After a quick lunch at Warin Chamrap, we went to Wat Pah Nanachat at 1.30pm, 16kms away along the road to Si Saket. Dubbed as an international monastery, it is a western-oriented monastery where foreigners with a serious interest in Buddhism are welcomed to study. Although the medium of teaching is English, the underlying fundamentals are based on the practices of the Thai Forest tradition. As it is a not a meditation school (i.e. no dedicated teachers), visitors staying here (while abiding to the rules) would conduct their own practice.

Venerable Thaniyo, the guest monk on duty, was at the main sala (or hall) talking to some lay people. As the monks seldom stay till that late (most of them would retreat back to their kutis or hut for an afternoon rest), we were really lucky to be able to meet him. Prior to the visit, we were instructed to write in (via snail mail!) to obtain permission in order to stay in the monastery (it is often full). But due to time constraints (this was only confirmed 10 days before departure date), we came (without permission) to try our luck. Perhaps it was the ripening of my previous hard-earned good kamma, the monastery was not at its full capacity and we were able to stay for 2 nights!

Although the rules for lay people (who stay in the monastery) may seem fairly regimental to some, the general intention is to create a conducive environment where one could really practice spiritually. Apart from the usual 8 precepts (refrain from killing, stealing, sexual conduct, lying, taking intoxicants, taking food at inappropriate times, sensuous pleasures and sleeping on comfortable beds), we also refrained from talking unnecessarily (noble silence) and had to participate in group activities (e.g. area cleaning). It may sound like an army camp at first, but I was fairly surprised that the monks do not shout (or scream) like what my army commanders do.

While I stayed at the dormitory above the kitchen (i.e. an intermediate area for newcomers to get accustomed to the living conditions here), the monks and lay people (staying for more than 3 days) have their own kutis in the forest. Although this is a strictly men-only area, the female lay practitioners have their own area where they could practise. As it was a good 2 hours away from the next activity (afternoon tea@4pm), I trekked into the forest and saw workshops where some monks were doing their carpentry work with their robes and safety goggles (it was a rather interesting sight!). Walked for 30mins and had to turn back to help set up for the tea session; the forest was so large that I needed more time to cover it!

The afternoon tea session in the outer sala provides an opportunity for the practitioners to discuss about their spiritual practices (it could be quite straining to get cooped up in one's own kuti whole day) and also acts as a "sugar-booster" session; drinks are usually very sweet and sticks of palm sugar are handed out (for plain chewing) so as to keep the body going for the rest of the day since we were refrained from eating dinner. The end result? One would feel empty in his/her stomach and yet not feeling hungry at all. Note: Diabetics are heavily discouraged from trying this.