Bhikku Kittipuñño (Daniel van den Brink)
Hi fellow dhamma enthusiasts 🙂
My name is Kittipuñño bhikku. Two years ago I started my dhamma journey in Asia. I had a strong interest in staying somewhere long term. but it proved quite difficult to find a temple that was suitable for a westerner used to the comfort of life in the Netherlands. In Thailand the climate is much hotter, the food the locals eat is much spicier, there is the language barrier and plenty of nights were spent sleeping on the floor or thin mats. I am making this post to make dhamma practitioners aware of my recent residence; wat tam doi toan.
Wat Tam Doi Toan
Wat Tam Doi Toan is open to all practitioners who want to immerse themselves into the dhamma, there are no costs but donations are accepted. You can practice under guidance of the abbot with 40 years of experience or using your own technique. We ask all interested to first join a 7 day course that is held each month. Anyone serious about their practice is generally accepted to stay after the course with permission from the abbot. In the unlikely event that you’re not allowed to stay, there are a lot of other good temples you can stay nearby. We will help you find a comfortable temple to stay in any case.
Life at wat tam doi toan
The temple features a beautiful cave meditation hall, main Dhamma hall with two floors seperating men and women.
two freshly cooked vegetarian meals a day with a lot of ingredients coming from our organic veggie garden. The food is very suitable for westerners, not too spicy and quite often we have things like pizza or croissants.
The climate here is very comfortable (not too hot) as we’re located In the mountains outside the city.
Your sleeping place (called kuti in Pali) is simple but clean. You will stay in a dormitory although sometimes there are secluded kuti’s available too, especially for those staying long term. Hot water is generally available for the female dorm but not in the male dorm.
In the surrounding of the temple there are waterfalls, forests, river and mountain hiking trails and a lot of elephants. All in walking distance! You can explore this in your free time. The views are amazing as I will show in the photo’s.
How to get to Wat Tam Doi Toan
See; https://www.vimuttidhamma.net
Photo’s see
https://maps.app.goo.gl/P1VeuC1B1ccA3v4Z7?g_st=com.google.maps.preview.copy
Visa
Anyone wanting to stay long term we recommend to get a visa at hand2hand self defense school. Google it for more information. You can also do visa runs.
Schedule
Outside the course the schedule is very relaxed. You have plenty of time to enjoy your practice!
6:30 breakfast
11:00 lunch
16:00-16:40 sweeping the temple grounds
Ordaining
While ordaining at Wat Tam Doi Toan is not possible, I have a lot of knowledge about how to do this in Thailand. Reach out to me if you need information. You can also get a monk visa in perpetuity this way.
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