Monks Providing Counseling

[thaijasmine]

I have a question for those TV who are ardent pupils of Buddhism

and are familiar with customs regarding the religion.

I have a personal problem concerning another person who is happens be one of the most

devout followers of Buddhism have ever met in Thailand. I understand that if one needs to

try counseling, that sometimes people may consult with a Monk in the Temple ?

That particular Monk may then try to counsel the other person.

If this is the case I think you would be very beneficial because this person has

tremendous respect for Monks ( obviously ) as I do also and would listen to him.

Would anyone happen to know if my understanding is correct?

Unfortunately my ability to speak Thai is very limited therefore my first problem

would be the need to find an English-speaking Monk. If I can manage to find

an English-speaking Monk would I simply provide a gift of money in an envelope

at the beginning of the discussion, or after the discussion or when?

Any assistance or advice you can give me would be greatly appreciated

[mauGR1]

There are many guys in this Forum who are more qualified than me to give you an advice,anyway,what i would do is to go to the temple with a English-speaking Thai friend,bring an offer for the Temple,sit down quietly,burn some incense stick and talk with the Monk who's receiving the people(and the offerings).

Some Monk can speak English,but once you are at the Temple,it will be easy to find out if there is one who can answer your questions.

A visit to the local Temple is worth anyway,the atmosphere is relaxing,and it makes easy to look things in the right perspective.

Good Luck

[Brucenkhamen]

I have a question for those TV who are ardent pupils of Buddhism

and are familiar with customs regarding the religion.

I have a personal problem concerning another person who is happens be one of the most

devout followers of Buddhism have ever met in Thailand. I understand that if one needs to

try counseling, that sometimes people may consult with a Monk in the Temple ?

That particular Monk may then try to counsel the other person.

If this is the case I think you would be very beneficial because this person has

tremendous respect for Monks ( obviously ) as I do also and would listen to him.

Would anyone happen to know if my understanding is correct?

Unfortunately my ability to speak Thai is very limited therefore my first problem

would be the need to find an English-speaking Monk. If I can manage to find

an English-speaking Monk would I simply provide a gift of money in an envelope

at the beginning of the discussion, or after the discussion or when?

Any assistance or advice you can give me would be greatly appreciated

I'm not sure monk do a lot of counselling, at least not in the way we have in the west, unless you are lucky to find a monk who understands westerners you are likely to just get a bit of comforting and encouragement.

If you do it then don't take money, if he accepts money then hes not a very good monk.

Reading between the lines I guess you are wanting to understand why this buddhist friend does what he does. You could try discussing the problem here, there are people whuo understand both thais and buddhism quite well and may be able to give you advice.

[thaijasmine]

There are many guys in this Forum who are more qualified than me to give you an advice,anyway,what i would do is to go to the temple with a English-speaking Thai friend,bring an offer for the Temple,sit down quietly,burn some incense stick and talk with the Monk who's receiving the people(and the offerings).

Some Monk can speak English,but once you are at the Temple,it will be easy to find out if there is one who can answer your questions.

A visit to the local Temple is worth anyway,the atmosphere is relaxing,and it makes easy to look things in the right perspective.

Good Luck

Actually since posting on this thread , I have established there are Monks who undertake these

activities. Thanks for your suggestion though.

[thaijasmine]

I'm not sure monk do a lot of counselling, at least not in the way we have in the west, unless you are lucky to find a monk who understands westerners you are likely to just get a bit of comforting and encouragement.

If you do it then don't take money, if he accepts money then hes not a very good monk.

Reading between the lines I guess you are wanting to understand why this buddhist friend does what he does. You could try discussing the problem here, there are people whuo understand both thais and buddhism quite well and may be able to give you advice.

Monks do carry out these duties - i found out last night.

And i dont see the point of discussing this matter on a public forum

because its only a Thai person that would be able to

comment on this issue.

Edited August 1, 2009 by thaijasmine

[phetaroi]

I'm not sure monk do a lot of counselling, at least not in the way we have in the west, unless you are lucky to find a monk who understands westerners you are likely to just get a bit of comforting and encouragement.

If you do it then don't take money, if he accepts money then hes not a very good monk.

Reading between the lines I guess you are wanting to understand why this buddhist friend does what he does. You could try discussing the problem here, there are people whuo understand both thais and buddhism quite well and may be able to give you advice.

Monks do carry out these duties - i found out last night.

And i dont see the point of discussing this matter on a public forum

because its only a Thai person that would be able to

comment on this issue.

My dear, you brought the topic up. Now let others discuss the issue. Of course, you have the right to continue to participate or withdraw from the discussion.

[thaijasmine]

I'm not sure monk do a lot of counselling, at least not in the way we have in the west, unless you are lucky to find a monk who understands westerners you are likely to just get a bit of comforting and encouragement.

If you do it then don't take money, if he accepts money then hes not a very good monk.

Reading between the lines I guess you are wanting to understand why this buddhist friend does what he does. You could try discussing the problem here, there are people whuo understand both thais and buddhism quite well and may be able to give you advice.

Monks do carry out these duties - i found out last night.

And i dont see the point of discussing this matter on a public forum

because its only a Thai person that would be able to

comment on this issue.

My dear, you brought the topic up. Now let others discuss the issue. Of course, you have the right to continue to participate or withdraw from the discussion.

With the greatest respect phetaroi, the question in my original post was directed specifically to whether

Monks provide counseling services in Thailand. There was no suggestion whatsoever that I was interested

or prepared to discuss the actual subject matter of the problem in a public forum the way Brucenkhamen

invited me to do when he said I could " try discussing the problem here ".

When you say " Now let others discuss the issue " -yes please do if you can but remember I am

only seeking your advice regarding the correct procedure and whereabouts of Thai Monks that

could possibly assist me in this regard. I never had any intention of going beyond this.

Thank you

[phetaroi]

With the greatest respect phetaroi, the question in my original post was directed specifically to whether

Monks provide counseling services in Thailand. There was no suggestion whatsoever that I was interested

or prepared to discuss the actual subject matter of the problem in a public forum the way Brucenkhamen

invited me to do when he said I could " try discussing the problem here ".

When you say " Now let others discuss the issue " -yes please do if you can but remember I am

only seeking your advice regarding the correct procedure and whereabouts of Thai Monks that

could possibly assist me in this regard. I never had any intention of going beyond this.

Thank you

We are in complete agreement. While I hope you solve your problem (let's all be as happy as possible), I have no interest in your specific problem. I am interested in the topic of whether or not monks do counseling. It is a discussion I have had a couple of times, and I have walked away never quite finding an answer.

This issue is part of a bigger issue, at least to me. What exactly are Buddhist temples for? I visited four today...all off the beaten path...not a tourist to be seen. In fact, not a lay person to be seen. Not a monk to be seen. Not a wiharn or obosot open midday on a Saturday. In two of the four temples, the entire ubosot area (not just the building itself) were totally locked up. To me there is something wrong with this picture.

I contrast it with other temples I visit (also off the beaten path) that are open with monks available to general public. Wiharns open. Ubosots open. A very community atmosphere.

[Brucenkhamen]

This issue is part of a bigger issue, at least to me. What exactly are Buddhist temples for? I visited four today...all off the beaten path...not a tourist to be seen. In fact, not a lay person to be seen. Not a monk to be seen. Not a wiharn or obosot open midday on a Saturday. In two of the four temples, the entire ubosot area (not just the building itself) were totally locked up. To me there is something wrong with this picture.

I contrast it with other temples I visit (also off the beaten path) that are open with monks available to general public. Wiharns open. Ubosots open. A very community atmosphere.

It might be correct to expect a Wat Baan (village wat) to be a community centre you can drop in on any time, but a Way Pah (forest wat) is primarily a place for monks to practice.

If you want to speak to monks at a Wat Pah the best time is to drop by about meal time (around 8am), often some of the monks make themselves available to receive visitors after that.

[phetaroi]

It might be correct to expect a Wat Baan (village wat) to be a community centre you can drop in on any time, but a Way Pah (forest wat) is primarily a place for monks to practice.

If you want to speak to monks at a Wat Pah the best time is to drop by about meal time (around 8am), often some of the monks make themselves available to receive visitors after that.

Yes, I agree with you on that.

[christhenation]

Monks do carry out these duties - i found out last night.

And i dont see the point of discussing this matter on a public forum

because its only a Thai person that would be able to

comment on this issue.

Can you tell me where and how you go about utilizing them. I'm assuming they conduct this service in English.

[honu]

It's been my experience that different temples and different monks interpret what monks do differently (with some high-profile criminal cases in the news attesting to that). To site what one or several monks do as evidence of what Thai monks generally do isn't sound logic. I ordained once for two months and stayed at two temples and studied at a third so I'll share some background, but of course that's still fairly limited exposure.

I personally have recieved astrological advice from a monk (oddly accurate; typically I don't buy into that kind of thing, but apparently that's one thing that happens). My experience is that monks generally get to know the people that support or at least regularly visit their temple and of course those monks are happy to provide ritual services or offer advice to them (but of course rituals are a different subject). It almost goes without saying that a monk would be open to discussing Buddhism but that's not a role most of them regularly fulfill. Certain monks usually voluntarily prepare for additional learning and teaching activities, usually for the benefit of other younger monks or temporary monks (common in Thailand, with varying limitations) but depending on the role of the temple itself one or monks could possibly be "assigned" to the task for outsiders. I have no experience of a monk filling any formal role as a counselor, as Christian ministers sometimes do, but that doesn't indicate to me it doesn't happen; seems likely it would.

To back up a bit: monks have "jobs", roles they fulfill in the temple, whether administrative or ceremonial or otherwise. It's not as if they have job descriptions, though, so those roles don't need to be as simple and limited as in a corporation. Since temples don't have as rigid or consistent a structure as a corporation they can run things differently, so not all monks need to have "jobs", by my understanding is that most probably still do.

[Samuian]

yes they do - they're sheer presence is for some people already what we understand as "counseling"!

Edited November 3, 2009 by Samuian