Tricycle | Awake in the World

ACHAAN RUNJUAN levels her wise gaze as I ask yet another question. We are seated on benches at the windows of her kuti (cottage) in the wooded confines of Suan Mokkh, a Theravada Buddhist monastery in southern Thailand. From the monastery entrance comes the sound of dogs fighting, one animal screaming as the others maul it, while a drone of deep male voices chanting Pali verses comes from somewhere among the trees. The mae jis—modest, white-robed, shaven-headed women—are giggling together or pacing slowly in walking meditation. Orange-robed monks disappear into the jungle to their huts tucked among the tangled vines.

Achaan Runjuan's two-story white stucco cottage stands a Iittle a part from the other women's dwellings, inside a wooden fence with bells on the gate. There are orchids planted around the large tree in her yard. Achaan means "teacher," and the very fact that she bears this title sets her apart.