Buddhist Monks - Some Random Pics

My obsession with monks is quite widely known, and indeed it is not uncommon in the Buddhist world. Some people collect them like pop stars, having pin-ups of their favourites and waiting in line to be blessed by them and have their picture taken.
I have had the great good fortune - as anyone who has read Destination Saigon will know - to have made many good friends amongst the monastic community in Vietnam. Here are a few memories I want to share with you:




A couple of years ago two of my greatest friends from Vietnam came for a surprise visit to Sydney, and I was able to take them on a couple of tours through Buddhist Sydney. This is us in the garden of Wat Pa Buddharangsee, the Thai Monastery in Leumeah, outside Sydney. Both of these monks feature in stories in Destination Saigon - can you guess?





This is a group of Theravadin monks taken at a big Theravadin forest monastery in Dong Nai, sometime late in 1999 I would imagine. It was when I was studying in Vietnam, and I was hanging out with Theravadins a lot.




A group of novice monks doing their afternoon chanting at a monastery in Hue, 1996.



This is a simply beautiful monk belonging to the Tang Gia Khat Si, the indigenous Buddhist order of Vietnam. We have been friends since 1996, and we are the same age. This is a pic he sent me as a souvenir (once a common practice in Vietnam). He signed the back of the photograph but didn't date it. I am guessing some point in the late 1990s.


In Sydney again, this is a religious procession in the backyard of Chua Phuoc Hau, a suburban house temple in Cabramatta, right near where I now live. Pictured in the photograph are the Most Venerable Thich Phuoc Hue and the Most Venerable Thich Quang Ba.

Guests' Garden, Benedictine Monastery, Thu Duc

One of the places I mention a couple of times in Destination Saigon is the Benedictine Monastery in Thu Duc, an outlying district of Ho Chi Minh City.
It an incredible place, filled with pilgrims and, most extraordinarily for anyone familiar with monastic institutions in the West, lots and lots of young monks. There is certainly no crisis in vocations in Vietnam. In fact, senior monks told me that there was a considerable waiting list to enter the monastery even on a trial basis. Young men must first serve a period as manual labourers on the monastery's farms or serving the visiting pilgrims before they will even be considered as candidates for the religious life.
The first time I ever visited the monastery the monks grabbed me and treated me with the most enormous kindness, curiosity and care. I was given a guest room for the day, which faced onto this beautiful garden. Here I rested, read and wrote, and was served a wonderful meal by the monks, who lingered to ask me questions and practice their English.

The Metta Sutta

I've been reading Stephanie Dowrick's wonderful new book Seeking the Sacred all weekend, and was delighted to see her quote a section of The Metta Sutta when talking about love.
The Metta Sutta (Sutta being the Pali form for the more familiar word Sutra - used here because the Metta Sutta is part of the Theravada canon) is a brief but profound Buddhist sacred text explaining in detail how we are to love one another and all living creatures. In most Theravadin liturgies it is chanted toward the end of proceedings, and at the Dhammayut Thai monasteries here in Australia they even chant it in English, which I always love. It gives me a special thrill of recoginition when, after 40 minutes of enigmatic Pali chant, the monks sing that beautiful line "May they be free of suffering in mind and body."
The Metta Sutta sets out most concisely and poetically the Buddhist view of love - indeed, I always think it is a pretty good summation of the entire Buddhist doctrine, and its recital and memorisation could be a part of everyone's spiritual practice. Its demands are high, but it also describes a beautiful idea - a world in which we love, respect and care for all living beings as though they were our own children.
In Buddhism Metta is only one of the qualities of love. It is (or should be) always accompanied by Karuna, which is compassion. It is telling that the two should be saddled together like this, for it leaves no room for the great violence and tempest of romance as we sometimes envision it. If we are not being kind towards something, then we cannot love it.
Accompanying the Metta Sutta is a very specific, traditional exercise which describes the visualisation of people to whom we can transmit our love, progressing from the easiest to love to the most difficult. Doing this is not easy, and so it serves as a very strong moral lesson: we are obliged to love even those who we struggle to like.
Here is the Sutta:

This is what should be done
By one who is skilled in goodness,
And who knows the path of peace:
Let them be able and upright,
Straightforward and gentle in speech.
Humble and not conceited,
Contented and easily satisfied.
Unburdened with duties and frugal in their ways.
Peaceful and calm, and wise and skillful,
Not proud and demanding in nature.
Let them not do the slightest thing
That the wise would later reprove.
Wishing: In gladness and in saftey,
May all beings be at ease.
Whatever living beings there may be;
Whether they are weak or strong, omitting none,
The great or the mighty, medium, short or small,
The seen and the unseen,
Those living near and far away,
Those born and to-be-born,
May all beings be at ease!

Let none deceive another,
Or despise any being in any state.
Let none through anger or ill-will
Wish harm upon another.
Even as a mother protects with her life
Her child, her only child,
So with a boundless heart
Should one cherish all living beings:
Radiating kindness over the entire world
Spreading upwards to the skies,
And downwards to the depths;
Outwards and unbounded,
Freed from hatred and ill-will.
Whether standing or walking, seated or lying down
Free from drowsiness,
One should sustain this recollection.
This is said to be the sublime abiding.
By not holding to fixed views,
The pure-hearted one, having clarity of vision,
Being freed from all sense desires,
Is not born again into this world.

*This version of the Sutta from http://dharma.ncf.ca/introduction/sutras/metta-sutra.html

Lunar New Year Fair, Cabramatta

I live in Cabramatta, which is the Vietnamese heart of Sydney.
Being alone for lunch, I made my way down to the town centre and checked out the New Year Fair which is going on there this weekend.



Lots of people, but stall-wise it was pretty much politicians and soy-sauce companies.




Still, everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, and mercifully it's not as hot as it has been this week.



Thang was on the radio this morning talking about Tet and pointing out that this coming year is a double animal year - for Vietnamese it is the Cat, for Chinese the Rabbit.

Wat U Phai Rat Bamrung - A Vietnamese Temple in Bangkok!

For many years I'd heard of a mythical Vietnamese Mahayana Buddhist temple in the heart of Bangkok, but whenever I visited Thailand my Thai friends had never heard of it and assured me that no such place existed. My Vietnamese friends who had visited it were shaky in their grasp of Bangkok's topography, and couldn't give any useful directions.
One day I was wandering around Pantip Plaza and I saw two young monks shopping. Though they were dressed peculiarly (see my description in the video) I knew instantly that they were from the Mahayana school - a rare sight in Thailand. Using my minimal Thai and their even more minimal English I managed to get their address and visited them that day. Lo and behold, I had discovered my long sought for Vietnamese temple.
Most Bangkokians, even those living in the Chinatown district, have no idea that Wat U Phai Rat Bamrung on Charoen Krung Rd was established by a Vietnamese monk 300 years ago. They have just glanced inside and assumed it was one of the various Chinese temples that dot this part of Bangkok.
The families that make up the temple's devotees were once Vietnamese, but were long ago assimilated into Thai culture. All that remains of their ethnicity is their allegiance to this strange temple. The chanting is done in Vietnamese, but the parishioners (and the Thai monks resident) need to read the words transliterated into the Thai alphabet.
I have blogged some photos of the temple in the past.
There are two young monks from Vietnam resident, and they are rather unstinting in their continued Vietnamese-ness. They refuse to eat meat and they assume a rather more active role in the community than Thai Buddhists are used to.
It is a strange place, and one that I like very much. As soon as I get to Bangkok I always try to visit, and my Thai friends are always fascinated to learn about it. I guess it is a remnant of a much closer relationship that once existed between the two countries.

Destination Saigon in Cambodia

I have spent the past few weeks in Cambodia, researching my new book.
While there I was lucky enough to make contact with the Khmer Youth Writer's Association, an incredible bunch of young people who are passionately and energetically writing, creating and publishing in a way that made me feel like a lazy old hack. I wish I'd had even an ounce of their energy and enterprise when I was their age. As a body they are madly self-publishing their own work, as well as submitting material to the publishing houses of Phnom Penh. And they are successful at it, too - I kept seeing their books in the city's bookshops.
My dear friend Chanphal Sok is one of the group's luminaries. A successful commercial songwriter, Chanphal is also a novelist, and he was kind enought to give me inscribed copies of his previously published works, including the bestselling Gentleman's Love.



Just as I was leaving he was about to launch his newest book, Winter Love.



Unfortunately I had to go before I saw a finished copy. I promised Chanphal that this year I would do my very best to learn Khmer, using his writing as my textbooks. I haven't got very far yet, but I do intend to make more of an effort.
When I went to Cambodia I only took one copy of Destination Saigon with me, in case I should be called upon to prove my bona fides. Of course, I realised instantly my error, because many of my writing friends, most of whom spoke excellent English and regularly read English books, were desperate for a copy. Fortunately my partner, Thang, was due to visit me in Phnom Penh, and I prevailed upon him to bring a half dozen extra copies of the book for distribution.
Imagine my delight when Chanphal posted on his Facebook page (and can I mention here what a phenomenal social force Facebook is in Cambodia? Young Phnom Penh-ese use it as a principal form of communication, and some of them have Facebook friends in the thousands!) a picture of his copy of my book, lying casually in his room, obviously read. What an immense feeling of satisfaction it gave me!
I felt foolish when, just a day or two before I was scheduled to leave, I discovered that Phnom Penh's wonderful bookshop, Monument Books, had plenty of copies of Destination Saigon in stock, so I could have been buying and distributing them all along!

My Guide to Vietnam: Interacting With Buddhist Monks and Nuns

Most visitors to Vietnam will encounter monks and nuns.

Buddhist temples make up a big part of the itinerary for any visitor to Vietnam, and almost all of these places are living, thriving monastic communities.



You will witness monks and nuns wandering about attending to their duties, and for most they remain mysterious, exotic and ever-so-slightly glamorous figures.




Any reader of Destination Saigon will know that Buddhist monks and nuns are a big part of my world, both in Vietnam and Australia, and have been so for many years.




People often ask me how they should behave in the presence of monastics, so here is a bit of advice.
Whenever you encounter monks or nuns you should greet them in the traditional Buddhist manner, with your hands clasped in the "prayer" position, at the chest.



In Vietnamese this is called chap tay, and it is a lovely tradition that is steeped in symbolic meaning. Thich Nhat Hanh writes about it, comparing the clasped hands to a lotus bud. By placing our hands together at our chest and bowing slightly (no need to over-do it), we are honouring and respecting the other person - Thich Nhat Hanh says the Buddha in me is greeting the Buddha in you, or "a lotus to you, a Buddha-to-be." Monks greet each other in a similar fashion, as do lay-people when they are at temple. In Vietnam the chap tay is reasonably uncomplicated - you simply make the gesture at chest level, no matter who you are or who you are meeting. In other South-East Asian countries it is altogether more tricky, and you have to raise your hands to different levels depending on what you are doing and who you are encountering. I invariably do it wrong. To make matters worse, the conventions are ever-so-slightly different in Thailand, Laos and Cambodia, so that what was ok in one place becomes a gaffe in another.
When Buddhists make the chap tay gesture they also normally say Mo Phat, which is an abbreviated version of the mantra Nam Mo A Di Da Phat, which means "Hail Amitabha Buddha." If you can master these two actions, you will be an instant member of the Buddhist community in Vietnam!
If you see monks or nuns, do smile at them and greet them – most foreigners ignore them - mostly because they they are shy, I suspect, or worried that they may say or do something wrong. Perhaps they are also concerned that a monk is not to be bothered with foolish tourists and everyday gestures. But believe me, they love it when someone is friendly towards them, especially a foreigner. Monks and nuns in Vietnam are frequently well educated and can sometimes speak good English, so do try to connect.
Of course, there are a couple of simple dos and donts when it comes to interacting with them:

• Avoid physical contact, especially if they are of the opposite sex.
  
• Dress respectfully, especially if they invite you to a special event - this goes for men and women - no shorts and only shirts with sleeves.
  
• Be careful of violent acts - most monastics in Vietnam are strict vegetarians, and things like swatting at mosquitoes and squashing ants, which we do instinctively, can actually upset them.
  
• Don't visit the temple if you have been drinking.
  
• Don't arrange meetings at cafes, hotels, shopping centres or other places of secular entertainment - generally their vows don't allow them to go to such places. You can meet at temples, bookshops and vegetarian restaurants instead.
  
• Don't give them tasks or errands, or ask them to pass on messages or gifts. Their vows actually forbid this.
• Offer them money, by all means, but do it discreetly - always put the money in an envelope. It also helps them if you tell them what the money is for e.g. "This is for you" or "This is for the temple." Generally they are bound to use the money in the way the lay-person intends, so make it easy for them. If they refuse a monetary gift, you can always insist and say it's for the temple, or for charity, in which case they must accept. What do nuns and monks need money for? I hear you ask. Well, books, study-fees, transport, food - most rely entirely on private sponsors just to survive, so your gifts will always be needed. If you ask them what they want, please be clear about the amount you want to spend, as this saves awkward situations. If you are ofering to buy them $30 worth of books, say so, so they will know not to ask for $10,000 for a temple extension. This might seem all very mundane and worldly, but it is, in fact, the kind of thing that local lay-people do in their own interactions with the religious.
• If you see a monk or nun in a bookstore, offer to pay for their purchase. You can also do this in a vegetarian restaurant. If they are already in the company of lay-people, however, it's probably best not to do this, as they are probably already being looked after, and you don't want to embarrass anyone.
• Gifts for monastics: apart from cash, you can offer tea (especially imported), live plants (esp. orchids), cut flowers, fruit, books (they love Buddhist books in English), stationery, Buddhist religious images and paraphernalia (especially from other countries), incense (expensive or imported only), candy and cartons of soft-drink or vegetarian packet noodles.