Coconuts fans know all about Benjamin Holst, formerly dubbed the “most hated German in Thailand,” but now we have Henning Guerlee, aka Phra Khru Ubon Pawanawitet, the “most holy German in Thailand.”
The Phra hails from Berlin but has spent his adult life in Northeastern Thailand studying Buddhism after being ordained in the remote International Forest Monastery in Ubon Ratchathani province in 1998. Over the years, he climbed the Sangha ranks until he became an abbot, reported Sanook.
The International Forest Monastery serves as a Buddhist training community for non-Thais.
He has just become the first foreign Buddhist Preceptor in the country, after passing high-level exams. He was in Bangkok on Sunday to get his Preceptor certificate at a ceremony held by the Mahathera Council where 200 monks from around the country were honored with their new rankings.
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