International Committee of the Red Cross interview with Ven. Napan

Today Mr. Andrew Bartles-Smith, Regional Advisor for Humanitarian Affairs of the International Committee of the Red Cross, came to record an interview with Ven. Napan, Assistant Abbot and Chair of IBHAP Foundation, at The Golden Mount Temple. Khun Lek(plorer ), a volunteer who is a professional photographer, was also there to take photos and record the interview.

 

The interview covered a wide range of topics including Ven. Napan’s life in monkhood, his work on social development, and the relationship between Buddhism and peace building. A couple of issues mentioned in the interview are as follows.

 

Ven. Napan was ordained as a novice when he finished his primary school, then as a monk at 23, and has been staying in monkhood ever since, which means he has been separated from his family for most of his life. He was asked about the feeling of his family. His reply was that his parents were very happy to sacrifice their own benefit for the benefit of society and having a son as a monk was considered a great merit.

 

Ven. Napan’s early work as the former Chair of The For Beautiful Life Group involved the application of Buddhism to social development, group counselling and child psychology. For the past few years, he has been devoting his life to peace building. He has also emphasised the importance of inner peace as a starting point as reflected by his motto, “Peace in one’s heart starts in one’s hands…ours!”

 

The recording will be edited by Andrew and publicised in due course. Please stay tune!

Before leaving, both Andrew and Khun Lek were given some very unique souvenirs which were Pad Thai! Yummy, yummy.

Thanks to Andrew for raising very pertinent and interesting questions and Khun Lex(plorer) for the additional recording.

 

Written by Pranee Krailadsiri (International Affairs, IBHAP Foundation)

26 October 2020