Novice Scholarship Fund

Auttachai(left) and Chatreea(far right)

Dear Friends,

It’s getting to the end of the school year and the time is fast approaching when the grade 6s from the temple school will have completed their final year and will be planning whether or not they will continue their studies at university. For these boys and their families the decision to go on to university is significantly based on financial considerations.

As many of you know, even going to a monk University can be financially prohibitive as even monks need some money and often the families prefer for the lads to go straight into paid employment to support the family.

With young men like Joy, Auttachai (Aa), Chatreea, Monkoon and many others there is certainly some great potential in the group and we hope that together with your help we can offer them some financial assistance in going to university and giving them every chance of gaining a degree and going further with their education.

Many of the boys have been so welcoming and supportive of guests on the monk for a month program and it is our ardent wish that we can now support them in their desire to improve their own lives. We can also feel confident that once these novices get an education much of that benefit will flow back into their families and wider communities.

And so we invite you to make a contribution to the Novice Scholarship Fund. Already we have one donation of 5000 Baht from Linda Zakas, USD$ 200 from Gennadiy Grishayev and Jildou and I have put in 10 000 Baht. To be able to assist the most number of boys going through university we need as much support as we can muster and the fund is relying largely on the generosity of former guests, though naturally we welcome funds from any quarter. The money will be managed by a small board of trustees including Dr. Aphisit, a representative of the school and myself. The scholarships will be granted for a period of 12 months with the likelihood of renewal barring any strong reasons not too.

If you would like to support this initiative please go to http://bloodfoundation.org and click on the PayPal donate button on the left-hand side.

Then send us a brief mail to info@bloodfoundation.org to alert us that you wish your donation to be used for to Novice Scholarship Fund.

Joy doing homework

This is a great opportunity to give back to these young men and make a real difference in their lives. We thank you for all your support over the last year, so many of you have already contributed so much to the work we do in this region. Just by being on the program you have made a serious contribution and many of you have done so much more - you have our deep gratitude.

Metta!

Ben, Jildou, Graham,

Fred, Charin and all the team.

Ringing In Peace and the Gecko Calls

Almost immediately after I got a tour of the temple and put my bag down in my room, I felt completely relaxed and totally disconnected from my life in the states. Because you lose at lot of yourself in the peace and happiness that pervades this temple, it seems like home. A working temple, with novices who help teach us Pali chants, and we join them with chants and meditation. They provide much lightness and joy. I meditated three hours today each in one-hour segments, and one of which in the afternoon by the Stupa, after three us did Qi gong before as prep. I also got to talk to several other people on this journey and everybody is calm and happy even when things are difficult like being sick. The people involved are interesting and helpful, without getting in your face. It can be as much as you put into it. So, it is really hard for me to want to get online and tease out a piece.



Especially after a novice named Joy was so kind to come and help me work on my Pali, tonight. These connections are so unique, getting to hear about his Palaung village and learning Thai is his second language and English which I tried to help him on a bit. We compared the similar prayers in Mayahana and Theravada and I showed him some of my photos of other temples in different countries. In the middle of a lesson, a gecko barked right outside the widow in my left ear and scared me not knowing the sound. Joy closed the shutters to reveal him biding behind, so I could photograph him high up on the wall.
I am wondering if the gecko is my partner checking up to see if I am ok, as he wanted one as a pet. It just seemed like his style of joking. There is so much to tell, but I am anxious to get to bed to go on alms round with the novices at dawn. A bit nervous to do blessings, when I do become a monk, on similar rounds to the people who will give us the nice food to get merit. It is not begging, and it is a honor to give, so I only hope to honor them with a good Pali rendition. It gives me yet another way to look at how I fabricate worry, when I have no idea. It is just a total waste of time. This evenings chanting is still ringing in my head and it is so lovely all while the birds chirping, cackling and beetles buzzing and the sun going down.