Monk For A Month

[sabaijai]

Want to play monk? Fork over $700

Drawing Buddhism-curious foreigners to a Thai temple through Facebook.

By Patrick Winn - GlobalPost

Published: April 30, 2009 07:01 ET

FANG, Thailand — Two freshly shaved white guys, scalps an uncommon pink, mill about the Sri Boen Ruang temple’s courtyard.

The duo mingles with a flock of orange-robed novice monks, busy sweeping the plaza with straw brooms. Like the resident “naehns” — or child monks — these grown, pale-skinned, monks-in-training rise before dawn for alms runs and devote hours to quiet meditation.

But in a twist that would startle most Buddhists, both men paid $700 to become apprentices here through a charity called “Monk for a Month” that attracts Buddhism-curious foreigners via Facebook.

In Thailand, which is about 95 percent Buddhist, meditation centers and various Buddhism-themed tour packages abound. But there is nothing quite like “Monk for a Month.”

Though it offers non-Thais unfiltered access to Thai temple life, it is criticized as spirituality-for-pay — a practice some compare to charging tickets to church.

“We’re aware that combining commerce and spirituality is a bit of a tinderbox,” said Ben Bowler, the 35-year-old Australian creator of “Monk for a Month.” “I’m prepared for all the question marks.”

In Thailand, gilded Buddhist temples are found crammed between deluxe shopping malls, tucked into quiet neighborhoods and gleaming on emerald mountainsides. Ostensibly, any man can enter any temple’s gates and — after swearing off sex, intoxicants, materialism and more — live on temple grounds and begin the path to monkhood.

For Thai men, it’s a rite of passage that lasts as little as one week or as long as a lifetime. Bowler, who runs a small non-governmental organization near the Thai-Burma border, now wants to offer the experience to foreigners. For a fee.

“Look, you wouldn’t climb Mount Everest without a tour guide,” Bowler said. “This isn’t easy. It isn’t pre-packaged for foreigners, like a human zoo.”

Erik Jorgensen, a 27-year-old recent monk-in-training from Los Angeles, was looking for a place that wouldn’t just “drop me off in a golden room and say 'meditate.'"

Seeking an escape from his hectic job, which involves faring the seas to lay underwater fiber-optic cables, Jorgensen discovered “Monk for a Month.” Days after arriving, his hair and eyebrows were razored off, leaving wet clumps clinging to his shoulders.

“This is more genuine. There’s a non-appetite driven life at this temple. You don’t look at girls. You don’t drink or smoke. Everything that equates to ‘vacation’ in the west, you can’t do it here,” he said.

The temple, located in a verdant northern Thai valley, is also a de facto orphanage for neglected boys. Its head abbot, Phra Aphisit Pingchaiyawat, views the project as a way to expose his young flock to foreigners, who are expected to help teach English on the side. These skills, the abbot said, can unlock opportunities for his novice monks.

“Honestly, I don’t pay attention to the money that’s made,” Phra Aphisit said. “I only care about the benefits to the novice monks and the community.”

After successfully pitching to the abbot, “there was just a question of how to market it,” Bowler said. With about $1,500 set aside for advertising, he started with the obvious: posting fliers, contacting the STA travel agency, which is popular with backpackers, and launching a website, monkforamonth.com.

Then he moved on to Facebook, creating a “Month for a Monk” page and user-targeted Facebook ads. (For every ad click, Bowler is charged 10 cents.) About 80 to 90 percent of the participants find the program through Facebook, Bowler said.

But the “Monk for a Month” Facebook page, while attracting would-be monks, has also put his endeavor on the defensive.

Some have called “Monk for a Month” misguided, Disney-like and just plain crude. Buddhist monks are expected to distance themselves from commercialism and even refrain from handling cash. “You can explain what you’re trying to do as much as you like,” posted Kirk Gillock, listed as founder of Isara Charity, also located in Thailand. “But the fact is, you’re exploiting a religion.”

Bowler insists that he is hardly raking in tons of cash. He admits the project “has begun on a commercial footing.” But he distinguishes selling spirituality from selling English-language guidance into a world most westerners will never see.

The $700 price — equal to the average monthly salary for a Thai — is mostly funneled to The Blood Foundation, an NGO that he runs with his wife, Jildou Brower. They freely admit that “Monk for a Month” is in large part a fundraiser for their true passion: aiding ethnic Shan refugees scraping by in Burma and Thailand.

After paying for a month’s worth of food and supplies, and the salary for an English teacher at the temple, Bowler says $250 is left over from each client.

Since the project’s inception last year, he has attracted nearly 40 participants, including an Australian grocery store employee, a nerve-shot U.S. aid worker fresh out of Afghanistan and a Swiss man hoping the temple life will help him quit cigarettes. Most achieve the “novice monk” ranking without becoming fully ordained.

“Even though I don’t know how to look at the Internet, I support it, no matter how it’s advertised,” Phra Aphisit said. “Consider my novice monks. At first, they wouldn’t even talk to foreigners. They didn’t know how to act. Not anymore.”

The project survives with the abbot’s grace, Bowler said. “If the day comes where he doesn’t want it, it’s gone.”

Seemingly unrattled by controversy, he is considering yet another spirituality-meets-commerce endeavor.

“I’d love to start ‘Muslim for a Month’ in Malaysia,” he said. “We’re looking for a good imam.”

[jts-khorat]

Want to play monk? Fork over $700

But in a twist that would startle most Buddhists, both men paid $700 to become apprentices here through a charity called “Monk for a Month” that attracts Buddhism-curious foreigners via Facebook.

[...]

Though it offers non-Thais unfiltered access to Thai temple life, it is criticized as spirituality-for-pay — a practice some compare to charging tickets to church.

“We’re aware that combining commerce and spirituality is a bit of a tinderbox,” said Ben Bowler, the 35-year-old Australian creator of “Monk for a Month.” “I’m prepared for all the question marks.”

With Buddhism in the west often seen as nothing more than a fashionable alternative to other New Age meditation techniques, it seems a little step to charge for organizing contact between a temple and would-be monks. Any meditation center charges for attending courses.

Here in Thailand, Buddhism has become largely nothing more than a financial enterprise. The asking for money is often blatant, in others there is an entrance fee charged (or so it was at my last visit to Bangkok at Wat Phra Kaeow, right at the temple doorsteps). As such financial exploitation of Thai Buddhism seems fair game to me.

The problem I see is not in the money -- but that people are stuffed into this temple that have neither an idea about meditation nor Buddhism and might be distancing themselves from practice because they have not approaching it from the right (eg spiritual) angle themselves.

[orchis]

I think it's unskilfull to commercialise what is in essence free.

[fabianfred]

Try reading through ALL the posts and questions and discussions...then you might have a clearer picture.

I am the person who was invited to do the Dhamma instruction for this project, since I live in Fang and have been a Buddhist for thirty years, and speak, read and write Thai. I also teach the Vipassana meditation as taught to me by my teachers...Wat Amphawan, Singhburi.... Wat Rampoeng, Chiangmai .... Supawan Green.

Ask me any questions you like

[BigSnake]

Want to play monk? Fork over $700

Drawing Buddhism-curious foreigners to a Thai temple through Facebook.

By Patrick Winn - GlobalPost

Published: April 30, 2009 07:01 ET

FANG, Thailand — Two freshly shaved white guys, scalps an uncommon pink, mill about the Sri Boen Ruang temple’s courtyard.

The duo mingles with a flock of orange-robed novice monks, busy sweeping the plaza with straw brooms. Like the resident “naehns” — or child monks — these grown, pale-skinned, monks-in-training rise before dawn for alms runs and devote hours to quiet meditation.

But in a twist that would startle most Buddhists, both men paid $700 to become apprentices here through a charity called “Monk for a Month” that attracts Buddhism-curious foreigners via Facebook.

In Thailand, which is about 95 percent Buddhist, meditation centers and various Buddhism-themed tour packages abound. But there is nothing quite like “Monk for a Month.”

Though it offers non-Thais unfiltered access to Thai temple life, it is criticized as spirituality-for-pay — a practice some compare to charging tickets to church.

“We’re aware that combining commerce and spirituality is a bit of a tinderbox,” said Ben Bowler, the 35-year-old Australian creator of “Monk for a Month.” “I’m prepared for all the question marks.”

In Thailand, gilded Buddhist temples are found crammed between deluxe shopping malls, tucked into quiet neighborhoods and gleaming on emerald mountainsides. Ostensibly, any man can enter any temple’s gates and — after swearing off sex, intoxicants, materialism and more — live on temple grounds and begin the path to monkhood.

For Thai men, it’s a rite of passage that lasts as little as one week or as long as a lifetime. Bowler, who runs a small non-governmental organization near the Thai-Burma border, now wants to offer the experience to foreigners. For a fee.

“Look, you wouldn’t climb Mount Everest without a tour guide,” Bowler said. “This isn’t easy. It isn’t pre-packaged for foreigners, like a human zoo.”

Erik Jorgensen, a 27-year-old recent monk-in-training from Los Angeles, was looking for a place that wouldn’t just “drop me off in a golden room and say 'meditate.'"

Seeking an escape from his hectic job, which involves faring the seas to lay underwater fiber-optic cables, Jorgensen discovered “Monk for a Month.” Days after arriving, his hair and eyebrows were razored off, leaving wet clumps clinging to his shoulders.

“This is more genuine. There’s a non-appetite driven life at this temple. You don’t look at girls. You don’t drink or smoke. Everything that equates to ‘vacation’ in the west, you can’t do it here,” he said.

The temple, located in a verdant northern Thai valley, is also a de facto orphanage for neglected boys. Its head abbot, Phra Aphisit Pingchaiyawat, views the project as a way to expose his young flock to foreigners, who are expected to help teach English on the side. These skills, the abbot said, can unlock opportunities for his novice monks.

“Honestly, I don’t pay attention to the money that’s made,” Phra Aphisit said. “I only care about the benefits to the novice monks and the community.”

After successfully pitching to the abbot, “there was just a question of how to market it,” Bowler said. With about $1,500 set aside for advertising, he started with the obvious: posting fliers, contacting the STA travel agency, which is popular with backpackers, and launching a website, monkforamonth.com.

Then he moved on to Facebook, creating a “Month for a Monk” page and user-targeted Facebook ads. (For every ad click, Bowler is charged 10 cents.) About 80 to 90 percent of the participants find the program through Facebook, Bowler said.

But the “Monk for a Month” Facebook page, while attracting would-be monks, has also put his endeavor on the defensive.

Some have called “Monk for a Month” misguided, Disney-like and just plain crude. Buddhist monks are expected to distance themselves from commercialism and even refrain from handling cash. “You can explain what you’re trying to do as much as you like,” posted Kirk Gillock, listed as founder of Isara Charity, also located in Thailand. “But the fact is, you’re exploiting a religion.”

Bowler insists that he is hardly raking in tons of cash. He admits the project “has begun on a commercial footing.” But he distinguishes selling spirituality from selling English-language guidance into a world most westerners will never see.

The $700 price — equal to the average monthly salary for a Thai — is mostly funneled to The Blood Foundation, an NGO that he runs with his wife, Jildou Brower. They freely admit that “Monk for a Month” is in large part a fundraiser for their true passion: aiding ethnic Shan refugees scraping by in Burma and Thailand.

After paying for a month’s worth of food and supplies, and the salary for an English teacher at the temple, Bowler says $250 is left over from each client.

Since the project’s inception last year, he has attracted nearly 40 participants, including an Australian grocery store employee, a nerve-shot U.S. aid worker fresh out of Afghanistan and a Swiss man hoping the temple life will help him quit cigarettes. Most achieve the “novice monk” ranking without becoming fully ordained.

“Even though I don’t know how to look at the Internet, I support it, no matter how it’s advertised,” Phra Aphisit said. “Consider my novice monks. At first, they wouldn’t even talk to foreigners. They didn’t know how to act. Not anymore.”

The project survives with the abbot’s grace, Bowler said. “If the day comes where he doesn’t want it, it’s gone.”

Seemingly unrattled by controversy, he is considering yet another spirituality-meets-commerce endeavor.

“I’d love to start ‘Muslim for a Month’ in Malaysia,” he said. “We’re looking for a good imam.”

What are they up to, I wonder? Maybe an extra 30 days stay in LOS, HMMMMMMMM????

[jts-khorat]

I think it's unskilfull to commercialise what is in essence free.

A large part of Thai Buddhism is already a commercial enterprise; the tour operator is only attaching himself to it (which is not different from a wood carving shop selling Buddha heads). As he thinks to do the same with other religions it can be safely assumed that the tour operator is neither Buddhist nor would he see your point as meditation centers charge for their retreats and courses.

As clearly stated, if the abbot would not accept his customers, there would be no business. So maybe this is the angle where criticism should be placed, that to the outsider Thai Buddhism often has little difference to a New Age cult or sect out there. Thai Buddhism is in essence not free.

Further it is my understanding that the tour operator charges his customers for the lodgings and this money goes to the temple; what he keeps is a 'finders fee'. As such his service is to be a western contact to people not able to make contact with a Thai temple on their own. Again, if there are so many interested foreigners it could be argued that it is a shortcoming of the local Sangha not to effectively address this problem themselves to be better able to spread the Dhamma, instead of using middle men.

[markwhite]

Someone's been advertising this all over the Thai travel forums for months.

Up to them that want to do these things in this way. Or attend a free retreat and give the money to a local hospice...

[sabaijai]

Try reading through ALL the posts and questions and discussions...then you might have a clearer picture.

I am the person who was invited to do the Dhamma instruction for this project, since I live in Fang and have been a Buddhist for thirty years, and speak, read and write Thai. I also teach the Vipassana meditation as taught to me by my teachers...Wat Amphawan, Singhburi.... Wat Rampoeng, Chiangmai .... Supawan Green.

Ask me any questions you like

3 questions, fabianfred:

1) Who invited you to do the Dhamma instruction?

2) Why don't the abbot or other monks teach directly, using you (or someone else) as an interpreter?

3) Are you paid for your participation?

[SeerObserver]

Someone who wants to ordain for their own spiritual reasons via the traditional means will be of a different mindset than someone who's initial interest/curiosity is brought on by viewing the facebook ad. They will probably also already more knowledgeable of Buddhism and ordination. As a participant in the "for a month" program is in effect a customer, aren't they still really free to do as they wish and leave at will? I see the merit in the program that a guide/mentor is assigned to participants and what not, but this can be arranged at other temples without the program. Although it may be more difficult to have the kind of attention devoted to you I'm presuming this program provides (altruistic or obligated?).

It would be interesting to see how everlasting the spiritual experience is in someone who has completed this program. I wonder if it sticks, or if they just take it as an experience they paid for and go back to their old ways (hopefully not the road to ruin).

[bankei]

I think it is a good idea. it lets people, who otherwise probably wouldn't, get a chance to see Buddhism in action.

$700 isn't much. It cost me much much more to ordain when I added up all the 'donations' to monks present, preceptor, preparing food, drinks, robes, bowl etc

[harrry]

I am not sure about the way it is done but in principle I think it is not unreasonable to provide a way that outsiders can stay and learn without it being a burden to the monastry . Payment for food or for language translation and guidance is reasonable but I am not sure about the profiting from it even if the profits are used by the outside person to do good works. Of course this does nota mean that someone who wishesto enter monastic life in the normal way should not be able to do so.

[fabianfred]

Try reading through ALL the posts and questions and discussions...then you might have a clearer picture.

I am the person who was invited to do the Dhamma instruction for this project, since I live in Fang and have been a Buddhist for thirty years, and speak, read and write Thai. I also teach the Vipassana meditation as taught to me by my teachers...Wat Amphawan, Singhburi.... Wat Rampoeng, Chiangmai .... Supawan Green.

Ask me any questions you like

3 questions, fabianfred:

1) Who invited you to do the Dhamma instruction?

2) Why don't the abbot or other monks teach directly, using you (or someone else) as an interpreter?

3) Are you paid for your participation?

1. Ben ...the leader of the project.

2. Abbot and few monks in the temple are too busy.... and interpreting would use a lot more time to teach.

3. I live 10 km from the temple... so my expenses are covered... at a basic rate.

[fabianfred]

As has been noted...this is merely an introduction to thai buddhism...we are not trying to convert people...just give them the info they can take away and compare with their own beliefs.

If they decide to study further from books or the internet they will at least know basically what is being talked about...rather than jumping in at the deep end.

I could imagine glancing through the Buddhism books on Amazon.com would be like a minefield for the beginner.

[harrry]

Well that seems less acceptable. More like Ben has arranged for the people to stay at the temple and you give them your version of how things are. And everyone lines their pockets in some way.

Edited May 3, 2009 by sabaijai

[Artabus]

My initial reaction to this was to say it's an awful idea, a desecration of Buddhism by commercialising it.

But if we look at it impartially, the whole scheme can be perceived as wholesome and skilful :

1. It introduces Buddhism to people who would possibly not otherwise have that experience. This is a positive, surely? With regards to Facebook being used, those on that site are as worthy of the blessing that is the Dharma as much as anyone else.

2. The Abbot supports the scheme. He has been entrusted by the Sangha to run the temple, to support Buddhism within the community. We should not judge his opinion.

3. The monks within the temple benefit from the scheme, and can bring Buddhism to other non-Thai speakers through improved language knowledge.

4. The temple gains some money, thereby supporting Buddhism and the local community.

5. The profits (such as they are) go to another charity and thereby support more people in need.

We need maybe to be able to differentiate this scheme from some of the problems that Buddhism has in Thailand today.

So, well done and thank you to all those who make it possible.

[Brucenkhamen]

As has been noted...this is merely an introduction to thai buddhism...we are not trying to convert people...just give them the info they can take away and compare with their own beliefs.

If they decide to study further from books or the internet they will at least know basically what is being talked about...rather than jumping in at the deep end.

I could imagine glancing through the Buddhism books on Amazon.com would be like a minefield for the beginner.

Does that sound like the purpose of the monastic sangha that the Buddha setup to you?

How many other religions ordain people on a introduction course? Rabbi for a week, Catholic Priest for a fortnight anyone?

I had less of a problem when I assumed they'd all be Buddhists with a prior history of practice, there are ways and means of doing intro courses and this isn't it. I suppose hardly surprising in a country where children are ordained as novices for a weekend like it was a "camp".

[fabianfred]

Well that seems less acceptable. More like Ben has arranged for the people to stay at the temple and you give them your version of how things are. And everyone lines their pockets in some way.

I can tell you now that nobody gets to line their pockets by this...all of us involved are of good heart and not trying to rip anyone off,,

"I give them my version of how things are..." considering you do not know me or anything about my knowledge or practise of the dhamma... a bit of an assumtion

I have been to the Wat Rampoeng meditation retreats many times....and they get quite a few foreign students through there. I have often had them say to me how they were disappointed that there was no basic introduction to buddhism or dhamma talks etc. there ...except in Thai. I admire how many have gone straight into an intensive meditation retreat without any prior knowledge...and often enjoyed it and got some good benefits (looking back on it). I was also a meditator, so I was not in the position to be able to teach them anything since chatting is to be avoided.

Now I have the chance to give a basic introduction to the Dhamma and meditation to those who want to get it whilst living in a Buddhist community.

We recently had a man who has been a Tibetan Buddhist for eleven years, and even before he chose to ordain as a novice for a couple of weeks, he followed the temple novices on morning alms-round, and said that he had been very moved with the feeling that this was similar to the Buddhas time....the quiet tread of bare feet....moving mindfully through the misty dawn streets.....villagers calling to them to come and receive alms food....the hum of the chants to congratulate them on their merituous act.

When i was ordained as a monk for a short time several years ago, the Bindabhat was my favourite time...

The vistors first keep the five precepts, then move up to the eight precepts and their more serious commitment....finally taking the ten precepts for a while...and getting yet another aspect by being a part of the sangha and actually being on the receiving end of the alms-round..... for all who have done it, a very humbling experience.....

[marieke]

Question: How would you know the motivations of people going there and how can you judge who has the right spiritual angle???

The problem I see is not in the money -- but that people are stuffed into this temple that have neither an idea about meditation nor Buddhism and might be distancing themselves from practice because they have not approaching it from the right (eg spiritual) angle themselves.

Edited May 4, 2009 by marieke

[khaojao]

if one cannot afford the fee, will they still be allowed in?

[harrry]

Well that seems less acceptable. More like Ben has arranged for the people to stay at the temple and you give them your version of how things are. And everyone lines their pockets in some way.

I can tell you now that nobody gets to line their pockets by this...all of us involved are of good heart and not trying to rip anyone off,,

"I give them my version of how things are..." considering you do not know me or anything about my knowledge or practise of the dhamma... a bit of an assumtion

I have been to the Wat Rampoeng meditation retreats many times....and they get quite a few foreign students through there. I have often had them say to me how they were disappointed that there was no basic introduction to buddhism or dhamma talks etc. there ...except in Thai. I admire how many have gone straight into an intensive meditation retreat without any prior knowledge...and often enjoyed it and got some good benefits (looking back on it). I was also a meditator, so I was not in the position to be able to teach them anything since chatting is to be avoided.

Now I have the chance to give a basic introduction to the Dhamma and meditation to those who want to get it whilst living in a Buddhist community.

We recently had a man who has been a Tibetan Buddhist for eleven years, and even before he chose to ordain as a novice for a couple of weeks, he followed the temple novices on morning alms-round, and said that he had been very moved with the feeling that this was similar to the Buddhas time....the quiet tread of bare feet....moving mindfully through the misty dawn streets.....villagers calling to them to come and receive alms food....the hum of the chants to congratulate them on their merituous act.

When i was ordained as a monk for a short time several years ago, the Bindabhat was my favourite time...

The vistors first keep the five precepts, then move up to the eight precepts and their more serious commitment....finally taking the ten precepts for a while...and getting yet another aspect by being a part of the sangha and actually being on the receiving end of the alms-round..... for all who have done it, a very humbling experience.....

In your case even though I do not know you I know you have sincere and strong belief which you have refined overan extended period of time. I also know that at the meditation retreat I attended many years ago in Nakorn SriTamarat I found the farang who provided us guidance during the 15 minute session each day to be of great help.

I even accept that Ben may have good motives and wish to do good works with his foundation but I can compare that of many Christian aid organisations who use some of the money for the donated aims and the rest for their objective of spreading their beliefs. This is especially so in that there was mention of possibly faciliting the same way in other religions.

If someone goes to be a novice in a temple the normal way is to instructed by the monks. Interpreting may be of help here but there is a difference between someone giving courses outside a monestry and somone doing the same inside.

In your case I agree that the difference may be small but there is huge potential here for abuse.

I am not in any way doubting your sincerity and the wisdom gained through your long period of study.

And I agree I have not met you, at least in person, but I sincerely hope that at some stage in the future I do.

[fabianfred]

It might be contentious ...but here is a thought....

Judging from what can often be seen around the streets of Thailand....if you want advice on which mobile phone is good...ask a monk...they spend a lot of time in those shops..... and if you want to know which computer game is fun...ask a novice..... if you want to know the Dhamma...ask a layman....

My first teacher...Luang Por Jaran was originally only going to ordain for a single 'Pansa' when he was twenty...to please his mother. He used to hate monks,because he had met many examples of bad monks and one had tried to take his life. The Thai have a saying...'kliad khii...khii taam' meaning if you hate shit it will follow you around..... so that is why he said later on that he was to be ordained for the rest of his life. He became Abbot of Wat Amphawan in 2500. It is getting even more difficult to find good monks ....fifty years on.

Do not assume that a monk will be able to teach any better than a layperson.

My second teacher, Supawan Green, is a Thai housewife, and many of her followers consider she is an Arahant.

Edited May 4, 2009 by fabianfred

[camerata]

The wider subject of whether the dhamma should be "free" or not always seems to be a hot one in web forums. When Ajahn Brahm speaks around Australia there is always someone moaning about how they had to pay an entrance fee. Or why his published book costs money in a shop. The thing is someone has to pay for the venue (if it isn't a temple) and it isn't realistic to expect the tiny Australian Sangha to pay for all those venues.

In Thailand, Ajahn Brahm's talks for a general audience (at AUA) are always free, and copies of the books are free, although there is a donation box. I don't know if he has sponsors, but it doesn't exactly seem fair to expect the donations of poor Thais to support talks given to a well-off audience of mostly non-Buddhists.

I think the "free" applies to a situation like in the Buddha's time. Either you were fortunate and the Buddha passed by your village and stopped to give a talk, or you travelled miles to hear him give a sermon in the forest. Any expense was your own. If you want an air-conditioned hall, a translator, or anything else extra, expect to pay something for it.

[harrry]

The wider subject of whether the dhamma should be "free"

I did no question fees for a translator

I did not question a contribution for food

I so question the use of funds for other purposes (The Blod Fondation ) although I know it does good works exept as a seperate voluntary donation.,

I would not expect the Wat to provide my transport expenses there.

[sabaijai]

Perhaps a breakdown of where the $700 goes would be helpful. How much for Ben Bowler, how much for the abbot, how much on robes, etc. Is The Blood Foundation a registered NGO in Thailand?

Also, in the FAQ I notice it says the program runs two weeks, so I'm a bit confused about the 'month' part of the program title.

[fabianfred]

Those interested are referred to the web site

http://www.monkforamonth.com/

monkforamonth was the catchy title thought up by Ben.... and four weeks is the maximum we have had applicants stay. More often are those who choose to stay for a week or two, and we have had some for just two or three days. All receive the same teaching...although the short ones miss out on some. The main teaching is designed to take a week at about two hours per day, after which the participants will spend most of their time practising the meditation and studying books in the library etc.....

there being a rather continual flow of newcomers and only one teacher.

[camerata]

FHM Magazine's November edition (I read it at the hairdresser's!) had an article by a writer who did the "Monk for a Month." Publications like FHM tend to write in a rather cynical style, but I remember the author saying it was like a "holiday camp for backpackers" and his fellow attendees were the main irritation.

He said since the Buddha hadn't forbidden them, the monastic rules allowed "cigarettes, MP3 players, mobiles phones and, in my case, a cleavage-busting photo of Angelina Jolie on the wall." His instructor asked him if he'd had his rabies shots. He soon found out why - attack by the village dogs on alms round.

Overall, he seemed to be impressed by the piety and devotion of the villagers, although one of the other attendees complained when he felt someone didn't show him the proper respect. Basically, the author thought the other attendees were just there "for the experience."

[fabianfred]

Monk4aMonth is now FREE.....

Teaching and accomodation are free.....food, washing, transport to and fro, visits, etc. are up to the guest.

There is a resturant in the temple for novices on school days and meals can be purchased there...or several resturants outside...or a Tesco/Lotus in town to buy snacks, cereals, vegetarian stuff etc.

Make your own way to and from the temple by transport....advice given as to types and costs.

The option to take the eight precepts or for men to ordain as novice monks for a short time is still available.

Trips to projects, cave temples or hill-tribe villages etc. can be arranged, costs paid for by guests.

:jap:

[rockyysdt]

Monk4aMonth is now FREE.....

Teaching and accomodation are free.....food, washing, transport to and fro, visits, etc. are up to the guest.

There is a resturant in the temple for novices on school days and meals can be purchased there...or several resturants outside...or a Tesco/Lotus in town to buy snacks, cereals, vegetarian stuff etc.

Make your own way to and from the temple by transport....advice given as to types and costs.

The option to take the eight precepts or for men to ordain as novice monks for a short time is still available.

Trips to projects, cave temples or hill-tribe villages etc. can be arranged, costs paid for by guests.

:jap:

Hi Fred.

I liked the strict regimen provided at Watt Suan Mokkh.

Everyone was required to observe silence even during free time & no one needed to leave the grounds of the retreat.

All food was provided and everyone would recite a reflection confirming that eating was purely to sustain life & not indulged for pleasure or fattening.

Is it possible the casual access to commercial premises outside Monk4aMonth could destabilize the atmosphere & fuel ego?

[Xangsamhua]

... at Watt Suan Mokkh.

All food was provided and everyone would recite a reflection confirming that eating was purely to sustain life & not indulged for pleasure or fattening.

[sabaijai]

That's good to hear, fabianfred. Re the comparative strictness, that varies so much from wat to wat anyway. I imagine anyone serious about intensive meditation will do some research and find about about Suanmokh and other places.

I was wondering who pays for the robes, etc, since presumably the foreigners' families won't be around to pay.

I'll be in Chiang Rai from the 26th through the 29th. Maybe I could stop by the wat if I have time.