Australia

[Thanavuddho]

I've been here for a little more than two weeks and so far I like this country. We are going in almsround everyday. To my surprise people have actually put food in our bowls. This is not somekind of a Thai community here but a normal aussie neighborhood.

[Ben]

Great news, Bhante!

[James the Giant]

Great bit of land Venerable, it looks ideal.
And you have a good website already set up, and a facebook page.
http://bodhisaddha.wix.com/home
http://www.facebook.com/bodhisaddha

May I come visit and help out late next year? I'll bring a tent. I'll write you a letter closer to the time.
How are the sangha housed at present? The photos look like there are more bhikkhus than will fit in that house.

[Khalil Bodhi]

Bhante, I'm glad to hear that the local community are so willing to support the Sangha!

[Thanavuddho]

James,

And you have a good website already set up, and a facebook page.
http://bodhisaddha.wix.com/home

I think that this website is hardly any good. And I have already voiced my opinion on this matter. The monastery is still very new and the website reflects that.

May I come visit and help out late next year? I'll bring a tent. I'll write you a letter closer to the time.

So far we have been turning people away because there really is not that much here. But there are people staying sometimes. I can recommend you staying in here on the basis that I know you from here. But it is not my call.

How are the sangha housed at present? The photos look like there are more bhikkhus than will fit in that house.

There are two of us staying fulltime at the moment. Me and a monk from the US. We have few rooms in the house. I set up a camp under a giant eucalyptus tree. It feels more spacious there

[gavesako]

Is this supposed to be a new official branch of Ajahn Chah in Australia? Who would take on the burden of responsibility to look after it and send monks there?

[Thanavuddho]

Is this supposed to be a new official branch of Ajahn Chah in Australia? Who would take on the burden of responsibility to look after it and send monks there?

Namaste Venerable,

I think your questions reflect the difficulties a new monastery like this has to face. And there seems to be even more difficulties outside Thailand.

This monastery is at least connected with Ajahn Anan and Wat Marp Jan. Ajahn has been here before they got the land. Monks from WMJ have already been here, few of us full time.

I don't know what is going to be the future of this monastery. It is very new.

[gavesako]

Well, good luck, but don't forget that:

The end of the world is here
Luang Por Sumedho

http://www.fsnewsletter.amaravati.org/h ... _world.htm

[Thanavuddho]

Well, good luck, but don't forget that:

The end of the world is here
Luang Por Sumedho

http://www.fsnewsletter.amaravati.org/h ... _world.htm

Namaste,

Yes, I think I've read this before. It's a good talk.

"I came into monastic life very idealistic about Buddhism, monastic life and the Thai forest tradition. But every convention has disappointed me in some way or another. This is the nature of conditions, isn’t it? They’re all disappointing."

I've seen this in my years in Thailand. I'm far less idealistic about Thai forest tradition and Buddhism than I used to be. I fell better because of that

I've been talking about going to Australia in an earlier thread:

viewtopic.php?f=12&t=15057#p217153

[Thanavuddho]

One person put two cans of crushed tomatoes in our bowls today in almsround. 3kg each. I could not close my bowl lid.

image.jpg (96.95 KiB) Viewed 709 times

[Thanavuddho]

Chao Khun Samai came to visit us today. I thought that meaby he will go straight out to see how the construction is going on. Instead, he sat down with us monks and gave a good talk.

Chao Khun said that more than finished and beautiful buildings, he likes to see good practice of Dhamma going on. He said that there's more and more construction going on in monasteries these days.

I almost felt like he was siding with me in trying to slow down construction and focus instead on individual meditation. Or perhaps that's just the way it should be.

[nyanasuci]

Wishing you all the best in the new monastery! I hope it will bring lots of goodness to many people's lifes.

[Thanavuddho]

I'm now at another monastery called Santi. I requested to stay for awhile. Recently, Santi has become a nuns monastery. This is a new type of situation for me.

[daverupa]

I'm now at another monastery called Santi. I requested to stay for awhile. Recently, Santi has become a nuns monastery. This is a new type of situation for me.

I thought Santi was delightful.

[Thanavuddho]

Not sure how long I can stay here. I've already learned alot from here. Some of the Thai Buddhist customs, that I was so weary about, are not present in here.

Because I left without permission, I meaby have to return my monks certificate to Thailand. I don't know if I will ever get it back.

[James the Giant]

Because I left without permission, I meaby have to return my monks certificate to Thailand. I don't know if I will ever get it back.

Venerable, that's the government's permission you had to get, right? Interesting control, I guess there's some deep history behind that one.

[Thanavuddho]

Because I left without permission, I meaby have to return my monks certificate to Thailand. I don't know if I will ever get it back.

Venerable, that's the government's permission you had to get, right? Interesting control, I guess there's some deep history behind that one.

A friend told me that I don't have return my monks certificate (baisutthi) against my will. This is the Thai monks proof of ordination. It's a little yellow booklet.

[Thanavuddho]

Dear all,

I want to explain about my present situation. In brief: I had the opportunity to leave Wat Marp Jan and I took the opportunity.

For sometime now I've had the wish to move away from WMJ. I had lost my confidence in the acarya there. However, I didn't leave straight away. I was afraid that the acarya wouldn't give me a permission to leave without disrobing first. I have seen this happen at WMJ. Some monks had to run away without their passports. That's because WMJ refused to hand it back to them.

Australia provided me with a new opportunity. There are many monasteries here that are far removed from WMJ. And when things didn't work out for me in Bodhisaddha Monastery, I took the opportunity to leave. Before I left, I informed people about my decision. I arranged a new place to stay at nearby Santi Forest Monastery. I deliberately choose to go to Santi. Some of the things that Bhante Sujato said and did, I agree with. On the other hand, WMJ and the acarya there, disagree with those things.

I think my decision came as a surprise to the acarya and some other people. When I left I met with resistance. I went ahead and left anyway.

I'm well aware that perhaps it seems like I betrayed the trust of my acarya and the lay supporter, who invited me to Australia. But you need to understand the situation. In my defence I will say that, first off all, I wasn't willing to disrobe to get out of WMJ. The second thing is, that I was offered the ticket here without any contitions. I didn't ask for the ticket.

Right now, I'm searching for a new monastery to stay. I like Santi Forest Monastery very much. Now I know that the Fourfold Sangha can live together in harmony. I can come back here another time. Bodhinyanarama in New Zealand has been suggested to me by several people. I will request to stay there next.

With metta,
Thanavuddho

[tiltbillings]

An intertesting on going saga. Let us know what happens next, and good luck.

[James the Giant]

Venerable, I can offer a couple of hundred dollars in dana if help is needed to get a plane ticket to get over to Bodhinyanarama. I'm sure there are some others on the forum here too who could chip in a bit, if you encounter problems with money.
I hope this isn't too difficult a time for you, and may it all get sorted out soon.