Thai Buddhist monks make themselves at home

They grow vegetables and sunflowers in the summer and plow their driveway when the snow falls.

They begin their workday before dawn.

They have built a new addition to their home.

More than a year after moving into an old farmhouse on South Street East, a group of Thai Buddhist monks have settled unobtrusively into life in small-town New England.

Only their saffron robes - and their habit of venturing outdoors bare-shouldered and sandaled-footed even on a chilly day - appear to set them apart from their neighbors.

"The weather in Thailand is very warm. Here it is cold," says M.K. Kualool, one of the resident Theravada monks.

But inside the monastery, the world is Thai and Buddhist.

A 7-foot-tall golden statue of the Buddha presides over a large sun-filled temple called Wat Nawamintararachutis.

Here, before an altar filled with flowers and offerings, the monks spend their days meditating, chanting, counseling laity and studying the Dhamma - the teachings of the Buddha.

On Sundays, the temple hosts religious ceremonies, Thai cultural festivities and Sunday school.

Larger celebrations can attract hundreds of members, many from Cape Cod, Connecticut and Maine.

The group found its way to Raynham by happenstance. It was established in 2002 by Theravada Buddhists of the Mahanikaya sect to honor Thai monarch King Bhumibhol Adulyadej, who was born at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge in 1927.

The group housed several monks in a two-bedroom apartment in Brighton before moving them into a cottage in Watertown.

Members were searching for land for a future temple when the sprawling 50-acre property on South Street East came on the market.

Soon after the April 2006 purchase, Koakool, Head Monk Dr. Swai Lunbong, and four others moved in.

"I like the people here," Koakool, who has lived in India, Malaysia and Europe, says in soft, heavily-accented English.

The group plans to build the largest Thai Buddhist temple in New England, with a traditional spired pagoda for worship, a meditation center and a grand hall.

That is at least five years, and many millions of dollars, away.

For now, the monks share humble living quarters in the 1850 farmhouse.

They depend on the Thai community to bring them food and sundries and provide them with transportation (several monks take English classes in Taunton) while they spend long hours in prayer and study, eating only breakfast and lunch.

Theravada Buddhism is part of a 2,500-year-old tradition that believes by letting go of desire and attachment, a person can be free from suffering and attain Nirvana or "awakening."

Its followers say it is a religion of wisdom and compassion. They note that no blood has ever been shed or a war waged in its name.

"Buddhism is an open religion. We accept everyone in our temple," said Lamiad Sornphuckdee Wechapak, a Brockton resident of Thai origin. "Anyone can come as a guest and observe and enjoy or join us in chanting and prayer."

But Raynham is far from Thailand or the diversity of Watertown.

Only a few thousand Thais live in New England, according to the last census. A much smaller number of Asians of any religion live in Southeastern Massachusetts.

And few non-Thai people in the area have accepted the invitation to observe or join in the prayer.

"We've only been here one year, and we're still building trust," Wechapak says.

The Thai Buddhists may successfully integrate themselves into Raynham society but the process may be slow, said Kathyrn Lohre, assistant director of Harvard University's Pluralism Project that is following the Boston's burgeoning Buddhist community.

Minority religious groups often move into rural and suburban areas in search of cheaper land, she said.

She recalled a Hindu temple that was built in her home state of Minnesota just outside of the Twin Cities.

"It has taken 25 years for the community to accept it," Lohre said. "In the town of Raynham, only time will tell."

The temple would like to join with other churches in the area, she said. "In our culture, if a community needs help, we go," she said.

After three years, the resident monks may choose to stay in Raynham or return to their native Thailand.

The temple will stay.

It has planted its roots here, not far from the banks of the Taunton River.

"This is the permanent land and the permanent home of the temple," Wechapak says.

The Raynham (Mass.) Call