Today was the first day of going back to normal scheduling again without the marathon meditation sessions in the afternoon. There was a request for a retinue of monks from WPN to go to another temple to perform some chanting rites for a stone. I think it’s a ceremony where a lot of monks are required and there will be loads of monks from other monasteries too. The abbot asked but I kindly declined since I felt I needed to get used to the routine here first.

This was also robe washing day. The monks would gather at the dye shed to wash their robes with boiling water and jackfruit wood dye. Standard detergent would wash out the dye and since all the monks here dyed their own robes using the dye from jackfruit wood. It was interesting to see how it was done but I just used normal detergent since I had robes with artificial dye. Washing the large robes by hand was not trivial.

I did the usual sweeping around the kuti as the schedule was returning somewhat to normality, but did get very tired and had to take a nap after midday. I met Tan M. who is one of the two majjhima even though he looks really young. Turns out he’s from Laos and like all the monks here he’s a really nice guy. I told him of my irrational fear of tukkae and he suggested some chants to comfort myself.

After Wan Phra the Nam Pana becomes Sangha Tea so we went to the tearoom where the abbot joined to share some of his wisdom with us. Then he had to leave with a group of monks from WPN to go perform the rite for the establishment of a new bot at another monastery.

I decided to forego the sauna once more as I thought it would not be good as the temperature was rather warm outside. Instead I went to the library as it’s open all night after Wan Phra and read some more of Stillness Flowing. It’s Ajahn Jaya’s biography of Ajahn Chah and a truly fascinating book. There were a lot of good books in there and it will be a good place to spend some time.

I was so knackered that I left at 7:30pm and did the evening chanting myself. Then I chanted the 2 chants that Tan M. suggested by the candlelight to save some torch battery and went to bed.

majjhima Middle; appropriate; just right. Also used to refer to a monk of five to ten years’ standing.

I foolishly decided to ignore Ajahn R.’s advice and wear the double layered robe at the alms round. As expected, I failed spectacularly as the inside robe started coming loose about half-way through the walk. Luckily I had gotten used to everything else during the alms round like keeping the bowl steady and secure so it was somehow manageable. This was really the worst day to do it on as it was Magha Puja. There were a lot more people than usual so the robe got really loose each time I had to empty the bowl. On days like these the monks must wear the shoulder cloth to listen to the abbot give a talk before the meal so I must remember to bring it next time. Thankfully Nen P. reminded me as I was there early but didn’t have it.

There was no ovata and there was more food than usual as it was a special day. Even fried chicken was offered, which I could not resist. The rest of the day was the same as before with the meditation marathon. I was 15 minutes late as I took a longer than usual nap but I felt refreshed during the sitting meditation. Walking meditation was better too.

There’s patimokkha today but since I’m a visiting monk, I was not allowed to attend. There’s a rule saying that only monks who had ordained following the same practice can be present for the event in that monastery. Since I ordained following at another monastery under a different tradition, I could not attend. Instead I waited in the kuti writing this by the candle light hoping the tukkaes don’t somehow find their way in.

The patimokkha was held in the bot which is the ceremonial hall. It’s got a rather modern design compared to other buildings and houses important relics. While the patimokkha was going on, visiting or “external” monks were not allowed within a 100m radius of the building.

Since it was patimokkha and Magha Puja there were special events for the lay people as well. The monks did a lot of chanting which I had absolutely no idea about but the worst was to follow. All the monastics and laypeople would walk around the area of the sala and the bot in a long line three times bare foot. Half of the path were pebbles which were really painful to walk on. It’s a different kind of pain compared to walking on the road as the pebbles were much larger. During the whole thing we also had to hold up candles and incense sticks which were constantly blowing smoke in our eyes.

The whole thing ended at around 10pm and would be followed by a 2 hour dhamma talk given by the abbot followed by an all nighter which always follows a Wan Phra. Tan A. kindly told me before the talk that it wasn’t compulsory and it could go on for a while. I was absolutely knackered so I decided to leave even before the talk started and straight to bed.

pāṭimokkha The basic code of monastic discipline which is recited fortnightly in the Pāli language, consisting of 227 rules for monks (bhikkhus) and 311 for nuns (bhikkhunīs)

The alms round has improved and getting less painful but afterwards on inspection I now have the biggest blister I have ever seen on my left heel. Tomorrow I think I will try to go back to wearing the dual layer robes for the alms round. Straight after the alms round when the monks reach the sala, they help each other fold their large outer robes back into the shoulder cloth again since they no longer need to wear it as a robe. I felt that I should have also been taking part but wasn’t because I couldn’t manage what everyone else was doing.

After ovata I saw my parents for the last time in a while since they were leaving today. They gave me some of this green powder sachets to dissolve in water which will apparently help with the number two. They also gave me a eucalyptus spray to spray the room with which should keep the mosquitoes away. To be honest mosquitoes haven’t been a problem at all and it was the cold that was keeping me up at night (and most likely keeping the mosquitoes away too). I just hope that the spray won’t attract anything else. Also G. gave me an umbrella type thing known as a glot with nets attached to the edges. It’s a makeshift tent essentially for monks out in the wild. It’s so bulky to use and not really needed at the moment so I think I will leave it for now.

The meditation marathon was getting better. I managed to sit almost one and a half hours and went to sweep storage room 2 in between the sittings since I failed to do it during the allotted time. I took a nap instead since I was so tired. After the meditation we listened to some recordings of Ajahn Chah’s dhamma talk from years past in the sala. That evening I decided to try the shower block in the middle of the woods. It was a lot more powerful than the one by the bowl drying shed somehow.

Alms round was painful as usual but at least I’m getting used to the route. Kicked the road once and the final 10% was always a struggle. My parents came and offered food in front of WPN and dropped a wooden spoon in my bowl. All the other monks eat with their hands at WPN but I was seriously struggling to eat as quickly unless it was sticky rice. Also it was frowned upon to make a loud noise during the meal, which was easily done with a metal spoon banging against the bowl (hence the eating with hands in the first place). It’s easy to take such a simple thing for granted in the outside world but a simple change like this had such an outsized impact. I could eat normally again!

I saw my parents again after the meal albeit only briefly this time as they had already seen everything. I think ideally they should only come once more at the beginning of March (assuming I stay for 2 months) and then again 1st April when I disrobe and then maybe we spend a couple more days in Ubon. I would like to come back and make a few offerings myself as a layperson to the monks here.

In the afternoon I had some time to clean up and swept the kuti and the path leading up to it. There wasn’t much time for a nap before the marathon meditation session at 1:30pm. I was suppose to change the rotation but I went with the same 1 hour each sitting/walking/sitting. I didn’t know that they had sitting pillows that you could use and it helped immensely to lower the tension in the knees.

On returning in the evening to my kuti, there were now 2 tukkaes stuck to the outside. They have been strangely quiet. I hope they aren’t creating a nest under the roof or something. A friend who was also a monk here temporarily told me that you have to talk to it to make peace with it. At the time I thought it was a bit of a crazy advice but now I understood. What else are you suppose to do, other than to accept living with a foot-long gecko slithering around (which I have yet to accept)? So I simply asked it to please stay outside at least, that much I could take and went to bed.

Most of the alms round was not too painful now and I was able to keep up with Tan C. but the last part on the dirt road and gravel was still unbearable. Tan S. the American monk helped me with a safety pin on my top to prevent my nipples from being exposed. According to the rules you cannot reveal your knees, belly button and nipples as it’s deemed indecent.

During Ovata I recognised familiar faces. My parents turned up a day earlier because my mum was so worried about the conditions. They brought lots of goodies in a monk sweater top, a blanket and a bigger torch. I wasn’t sure if this was allowed for monks but I guess I was given some leeway since I’m only here temporarily. Their inevitable casual bickering was a stark reminder that I had been in a blissful sanctuary. I suddenly realised that I have yet to witness any arguments or temperamental monks.

That realisation stuck with me constantly during meditation. For the next 4 days there will be a 3 hour meditation session from 1:30pm to 4:30pm. I struggled to sit for so long as my left knee was flaring up again. At Ban Por the walking meditation was done around a field but here it’s done back and forth along dedicated pathways, which took some getting used to. To start off with, I tried to do a sitting/walking/siting rotation (1 hour each) for the meditation but my knee still couldn’t manage. Tomorrow I’m going to try to do 4 sets for 45 minutes each instead to see if that will help.

My parents finally got to see the kuti that I was staying in. This was a special privilege for parents of monks practising at WPN. I wasn’t exactly sure how they felt about it but at least they’ve now seen it with their own eyes. I think my mum felt some relief as she assumed that the floor was next to the ground which would have attracted quite a number of things.

After they left I went back to the kuti to do some cleaning up before taking a quick nap. I think tomorrow I will just shower with the bucket under my kuti since there’s a tap provided there. Somehow the tukkae got inside the kuti and was sitting on the mosquito netting panel. I had to get a broom to push it outside the window and they’re much harder to scare off compared to standard house geckos. I guess I should be surprised that it took 5 days for it to finally get in.