Happy and carefree days pass quickly, and I don't know when the lush green rice fields in front of my house turned into a golden hue, complemented by the blue sky, white clouds, green mountains, and bamboo, creating a picturesque watercolor painting. In our own land, The Abbot has cultivated a few acres of rice paddies. These days, we and the workers are harvesting rice together: each person with a small sickle, cutting the rice and laying it in the sun to dry. Two days later, we gather the rice, and the workers manually thresh the rice while we help bundle it. Everyone experiences the passion of the busy farming season, once again I appreciating the hardworking and resilient qualities of our brothers and sisters.
Hui Guang has always assisted the Taiwanese monksin the yard with water and electricity repairs. Recently, the Taiwanese master brought a friend, Mr. Yang, to introduce us. Mr. Yang is from Thailand, with Chinese parents ,he speaks fluent Chinese. He took us to visit his orange orchard, generously giving us chicken and duck meat, oranges, bananas, garlic, and more. These days, he brought special varieties of bananas and papaya seedlings, along with homegrown Thai fragrant rice. Grateful and moved by his generous support, we feel blessed to have such kind-hearted supporters along our spiritual journey.
We recently hosted two volunteers, Madeleine from the Netherlands, and Aline from Switzerland. Both came across information and photos of Thai home on the volunteer website Worldpackers and were drawn by our lifestyle and the beautiful environment. Madeleine stayed for only two nights, joining us in harvesting rice and exploring the eight levels of the temple. Despite the short stay, she left with a positive impression, giving us a five-star review on the website and recommending other volunteers to experience it. Aline, the Swiss girl, lived with us for a week. Besides her outer beauty, she proved to be responsible, eloquent, and graceful in her speech and diligent in her actions, earning the admiration of everyone. We watched videos introducing our community's lifestyle together and casually discussed our philosophies and cultures.
The former king of Thailand, Rama IX, made significant contributions to agriculture, advocating and leading Thai farmers in sustainable self-sufficiency. The Abbot follows in his footsteps. Recently, he invited professionals to the town for a seminar on promoting sustainable farming practices, inspired by Rama IX. We helped clean the conference hall the day before, and on the day of the event, we were pleasantly surprised to find baskets of vegetables we had harvested for the temple displayed on the main stage, showcasing our labor's fruits to the villagers, encouraging everyone to use their hardworking hands to grow their own food. We felt a sense of pride, affirmation, and encouragement, motivating us to work even harder and produce more fruits and vegetables in the future.
2023-11-18
