
Monk Chat
Chiang Mai University is a first rate school. They have a large number of programs ranging from Enginering to Social Sciences to Medicine and History. There are more than 36,000 students there this semester. It dominates the northwest section of the city and injects youth and vitality to an old town.
Inside CMU there is a college called Mahachulalongkornrajavidayalaya
or MCU Buddhist University (10 points if you can pronounce the first name). And there, they have a little known program called Monk Chat. I found out about it through a roommate I had one of my first nights in Chiang Mai. He’s a high school teacher from Brooklyn, New York studying Buddhism on a federal grant so that he can take back his knowledge to the school system and develop a religious studies curriculum. Nice gig.
Monk Chat is held every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday on campus. It’s a bit difficult to find, but worth the effort. Simply stated, it’s an opportunity to sit down with a monk and talk about anything you want.
Do I want to sit down and talk to a monk?? Hell yes, I do, giddyup.
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