"Starting My New Life as a Monk.”

The Teaching g of Ajahn Suchart

"Starting My New Life as a Monk.”

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On the day of the appointment, I took my parents to meet Somdet Phra Yannasangvorn at Wat Bowonniwet Vihara (Wat Bowon). Somdet discussed my decision with my parents and scheduled the date for the ordination on February 19, 1975. Also, he would be my preceptor. In the ceremony, I would be ordained together with the son of a general who had recently finished his Master’s degree from the U.S.

His ordination was to be temporary: only for 15 days.

There was 3,000 baht left in my savings which was just exactly the right amount of money to buy the eight requisites for monks consisting of the upper robe, the lower robe, the outer robe, an alms bowl, a razor, a needle, thread, a belt, and a water strainer.

Thus, I didn’t need to ask my parents for the money.

On the ordination day, approximately 100 attendants of the other family went to the ceremony. In contrast, only four of my family members which included my parents, my sister, and my cousin attended because I didn’t tell other people about this. I liked to keep things low-keyed, with as little fanfare as possible. I didn’t even let anybody know when I was resigning from my job. 

Moreover, during a year of meditating alone at home, I didn’t tell anyone about it either. I didn’t see any reason to tell other people about my private life and this also helped me avoid being bothered by others. Literally, there was one other person who knew about my ordination— a fellow who sent me a telegram asking me to come to work for him. I declined, explaining that I was about to take my vows as a monk.

During my stay at Wat Bowon, there were some Western monks heading to Wat Pa Baan Taad who told me about the existence of some well-known Thai Forest Tradition monasteries in the Northeast of Thailand, which included the monasteries of Luangta Mahā Boowa, Luangpu Thate, and Luangpu Fan. They reinforced what I had read in Kornfield’s book of these respected Forest Monasteries, and I planned to make a trip to those places starting with Wat Pa Baan Taad of Luangta Mahā Boowa.

As I didn’t know anyone there, a Western monk told me that it was required to write a letter to Ajahn Paññā for permission in advance before going there.

Ajahn Paññā was a British monk, so foreign monks would approach him when contacting the monastery. He then would inform Luangta of the request for permission to stay in the monastery. If Luangta gave his consent, they were eligible to go.

I, therefore, wrote a letter to Ajahn Paññā. He took my request to Luangta, and Luangta then gave me the permission to stay.

But first there was my training.

Throughout the six weeks of my monastic life at Wat Bowon, I was instructed on the correct way to wear the main robe, walk alms round, handle my requisites, and travel without being uncomfortable or concerned about wearing the robe. When I talked to Somdet regarding my departure and asked for his approval to stay with Luangta Mahā Boowa at Wat Pa Baan Taad, he approved my request, but said it really depended on Luangta whether or not he would be allowing me to stay there. And, since I had already gotten approval, I prepared to leave.

My departure from Bangkok was in early April, a couple of days before the Chakri Memorial Day. Traveling by train in the evening, I arrived at the destination in Udon Thani very early in the morning. 

Luckily, with the help of the monastery, a Buddhist devotee picked me up at the railway station and drove me to the monastery.”

“My Way.”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto
www.phrasuchart.com

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