moment with the rice fields and need there beauty sleep.

As for wearing no shoes , you'll after excuse my generalising, I have a Habit (no pun intended) of seeing everyone who wears the robes as a monk, when most likely they are novices.

The vinaya doesn't permit monks to go on alms round before dawn. They can walk around for other reasons though.

I think almost no monks in Thailand wear shoes while on alms round.

I see plenty wearing sandals/slippers in urban areas on their rounds.

I've seen them several times between 2am and 4am, wandering for alms on sukhumvit just when the bars tend to empty......

I've seen them several times between 2am and 4am, wandering for alms on sukhumvit just when the bars tend to empty......

These are not real monks but fake 'monks' dressed in Chinese style robes. You can see some pictures of the on Stickman's site, down in the middle of the page:

http://www.stickmanweekly.com/StickMarkII/...pDoesntWork.htm