There was a rather convivial lunch-party atmosphere when we arrived at the monastery outside Bangkok where Francis Beresford, a doctor and long-time practitioner of samatha meditation from Manchester, was about to take his ordination. The ladies who were looking after the d?na - food offered to the Buddha, sa?gha, the order of monks, and anyone else who happens to be around - immediately plied us with delicious plates of curries which we ate and then sat back to enjoy the sunshine and general teasing: all were demanding that the monk-to-be should leave them his entire worldy goods now he was going forth from the hurly-burly of life in the world of sa?sara.

Expecting a rather austere occasion I was surprised how much the laity, particularly the women, helped to pave the way for someone becoming a monk - good foods, jokes and practical help generally provide just the right atmosphere of banter and encouragement to overcome any last minute nerves!

Francis then showed us round where he was staying and the monastery. In a suburb of Bangkok, it is a bit of a rural enclave, with a small lake filled with lotuses, and pleasant gardens - full of poinsettia, a Thai flower called chem, frangipani and other flowers I did not know. Francis seemed to have been having rather a good time in the few days preparatory to his ordination: there was, he explained to an old friend who was frankly rather agog at the enormity at what he was doing, quite a lot in the way of technicalities to be mastered, particularly for someone from the west: getting used to the monastic pattern of life, with chanting and set times for eating; such details as how to wear the robes, and simply learning the intricacies of the ceremony. As well as all this he needed to learn the formal Pali interchanges which were to take place and which have to be pretty much word-perfect for the ceremony to be efficacious.