So here we are now on the island of Phuket. And just for the record Phuket is pronounced Poo-ket. Literal transliteration doesn’t always take into account pronunciation.

The sun has not long gone down on our first full day here and I’m sitting at a table in our villa and looking out across the darkness of the sea below to a few lights twinkling on the boats and islands opposite. We came here to Sri Panwa yesterday after a night in Bangkok. Since my last entry we have gone from Bangkok to Ubon, back to Bangkok and now Phuket. But before setting off for Ubon there was Pie’s wedding to go to.

We had nothing to do with the actual ceremonies but on the morning of the 15th, the wedding day, we were invited over to the house to take our meal there. We set off in plenty of time with a map and directions that Pie’s mother had supplied but still somehow our excellent driver had difficulty following them and we got lost. I’m afraid I seldom have much idea where I am in Bangkok so I was no help. Eventually the mystery was unravelled and we drew up in the drive of a large house overflowing with people obviously at a wedding. Ant was there to greet us but he didn’t quite know what to do so Pie was summoned and he led us up to the Shrine Room where food soon appeared and we had our meal. Afterwards we were invited to join the photo call. That was when a rather troubled Mark made his second brief appearance of the day. Poor Mark had eaten somtum the night before and been sick ever since. It’s always fun when you suddenly meet people you’ve known as students and always seen dressed as students in another context with smartly brushed hair and wearing suits!

The 15th proved to be a full and varied day. By the evening we’d left Bangkok, taken a plane to Ubon in the North-east, and were busy settling in to our rather more austere forest accommodation at Wat Pah Nanachat. Although I’d better add that monks there have a pretty comfortable lot compared to what I knew in my younger days.

The next day, the 16th, was the sixteenth anniversary of Ajahn Chah’s death and many of us went over to Wat Pah Pong to eat there. There were a lot of monks, a lot of food and quite a lot of old friends. I sat next to Ajahn Inn who I hadn’t seen for years and who had been one of the chanting acariyas at my ordination. Afterwards the meeting that I was supposed to attend was postponed to the evening and so back I went to Wat Pah Nanachat for a rest. By this time Mark, Ant and Peng, another former Warwick student who’d come for the wedding, and Pie’s cousin, Sandy, were in Ubon. They came out to Wat Pah Nanachat and with them Tan Manapo and I returned to Wat Pah Pong in the afternoon in time for the big circumambulation of the Ajahn Chah Chedi.

The students had the use of a pretty handy vehicle and driver for two more days so on the 17th I took them to Kow Phra Viharn which is a pretty impressive ruin on the Thai Cambodian border. It’s also quite high and a fairly energetic climb. We left the students well behind but they did eventually join Tan Manapo and I at the top. Then on the 18th I took them to Wat Keuan where I lived for about a year in 1973. There were never more than a handful of monks there but it was immaculate in my day. It’s on a peninsula that juts out into a huge man-made lake and we drove, then walked to the furthest tip, to Hua Hin, where we spent a jolly time sitting, scrambling about and posing for photos. That evening, back at Wat Pah Nanachat we said goodbye to the two girls, Peng and Sandy, who were returning to Bangkok and so the day after, with only Ant and Mark left, Peter came over from Amper Deht to take the four of us to see my old friend and mentor Ajahn Dang and then to Peter and Tipawan’s splendid home for afternoon tea served in best, beautiful china. The next day we’d lost Ant who’d gone off to see a family he knew and so with only Mark left of our student party we went over to Wat Pah Pong for my guided tour. We were taken there by the two judges, Katekaew and her husband. Katekaew was at Warwick for a year nine years ago. And accompanying us was my wonderful attendant for my stay at Wat Pah Nanachat this year, an Indonesian novice called Visilo. We finished up our visit to all the important sites, the Ajahn Chah Chedi, Ajahn Chah’s kuti, his hospital kuti where he died and the place where he had first camped, by picking up four boxes of books to bring back. Two subsequently went with Mark who had to race off to the airport to meet up with Ant to join him on the plane to Bangkok and two were later added to by a third and all three boxes are now waiting for us in Bangkok. Later on that day at Wat Pah Nanachat I took a Question and Answer session with the monks and novices that seemed to go down quite well. The day after was Monday, the 21st, and we didn’t go anywhere.

The 22nd was a Wan Phra, a Full Moon Observance Day, and we had to hear Patimokkha, the basic Rule for Bhikkhus. At my request that was done after the meal in the morning so that Tan Manapo and I could be there for it before catching our plane in the afternoon. After Patimokkha I was invited to address the Sangha and I enlarged on some of the points I’d made in the morning Ovadas I’d already given. I spoke of the importance of a caring community. What we are committed to as monks can be difficult and demanding and it’s important that we can care for and help each other through any hard times. I have known communities where the emphasis has been on surrendering to the community but it seemed without any corresponding duty of care by the community for its members. It’s easy both for individuals and the community itself to become harsh and judgemental and that’s not helpful. As Ajahn Chah has pointed out, metta or loving-kindness is a vital ingredient in the way of life and training that we have adopted. I also reminded them to not take things for granted and to appreciate the wonderful facilities and support they have and to be worthy of it. I also pointed out that while some things about our life can be inconvenient, this discipline is forever reminding us of our kilesas (defilements) and keeping us aware of them. During my Question and Answer session with them earlier I had described how in the past instead of collecting our food, as is done now, from a buffet and being able to pick and choose, we used to have to sit and watch the food being dished into our bowls by the monks delegated to go down the line giving it out. We could refuse some things if we were quick enough but it wasn’t good form to do so and we were taught to watch our minds, especially when something delicious was immediately swamped by some curry we didn’t like or we didn’t get as much of something as we wanted. At the end of the day, that food is given in faith, it does the job and we’re jolly lucky to have anything at all. And so the old monk rambled on.

Back in Bangkok that evening a few people came to see me, mostly students or ex students who used to come to the Forest Hermitage when they were in the UK. And then the next day, our Nok Air flight having been cancelled, we stepped aboard a One,Two,Go plane for Phuket and here we are.

I don’t want to make you jealous but if you want to see where we are go to www.sripanwa.com.

For another account of Pie and Nun’s wedding and some of our adventures have a look at Ant’s blog.