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Saturday 5th November
20 YEARS A THAI BUDDHIST MONK
reflections and pad thai
10:30am-1:30pm @ Rojana Center
If you have ever been to our Dharma events in Bangkok over the last 9 years, please come and join the party on 5th – we’re all a Sangha:
On the 5th of November (Guy Fawkes night!) I will have been ordained as a Thai Bhikkhu (Buddhist monk) for exactly 20 years. We monks count our birthdays from the time of ordination, not from the time of birth, making me 20 years old.
Many people ordain as monks with the greatest of aspirations, but not many make it to the 20 year mark!
So you are all invited to join for some dharma, meditation, and Pad Thai. There will also be a bagel stand from our local homemade bagel shop, plus beverages provided by the Rojana Center.
- 10:30am Puja and food offering/dedication
- 11:00 Lunch – with Pad Thai (free), and bagel stand
- 11:45 dharma talk – reflections on 20 years as a Thai Buddhist Monk
- 1:30 finish (or hang around with other yogis for a while)
FYI monks have 4 notable periods in their ordination:
- 1-5 years new monks take ‘dependence’ on a teacher, and agree to be thus trained
- 5-10 years one is a ‘middle’ monk – free from the teacher, and free to move around more
- 10-20 years the ‘Thera’ stage – thera means ‘elder’ (where ‘Theravada’ comes from), and can give ordination to others and perform various Sangha administration duties
- 20+ years is ‘Mahathera’ – a great elder. There are no additional duties or functions, but one is recognized as one of the elders of the tradition, so it is still a milestone.
To ordain as a monk, you first get accepted by an abbot. The head is shaved and the shavings floated on a convenient lake or pond.
Dressed in white you receive robes and bowl from sponsors.
Then you can formally request ordination.
Join Saturday morning on the 5th, for the full story – how one becomes a monk, what it means, and all the trials, and blessings.
Location
Events are offered in the Rojana Center, Sukhumvit 23. There is lots of space, and refreshments on offer to everyone who comes a little early to meet and chat.
The Rojana Center is on Sukhumvit 21 Soi 1 – or you can more easily get there from Sukhumvit 23. It is an 11 minute walk from Asoke BTS and MRT stations. Best to cross over Asoke Raod by the skywalk from the BTS station – it will save you much time!
Easiest is to take a motorcycle from the entrance to Soi 23 – the motorcycle drivers mostly know where the Rojana Center is.
You can open the location in Google Maps, or other mapping app, here.
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What’s left? Come join.