Left: May, 2023, Right: Feb, 2024. Introduction I recently lost about 10 Kg which is over 20 pounds. I’d like to share with you how I gained weight and how I also lost it. It is common for senior monks to gain weight, perhaps due in part to aging, as seniority implies being older. Even though we don’t eat after Solar Noon, gaining weight still can happen. However, if we really want to, we can all easily lose weight…“if we want to”.

That is me going for alms on Aalona Street Kilauea. I have a Christmas story for you. I have tried to keep it short but it didn’t work out. When I was in Kaua’i on from 2017-2019, an 18 month run, I made it a point to go for alms by the house to house loving-kindness method on Tuesdays and Wednesdays as a way to get food. Early on, I was invited to Waiapua Road while standing in front of Hanalei Big Save which was my Monday stop.

In 2014, I came in contact with yogi Brahm at the Mawlamyine Branch of The Pa-Auk Forest Monastery during a 10-day fast with Venerable Mokkhita. He is a great photographer and I thought it would be cool to show him the Pa-Auk kitchen and let him capture how the meals are made for 1200 yogis each day. Take notice of the large quantities of food that are cooked on wood fired stoves.

At Theravada monasteries there is no eating allowed after Noontime. Some monasteries only give one meal per day, while other monasteries give 2 meals per day. Both meal plans are allowed by the Buddha. However, some monasteries have no meals brought to the monks and they need to go out in the village and collect it. This last case is very rare and usually done by the forest monks living in secluded places or ehem.

I recently found this video in my Google Drive. I had a layperson (probably UKZ) follow me around in the line to show what it was like for a monk to go through the alms food line at Pa-Auk Main Center, Mawlamyine, Myanmar. It is not easy to manage so many donors with big hearts to give. Most of the time, I am giving hand signals to get less food. You might want to play this at double speed.

Koral’s Family Just about every Wednesday, I still find the time to continue with my Kilauea alms round[mfn]map is here[/mfn] (which used to include Tuesdays too). I take a one hour bus ride from Lihue, and then set out on my alms round, wishing loving-kindness to the houses one by one as I walk along the road. In the beginning people thought I was some weird homeless person who might be crazy, but after some time, some fearless people spoke to me and then word started spreading.

Vegetarianism and Theravada Buddhism I have been asked to write a little something on vegetarianism and Theravāda Buddhism. I am qualified to be quite objective, and to see both sides of the issue because I was a vegetarian for a total of ten years as a lay person and I had vegetarian eyes. That meant that when I looked at meat, cooked or not, I saw a dead animal in front of me.

To receive this by email, sign up at https://americanmonk.org/subscribe/ Last year, this picture (without the writing) went viral. The viral post seems to makes its rounds from time to time and every so often, someone tells me they saw my picture. It started when I was in Bagan for an 8 day trip with my friend Ashin Pannyagavesaka. We did a slow and thorough excursion and walked a good chunk of Bagan when rides were not provided.

[![Mala in Hand](/images/malahand.resized.webp" >}}](/images/2016/06/malahand.resized.webp" >}} The benefits of “Faith piṇḍapata”. This is a term that I learned either in Abhayagiri, Ca, or Wat Pah Nanachat or both. Probably brought to the West from Ajahn Pasanno who is/was the abbot of both. This means that when you go on alms, you make a determination to only eat the alms food you collect. When you do something like this (and I am not sooo perfect when I follow these things), you can learn a lot about yourself and the real Buddhist teachings.

I cannot believe that I am writing an article that explains how the monks are fighting over food. It is very awkward to hear isn’t it? On the other hand human nature is human nature. We have six monks who sit at each table and sometimes there is not enough of the special items to go around. And that is when the fighting begins… But it is not what you think.