Wat Pa Mahavan, Forest Monastery in Chaiyaphum Province (Northeastern Thailand)
Phra Paisal Visalo

(Click here to read a meditation on the forest walk)

Dr. Susan Darlington, professor of Religion at Hampshire College, gave me the name of Phra Paisal, a conservation monk who lives in the northeast of Thailand, works with numerous NGO's, contributes regular editorials to the Bangkok Post, and serves on the advisory board to the International Network of Engaged Buddhism. I began to email him prior to my time in Thailand last January, and had the opportunity to meet him when I attended the Ariyavinaya conference at Ashram Wongsanit, Ajaan Sulak's retreat just south of Bangkok. During that time we arranged for our group to visit his forest temple during January of 2003 and to undertake a "forest walk.)

After our group had some time to recuperate from our home stays with villagers in the north of Thailand, we traveled by overnight coach (12 hours) to Chaiyaphum Province where Phra Paisal and some of his friends from the local Buddhist Youth Conservation program would meet us and take us to his forest temple.

While at the forest temple we learned more about Phra Paisal's life and commitments. In the early 1980's, Phra Paisal had been training as a guerilla fighter in the armed struggle to overthrown American Imperialism. At this time, he discovered the writings of Ajaan Sulak Sivaraksa and his teachings on Buddhism and non-violence. He was a student at Thammasat University, having grown up in Bangkok. Phra Paisal decided to take on the robes as a Buddhist monk for three months, as is typically expected of a young Thai man. Twenty-one years later, he is still a monk and has been identified by the Bangkok Post newspaper as one of the "Next Generation" of leaders for Thailand.

As a member of the Sekhiyadham Group of engaged Buddhist monks, Phra Paisal works to raise consciousness about environmental degradation through regular "Green Walks" from village to village, as they monitor water quality and other ecological signs; he works with local Buddhist youth who wish to conserve the bird wildlife in a region that has been severely deforested; he helps to sponsor camps for Buddhist young people; to work for women and children's well being; and increase understanding and efforts to alleviate the suffering of HIV/AIDS. I found in Phra Paisal, a kind, spiritual brother. As he spoke about the ways that he is working to empower grass roots movements within Buddhism to reform the practice of Buddhism toward the liberating message of the Buddha--often lost by the trappings of institutionalized, even nationalized religion-I gained hope for my own struggles within the Christian tradition. As I and the other students noted how his face, though he is only in his early 40's, is marked by smile lines and a slight hint of worry on the forehead, I caught a glimpse of the joy that comes from living IN the struggle, not trying to escape it. By the time I left his province and the forest temple where we would reside, I felt a new sense of peace, despite all signs to the contrary. I could see why others within Thailand are recognizing him as a future leader.