Saturday, a few in the village came and cooked for us in the morning, there was so much good food and plenty of it. It was again humbling to receive others merit. A few times I have walking around, maybe going to the monks dining sala and have had cooks put down their huge pot of food and prostrate once to me. This along with most experiences here can never be quite put into words, but you can be certain ...I don’t take it lightly.
After that we went a drive to a nearby new temple where novice Tat lives at. He goes to school at our temple. Picked up 4 more novices and went to swim at a hillside lake that’s source is a spring. Because we are monks, we have to swim in our sarong tied up Indian style. It was nice and refreshing, and while the rest of went swimming, Novice Nam drew.
Using our robes, we threw them over our shoulder and proceeded to a hot springs, just in time to see a geyser spout on its schedule. Tat was so proud to show us around, he was all smiles. These are novices who have next to nothing, even not all the necessary vaccinations. Let alone floss and dental care. I just saw a novice, today who came up with small pox. Just by donating to the health fund at this temple, you can make their life better. I trust the abbot intentions and the Blood Foundation link to him. You really find the great service Thai temples provide to their novices. A more complete picture of this is found in the book, Little Angels,” by Phra Peter Pannapadipo.
On the way back home we stopped at Tat’s home and met his father. A small home, he was more than happy to see us and give us water. His family was so poor he had to go the temple to be novice, and he lucky is he is close to his families home. A look at family photo’s of his ordination a year ago, and he has grown a foot in a year! When we left him at his temple, he said the day made him so very happy. The less you have the more you appreciate.
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