Hi,
One recent morning, my wife & I with a friend were having breakfast at Bedok Market and 2 monks were standing outside the coffee shop, with a bald guy in civilian clothes holding on to a few plastic bags.
After encountering a few fake monks and also the reports on them in the papers, I told my friend to watch out for these fake monks. My friend told me that they are not fake as there are standing and waiting with their heads bowed down instead of walking around for money.
I was taken aback as he was right about his observation. He then asked the coffee shop lady and we were told that they came from a nearby temple and does not accept money but food only.
We saw someone buying a few packets of nasi lemak and handed it to them, by placing them into their metallic bowls. The civilian helper who was standing behind the monks, would then helped carried them.
My friend ordered 4 packets of the noodles and I paid for 2 of them. They were handed to the monks. They bowed as they received it.
The whole episode was a very humbling experience as the Thai monks did not ask or have any eye contact with us or the customers and they just stood there and patiently waited for some food.
This is a first for me.
BTW, I learned breathing meditation from my ex-boss, Chit Sieng at that temple. I believe he is still involved in running that temple today.
David
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