Malee first went to the Buddhist temple in Liverpool on the recommendation of a friend. She was studying on a short term course at the local university. It was a big step for her moving from Bangkok to study in UK but she wanted to improve her English to give her a chance of getting nursing jobs outside of Thailand. Malee is an attractive girl when she makes the effort but at other times tends to be a bit Tomboysih – a not surprising look seeing she had a tendency to be bisexual.
Aside from the fact she was a firm Buddhist, one of the reasons she went along to the temple was due to the reputation of the Abbot as being an inspirational figure and very strong in teaching and practicing meditation.
She quickly found that the abbot's reputation was well founded and she very soon became one of his group of dedicated disciples. She also formed some good friendships with the other women at the temple. She was particularly fascinated by Tip, a very attractive and intelligent woman in her late 30s, who was the force that ran the temple, organising all the functions and providing strong support to the Monks. Tip seemed to have a very special relationship with the abbot, Luangpoh, attending to his every whim with complete devotion and dedication. This total devotion also inspired Malee although she wondered how it was affecting the relationship between Tip and her English husband.
Tip devoted an extraordinary amount of time at the temple and on temple business and her devotion to Luangpoh appeared on closer examination to be more than just a passing infatuation. But Tip was also a devout Buddhist and a leading member of the community and it was unthinkable that there could be a physical relationship between Tip and Luangpoh, after all Buddhist monks were forbidden from any physical contact with women.
Others in the temple were similarly inspired by Luangpoh, the two most notable being Paweena and Pranee. They were a very close and affectionate group who attended the temple two or three times per week and were regular attendees at the various festivals at the temple and at the retreats that were run from time to time.
With her regular attendance at the temple, Malee found herself to be gradually gaining acceptance with this core group of disciples so she was overjoyed when Tip approached her and invited her to attend the next special retreat to be held at a farmhouse near the beach to give a suitable fresh atmosphere for the event. The retreat was to be a special retreat focussing on positive meditation and strong support for others who may be troubled and stressed and for Malee as a new member of the "special disciples" group. This was particularly relevant to Pranee who has recently had some marital troubles which saw her very stressed and uptight.
They travelled down to the farmhouse early Friday afternoon in two cars with Tip and Pranee taking Luangpoh in Tip's car and Paweena and Malee in the other. They arrived about 3pm and immediately began setting up the Buddha image and a platform for Luangpoh to sit, suitably elevated so it was natural for them to look up to him. There were mats and cushions laid out in front of the platform for the ladies to kneel on when chanting and meditating.
They commenced the initial chanting session at 5pm – followed an hour of silent meditation and then had a further chanting session.
For the retreat, as per normal procedure all the disciples were dressed in pure white. What slightly surprised Malee was that the outfits that the other disciples were wearing were very see-through and the outlines of their underwear were clearly visible and the necklines much lower than Malee expected. Malee could not help but notice Luangpoh staring intently at the view he was presented when the ladies bowed (a very frequent procedure in Buddhist ceremonies). She merely dismissed this as a fashion statement although, given her bisexual tendencies, she was personally turned on by what she saw.
After this second session Luangpoh gave a Dhamma talk (a sort of a sermon to the uninitiated). During the Dhamma talk, Luangpoh emphasised the need for the group to show their strong support for each other, to be strong and supportive to Pranee following her recent stressful time, and to provide Pam a suitable welcome to the community, and in particular to the inner circle of disciples.