This pic dates back to 1999, when I was in Vietnam studying the Vietnamese language at the Ho Chi Minh Social Sciences University in Saigon. Back then I was really involved with the Vietnamese Theravadin community, which is reasonably small. In fact, I had taken refuge with one of Vietnam's leading Theravadin masters, and this young monk was one of his charges.
We became great friends, and used to spend a lot of time together. He was always slightly naughty, so it was no surprise when I returned to Vietnam a couple of years later to hear that he had left the monkhood in order to get married.
This photo was taken during the Kathina celebration at a forest monastery in Dong Nai, just outside of Ho Chi Minh City.
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