Today it was Tan M., Tan T. and myself on Non Suan for the alms round. They walked so fast it was hard to catch up and they never looked back. It was an act of sheer folly to try and catch up during all parts of the walk. The only way to do it was to simply lag a little behind on the painful parts and then speed up as much as possible on the nicer roads.

Not much happened in the afternoon and hopefully a sign that I’m finally getting into it. I took a nap and then read some books that I took out of the library. Today I changed the water in the moat surrounding the bowl drying shed because it needs to be done every few days to prevent mosquitoes from laying their eggs. There were still a million mosquitoes there anyway though.

It happened again. The big tukkae got inside somehow. I’m lost. The towel was there beneath the door and it didn’t look moved. The big hole in the wall was blocked too. Maybe it’s finally time to check out kuti 33 because it’s a concrete one so lizards won’t be a problem. However I’m sure that there will be other problems to complain about like insects. There’s no harm in checking anyway.

The alms round route has changed again since patimokkha has passed. I got Non Suan again, which was fine. It would’ve been nice to try a different route but anything was better than the Station route. It was led by Tan M. who recently came to stay with us. He’s the fastest walker I’ve had the luck of catching up to so far. Luckily Tan B. was the one directly behind him and since he wasn’t that quick, the spacing between all the monks didn’t look too awkward.

The new chore of cleaning the bowl drying shed is more of a pain than I thought, but I really should have expected it. It’s the congregation point for all the monastics so you don’t know when people will turn up so you have to make the best effort of cleaning. Also Tan M. can be such a micro-manager at times but I do understand why he is the way he is. I’m guessing the chore will only last for 2 weeks until they are rotated again.

At the very end of Sangha Tea, Tan Ajahn Kevali showed us photos of his trip to Myanma, the temples in Shwedagon and the rock at Kyaiktiyo Pagoda overlooking a beautiful valley. Himself and a small retinue of monks and laypeople had gone on a visit and they spent some time in meditation in various places. Then Ajahn R. points out a photo in another album which led to the “special moments” album and it showed photos from the old days of when they had just been ordained and there were many of Ajahn Jayasaro as well. It was like going back in time to see the beginning of their journey, and humbling to know that everyone has their own start on the path.

Today is Wan Phra so the schedule will be longer than usual. Thanks to Tan T. for reminding me to take my outer robe to the meal because it will be required for the Dhamma talk. But before that the alms round was brutal. I thought Tan M. was being compassionate yesterday for his gentle pace. I take it all back. He was much much faster today and it took a lot of effort to keep up. At the end we also went through the car park as well which was excruciatingly painful. My robes were falling to pieces and half fell off at the very end. I think I will go back to the one layer tomorrow if I am to have any chance of keeping up with Tan M. again.

My chores have also been changed so now I am responsible for cleaning the bowl drying shed. It is the point of congregation for monks and used for all sorts of purposes so it’s a big job. He gave me a massive list of things to do which I had to jot down to remember, but all in all it didn’t seem so bad. The more involved tasks only need to be done every few days otherwise it’s mostly sweeping, mopping and filling up kettles.

Tan Ajahn Kevali came back from Burma today and gave a Dhamma talk in the evening about his experiences there. I admire his ability to talk like that for that long because it’s all ad lib. It feels like he’s just having a casual yet profound chat with you with the dhamma peppered throughout. I stayed until the end but still not ready for the all nighter yet.

I finally managed to get rid of the last baby tukkae from my kuti. Hopefully that will be the end of them inside. The house geckos scurry away much more readily.

Tan M. got to lead the alms round instead of me. Nen P. was out sick so it was him, me and Nen G. It wasn’t all bad in the end as he was reasonable with his path selection and pacing and took the path of least pain where possible.

The day before Wan Phra and patimokkha was also shave day so this time I asked Tan A. Last time I asked Tan S. so I didn’t want to bother him again. Tan A. was good as well. His hands did not appear as still and gentle as Tan S. but there was no bleeding in the end so just as well. Watching the newer novices do it, I don’t think I want to risk trying it as I won’t many chances to practice. These monks have been doing it for years so it was no surprise that they made wet shaving their own heads and eyebrows look effortless.

I think I found the gap in the wall back at the kuti which was letting in the tukkae. I’ve sealed it now with some small candles I found stacked on top of each other so let’s see if it will do the job.

At Sangha Tea, Ajahn R. read at length from the teachings of Ajahn Chah. There was only one tukkae back at the kuti today, but maybe it’s because I went back early and they had not come out to play yet. The babies were no where to be found but I’m mindful that they can easily get inside.

The alms round was painful, but not as painful as yesterday. I took the liberty to carve my own path that avoided the more painful bits in the road. I’m not sure if one should do that. I also never bothered to think that along a road there were actually a multitude of paths that one’s feet could take. The sad thing was Ajahn K. left today to go back to Chiang Mai, which was a shame since I wanted to talk to him a little more. He was a really interesting character and was encouraging in getting ordained. I hope I can lead the alms round tomorrow though so we can go at a slower pace.

I spent the day following Ajahn R. to two monasteries. He asked if anyone wanted to go after ovata and I thought that it would be a good opportunity to visit other forest monasteries as the only one I know is WPN. Tan C. also came along as well.

The first one we visited was Wat Pah Bun Lom (วัดป่าบุญล้อม) which was about an hour away. It was right by the river so we went for a short boat ride with a monk on a small boat. He was a Brit who came from somewhere near Portsmouth and used to be at WPN. He showed us his kuti which used to be for a thera so it had electricity, lights, fans, the whole lot. It was a small monastery with only 5 monks so it was peaceful compared to the hustle and bustle of WPN. They take that small boat across the river to their alms round and the walk was only 15 minutes. For evening and morning chanting they had a roofed floating platform so it would never be flooded.

The second one was Wat Don That (วัดดอนธาตุ) which was a monastery right in the middle of a river which you could only get to by boat. It was a monastery of Luang Pu Sao and we got to see his relics and learn a little about how the forest monks lived back then. He was an important figure in the Thai Forest tradition and the teacher of the Luang Pu Mun. We didn’t meet any monks there.

At night the thing I dreaded most finally happened. The tukkae finally got in my room. I have no idea how it got there as I was pretty sure the roof is tight. I suspect it may be under the front door so I will try to use a towel to block it in the morning. I managed to nudge it with a broom all the way around and out. It didn’t like being pushed at all and often made a yapping sound and tried to bite the broom. I may consider moving to a concrete kuti for the next month.