On June 16th, this monastery, Wat Pah Santidhamma, was formally included as a Full Branch, Number 158, of Wat Nong Pah Pong, the principal monastery of the late Venerable Ajahn Chah Subhatto. Just under a week later, on June 22nd, six of the senior monks of the Wat Pah Pong group of monasteries spent the day at Wat Pah Santidhamma, the Forest Hermitage in Warwickshire.
Perhaps because I have for so many years been a disciple of Ajahn Chah, this hermitage has nearly always been thought of as a branch of Wat Pah Pong. And only a couple of years ago did I realise that it had never in fact been formally accepted as such. Then while I was in Thailand last January, it was explained to me that for that to happen I would have to make an application in person at the annual June meeting of the Sangha at Wat Pah Pong. When I demurred, arguing that a second trip in the same year was both inconvenient and expensive it was agreed that a letter would be sufficient. However, later when I had had time to think about it I decided that I should do the thing properly and go to that meeting. Which is what I did.
Fortunately, a certain very generous person who had just benefited by an unexpected windfall shared their good fortune with me by offering a ticket. So on Saturday, June 19th I jetted off for Bangkok and a connecting flight to Ubon in the Northeast. Having made it to Wat Pah Nanachat just in time for the Sunday morning meal I then had a couple of days to settle in, recover somewhat from the journey, and to let it be known that I was around and why. Like many business meetings, I had been warned that these gatherings of the Sangha could be pretty tedious, added to which it can be extremely hot and muggy in June. So, I was prepared for a bit of endurance. The meeting was to be held over the two afternoons of the 16th and 17th June in the great Uposatha Hall that had been Ajahn Chah's last major project before he fell ill. Although I had witnessed the preparation and beginning of its construction, this was the first time I had formally sat in that building.
I am happy to say that the response to my application was a vigorous proposal for the usual probationary periods to be set aside and full branch status to be granted there and then. The idea was well received and so on the afternoon of June 16th Wat Pah Santidhamma became a full branch, no. 158, of Wat Nong Pah Pong.
The meeting on the 17th began earlier and finished early and as soon as it was over monks began quickly to disperse. I went back to Wat Pah Nanachat and at the teatime, as it was Ajahn Chah's official birthday, I was asked to reminisce on life as it had been with him. So I regaled my listeners with a few stories that gave them a laugh and which I hope might have inspired and taught them something as well. One of several things I mentioned was Luangpor Chah's passionate attention to detail. I suppose this is a bit of a hobby horse of mine too but it seems to me that an eye for detail has been something that all the 'greats' I've known and worked with have had in common. Attention to finer points is sometimes brushed aside as being fussy and small minded but I'm fairly convinced that to creators of great things there is nothing too small or trivial to be cared for. Just look at how the Buddha advised bhikkhus to see danger even in the slightest faults. Because with him nothing, not even the small things could be neglected, I remember Ajahn Chah as not just a wise and kindly man but also as someone with whom it could be a challenge to live with.
My reasons for wanting to firm up the relationship between Wat Pah Santidhamma and Wat Nong Pah Pong were twofold. With or without me, I would like this monastery to carry on for a very long time and with a standard that I could feel comfortable with; and I want to play a part in preserving the legacy of Ajahn Chah.
As recent complaints in the press have reminded us yet again there are unfortunately Buddhist monasteries that are not so hot where you will find monks whose application to the Discipline is at most economical and who appear to have no skilful purpose in being a monk. This was never Ajahn Chah's style. Like the Buddha before him he distanced himself from those monks who were flexible with the Vinaya or who just couldn't be bothered to keep it at all and they were never allowed to mix formally with us or to hear Patimokkha with us. I used to joke – and the pun was intended – that Wat Pah Pong was a bit of a concentration camp. By its austerity and discipline, you were not able to follow many of your desires and inclinations but you were encouraged to concentrate your mind and to get to know yourself by watching your responses to difficulties and deprivation. Buddhism grants an otherwise aimless life a purpose and the style and form of a forest monastery is the professional version. It's a rare opportunity and one that I hope will last.
Inevitably, the weather in Thailand while I was there was hot and it was unusually wet and thundery for the time of year. On my last day when I flew down to Bangkok to catch a flight for London, our plane was forced to circle Bangkok for almost half an hour while we waited for a dramatic electric storm to subside before we could land.
I returned to England on the 20th and arrived back here just in time to go straight into an Angulimala workshop and AGM. The next day Ajahn Brahmavamso, Abbot of the Wat Pah Pong branch in Western Australia, arrived for a few days and I ordained another samanera. Then on the 22nd, six senior monks from the Wat Pah Pong group of monasteries came to visit for the day.
