News & Musings

June began for me with a very busy weekend. On Saturday, June 1st we had the second of this year’s quarterly Angulimala workshops for Buddhist prison chaplains. This particular one was rather special because our guest for the afternoon was Nick Hardwick CBE, HMI Chief Inspector of Prisons. We have been fortunate in the past to have had the three previous Chief Inspectors, Judge Stephen Tumim, Sir David (now Lord) Ramsbotham and Dame Anne Owers come here to speak at our workshops and I was pleased that we were able to continue the tradition with the latest holder of the post. I must say that Nick Hardwick was very generous with his time and gave us a very enjoyable, useful and inspiring afternoon. These workshops are long days for me because not only is there the preparation but then the meetings run from 10 o’clock in the morning right through until 7 or 8 in the evening. So you can imagine I might prefer to take it easy the day after but that’s not always possible and on June 2n...

The big event in February was Magha Puja which we celebrated on Sunday, the 24th. It was an impressive turnout that included a lot of Thai students from Warwick Uni and we were especially honoured by the presence of the Thai Ambassador with his wife and son. It was also a special occasion because just a few days before Ajahn Manapo had returned from sixteen months in Thailand and so it was a day too to warmly welcome him back. The photo includes the Ambassador and his wife with Ajahn Manapo in the background.

At Amaravati’s Royal Kathina. A Kathina is the ceremony that may take place where suitable conditions are in place during the month that follows the Vassa and involves the presentation of robe cloth or a robe to the Sangha that then offers the robe sewn from the cloth or the robe to one deserving monk. A Royal Kathina is when the robe is offered by a monarch. This year in England a Royal Kathina was offered by His Majesty the King of Thailand in Devon on Sunday, November 18th and another a week later at Amaravati. During each ceremony a blessing is recited for the King and that is supposed to be done by a monk with the rank and title of a Chao Khun, which is why I was invited to both occasions. I had never before been to Hartridge Monastery, often referred to as the Devon Vihara, and so after the ceremony which was held in a local village hall I was pleased to spend an enjoyable hour there as well. Both occasions were well attended and raised impressive amounts of money, at Hartrid...

Magha Puja celebrates an occasion in the Buddha's time when on the Full Moon of the ancient lunar month of Magha there was a huge spontaneous gathering of monks who the Buddha himself had personally ordained. There were one thousand, two hundred and fifty of them and all of them were Arahants. They gathered in Wat Veluvana, the Bamboo Grove, which had been offered by King Bimbisara as the first Buddhist monastery. Above the Bamboo Grove, the Buddha was staying on the Vulture's Peak. He came down to Veluvana and sat with these monks who had assembled to see him and recited for them the Ovada Patimokkha, which contains the memorable verse, ' Avoid all evil, cultivate the good and purify your mind. This is the teaching of the Buddhas.' And then said that the Ovada Patimokkha should be recited whenever the Sangha is gathered on the full and new moons. Later that gave way to the fortnightly recitation of the Patimokkha rules. Magha Puja this year falls on Monday, February 9t...

Yes, we returned safely on Sunday just in time for the snow. It was falling as we left Heathrow but none up here until the following morning. It's nice not to have missed it but a bit of a contrast to Phuket! All good Dhamma though. Things come and they go and you never quite know what's around the corner. There are some nice pictures of our time in Thailand  here if you're interested.

We came out in time to be at Wat Pah Pong for the Ajahn ChahMemorial Day on the 16th. After that we stayed on at Wat Pah Nanachat for a few days and visited a few friends and favourite places. Then we moved down to Wat Ratanavan near Kow Yai for a couple of days, then it was back to Bangkok. On Sunday we went out to Ajahn Jundee’s wat at Chonburi for Patimokkha and on Monday most of the day I spent at a very smart hospital for a check-up. Then Tuesday we came to Sri Panwa on Phuket. I’ve posted some pictures here .

All good things come to an end and so did our short stay at Sri Panwa. With so little to do and only the simplest and most basic of decisions to be made our time there passed at nothing like the snail’s pace you might have imagined. It was soon over, our few things were packed and the tuk tuk to take us to the car was at the door. Then it was the ride to the airport, the flight and the drive through Bangkok’s legendary traffic to the kuti at Khun Jung’s for our last night. Again there were visitors, that evening and the next morning. In the afternoon of our last day we drove over to Wat Sraket to pay our respects to Somdet Keo, then went to get me measured for a new pair of glasses before calling on Sulak Sivaraksa for tea. Sulak is described on the cover flap of his autobiography as a prominent and outspoken Thai Buddhist social critic and activist who throughout his tumultuous life has endured death threats, exile and gruelling legal ordeals - and somehow has thrived. Of cou...