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Thanks for this very informative post Venerable.
with respect
Robert
In Pali@yahoogroups.com, "bh. santi" <bh.santi@...> wrote:

>
> Dear Bankei,
>
> I ordained in Thailand at Wat Pah Nanachat about four years ago.

Now I have

> moved to a branch monastery in Australia called Santi Forest

Monastery,

> Bundanoon, NSW. Wat Pah Nanachat (WPN) is the only place in

Thailand where

> you would really get trained in what it means to be a bhikkhu, in

English.

> If you ordain in a Thai monastery, even if it is a good one, if

you don't

> understand Thai you won't be able to learn very much about the way

of life

> of a bhikkhu. The ordination itself is just a convention, wearing

robes and

> shaving your head won't purify your heart. In fact because we are

dependent

> on the gifts of others that increases our kammic responsibility. I

had

> friends at WPN who had ordained in Thai village/city monasteries

(Wat Umong

> actually, it calls itself a forest monastery because of its

location but in

> terms of the style of practice and carelessness about the Vinaya

it would be

> classified as a Wat Bahn). One of my friends who had ordained at

Wat Umong

> stayed for a year or so, then disrobed, travelled about a bit more

and came

> to WPN. One day while he was listening to a Vinaya class as a

eight-