Name: Wat Pah Nanachat
Item: Wat Pah Nanachat
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Wat Pah Nanachat (The International Forest Monastery) is situated in a small forest in the Northeast of Thailand about fifteen kilometres from the city of Ubon Rachathani. In 1975 Ajahn Chah established it in order to give foreigners who do not know Thai language and culture the possibility of a traditional monastic training. English serves as the primary language of communication and instruction. Our community consists of monks, novices and postulants from a wide range of nationalities.

Although Wat Pah Nanachat is not a meditation centre, there are facilities for a limited number of male and female guests to stay at the monastery and practise with the resident monastic community. We would like our guests to follow the daily routines of the monks as much as possible, and join in with all communal meetings and work activities. As the teachers of the forest tradition stress, in monastic life, qualities like co-operation, respect and self-sacrifice both facilitate communal harmony and individual growth in the practice. Generally, the training at Wat Pah Nanachat aims to follow the Dhamma-Vinaya, the teachings and code of monastic discipline as laid down by the Buddha, respecting both the letter and the spirit. The monastic life encourages development of simplicity, renunciation and quietude. It is a deliberate commitment to this way of life that creates a community environment where people of diverse backgrounds, personalities and temperaments can co-operate in the effort to practice and realize the Buddha’s path to liberation.

The schedule may be supplemented by periods of group practice, communal work or Dhamma instructions according to the needs of the community. After the meal the abbot or a senior monk is available to receive visitors and resident guests and answer questions. Four times in a lunar month, on the Wan Pra (the Buddhist Holy Day), the community observes a late-night vigil, during which time there is the opportunity to discuss aspects of Dhamma practice with one of the senior monks.

Much of the day is reserved for private practice, using the time for sitting and walking meditation either in one’s private hut in the forest or one of the meditation halls. Regarding meditation instructions at Wat Pah Nanachat, rather than solely utilizing a particular technique, we aim our practice to include all aspects of daily life, however simple and ordinary, as opportunities to develop mindfulness and other spiritual qualities such as diligent effort, joy, contentment, patience and faith. In time, the virtuous qualities that grow out of such a training gather strength and contribute towards deeper peace and concentration leading to insight and the growth of liberating wisdom.

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Rob Horsfall

I visited Wat Pah Nanachat in 2006/2007 so I can only say what my experience was like then, so I am sure some of the things have changed since then.

The location is not bad, it is completely walled all around the whole monastery, to stop people intruding rather than stopping monks getting out! One does hear noise from the road as there is a major road 100 metres away and in South East Asia they tend to beep their horns a lot! Sadly, the city is slowly sprawling out towards the monastery and one does not get that secluded feel.

It is a well organised monastery and mostly it was inhabited by western monks and upasakas(male renunicants). There is a slightly regimented feel to the place and sometimes there can be quite a tense atmosphere.

It is an austere lifestyle and it is not for the faint hearted or someone who is a beginner in meditation. The food is excellent, but it is just one meal a day at around 9am, that is it until the following day. I think if you want to stay long -term then you also have to shave your head. One just sleeps on a mat and the day starts at 3am. There is quite a bit of chanting and on full moon and new moon days then one stays up all night chanting(a mixture of Thai and Pali) and meditating.

The place is, I think, the only place that one can ordain in the Ajahn Chah tradition in Thailand.

The plus side is that you get to meet senior monks, both western and Thai who are well developed in meditation. Definitely worth a visit but not for a beginner.
8 years ago

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