{"product_id":"2940016700687","title":"A Man in Saffron Robes: A Rainy Season as a Buddhist Monk at a Hilltop Temple in Northern Thailand","description":"\"A Man in Saffron Robes\" offers a unique Thai perspective on the tradition of entering the monkhood for the rainy-season retreat called phansa. It is also the story of one man’s journey of exploration to the far north of Thailand and his reflections on the culture and people of the North as seen through the eyes of this southerner from Nakhon Si Thammarat then living near the bustling metropolis of Bangkok. In 1974 Maitree Limpichart, author, newspaper columnist and government official, temporarily left a wife and two children behind to put on the saffron robes of a Buddhist monk. He traveled from Bangkok to Thailand’s northwestern-most province of Mae Hong Son, situated not far from the frontier with Burma (Myanmar). There, along with the other monks at the hilltop temple of Wat Phrathat Doi Kong Mu, he joined in the daily activities of the brotherhood of monks, the sangha. Maitree Limpichart's story, however, is not a scholarly explication of what it means to study the Dhamma, the Buddha's Teachings, in the contemplative environment of the temple. Rather it is the story of a lay individual's experiences with Buddhism and the sangha. The reader may be surprised at how informative, poignant and at times how humorous Phra Maitree's experiences are. Therein lies the charm of his story","brand":"Middle Way Multimedia \u0026 Publishing Services","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47146679664880,"sku":"2940016700687","price":8.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940016700687_p0.jpg?v=1763639910","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940016700687","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}