****UPDATE****

I am now a Buddhist monk! Ordination went well, very stressful and difficult for me but the best thing I have ever done. Off to evening chanting soon and need to practice how to put on my robe, very tricky!

Oh and I now have 227 precepts to keep! 

***UPDATE***

I am currently a temple Layman "PHA KHAW" (ผะขาว) and dress in white clothes. I get up out my sleeping bag on the floor around 4am every day, shower then go for an hours meditation (very difficult and very sore sitting in 1 position for so long). We then start our morning chanting which is in a language called Pali (such a difficult language to try and learn). After that we do chores cleaning the temple and grounds while the laywomen prepare the food for our 1 meal of the day, which is around 10am. We then clean and tidy everything up after our meal and my afternoon is then spent studying Pali, meditation, and generally just trying to learn about Buddhism. 7pm we start our evening chants followed by another hour of meditation. So far I am really enjoying everything but finding it very very difficult indeed, my legs and back are so sore and Pali is giving me a sore head ha ha. Oh, I also  observe eight precepts, which are...

1. I undertake the precept to refrain from destroying living creatures.

2. I undertake the precept to refrain from taking that which is not given.

3. I undertake the precept to refrain from sexual activity.

4. I undertake the precept to refrain from incorrect speech.

5. I undertake the precept to refrain from intoxicating drinks and drugs which lead to carelessness.

6. I undertake the precept to refrain from eating at the forbidden time (i.e., after noon).

7. I undertake the precept to refrain from dancing, singing, music, going to see entertainments, wearing garlands, using perfumes, and beautifying the body with cosmetics.

8. I undertake the precept to refrain from lying on a high or luxurious sleeping place.

I was supposed to be a layman for 1 week then ordain to have a full month as a monk but the senior monk who will ordain me has had to fly to the states and will not be back until the end of the month. I will now be a layman until then and ordain on his return, I will be a novice monk until the 8th of July.

Hi and welcome to my page, 

So, it is time for me to try and raise a decent amount of funds for a charity, which I like to support, called "the Thai Children's Trust". This is something I have longed to do for many years and now is the perfect time. I realise a lot of people are fund raising these days and money maybe in short supply, so I have tried to think of a challenge that is not the standard marathon, walk or sky dive. I feel my fund raising idea is original, difficult and a very different kind of challenge that will hopefully raise a good amount of funds and also benefit me as a person, I hope you will agree and sponsor me :-). I am willing to give up my current lifestyle and pleasures for 1 month to try and help children in need so if you can be so kind and spare a few pennies to sponsor me it will be greatly appreciated.

I will spend my time at WAT SANTIWONGSARAM, 107 HANDSWORTH WOOD ROAD, HANDSWORTH WOOD, BIRMINGHAM,  B20 2PH

The Meaning of Becoming Buddhist 

The Buddhist journey begins by your being able to accept yourself the way you are, both bad and good. When you are able to accept yourself, you can trust and believe in yourself as a Dharma agent for change. When you can trust yourself, then you can help yourself and wake yourself up. If you can wake yourself up then you can help and wake up others. In the process you discover your Buddha nature and the Buddha nature of others, and realize that we are an interdependent and interrelated whole.

The Importance of Being a Monk for Thai Men  

In Thai culture, you have to do this once in your lifetime. Not as long-term as it would be in the west, being a monk in Thailand can be as short as for only a day or as long as the rest of the man's life. Most Thai men fall in between. A week, a few weeks or a month or two is quite common with most Thai businesses allowing unpaid leave so a Thai man can become a monk. 

Becoming a monk for a man in Thailand shows his commitment to his Buddhist faith. It also is usually a precursor to marriage, with some families refusing to allow their daughter to marry a man who hasn't been one.  

To become a Buddhist monk one has to make a complete break with all normal life, to leave family and workmates behind, to leave the life of pleasure in food and sex, cars and sport, and all things that attain to the, so-called, good life. 

Buddhist Tasks Monks get up at about 3.00 am, 4.00 am, or 5.00 am. They have breakfast at 7.00 am. At some temples, the monks eat one meal a day, so they eat brunch. That is at about 9.00 am, or 10.00 am. After breakfast, they do morning chanting and meditation. In some temples, the monks do morning chanting and meditation early in the morning at 3.00 am, 4.00 am or 5.00 am. They eat lunch at 11 am. This is last meal for the Theravada monks. From afternoon onwards, they don’t eat solid food. They only drink water, or a cup of tea. They finish their day at 6.00 pm by performing evening chanting and leading meditation. In the time between these activities, they complete the following main tasks: Study, Practice meditation and Teach people who want to understand the Buddhist way of life.

About the Thai Children's Trust

The Thai Children's Trust offers a home, a family, a place to belong; a means to escape a life lived in fear or hunger.  We provide the one thing no child should be denied: A childhood. 

Helping the vulnerable and those at risk  

In large parts of Thailand poverty and severe deprivation are rife meaning that life at the bottom of the social ladder can be very hard. For those children who have been left orphaned, abandoned by their parents or who have fled their homes to escape physical or sexual abuse, it is far more brutal. 

Being at the centre of South East Asia also means that Thailand is often a destination for economic migrants and refugees fleeing conflicts or brutal regimes. All too often children from these groups find themselves living in desperate poverty and in need of help. 

The projects supported by the Thai Children's Trust offer these children safety, encouragement, education and hope. 

For over 30 years the TCT has been constantly working toward making things better - especially for children with disabilities and serious conditions, such as HIV or AIDS.  Today we help to sustain a range of projects which not only provide specialist help but actively campaign at a state and national level for greater governmental support. 

In addition to our work directly with abandoned or orphaned children the Thai Children's Trust also helps a number of vulnerable women and mothers - many of whom have arrived in Thailand as unwilling victims of people trafficking and the sex trade. By providing these women with a safe refuge, a chance at education and a sense of empowerment we are enabling them to lift themselves, and their children, out of poverty. 

Please help us to continue our work improving the lives of children living in poverty, fear and pain

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