Dear Sue,
Hope all is well and that you had a pleasant enough Christmas - i'm fairly sure that you are still teaching at college so i guess this is a holiday period for you - is that correct?

Latest Scandal

We've all received invites to have lunch at the exhibition hall from JhaoKhun Rutanamongkorn - here i need to briefly explain a few things regarding the hierarchy in the temple and how it works. I haven't been in the slightest bit interested but due to recent events have been doing a little research.

A list of ranks from most senior down to most junior

SomdetPhraSangharaj

Below him is the viceroy cana/section of Jhaokhuns

PhraRajaCanaJhaoCanaRong

- only one position here.
• PhraPromMoonie (not sure of the spelling)

  Next Cana of Jhaokhuns below with also only one position.

  PhraRajaCanaChunDhamma

• PhraDhammaWarajarn
  
  Next below that has three positions:

  PhraRajaCanaChunThep

  (in order of seniority)
• PhraThepSarawayti
• PhraThepDilok
• PhraThepSittiMolie
  
  Blow that is:

  PhraCanaChunRaja

  Three positions:
• PhraRajaWarajarn
• PhraRajaMettaPorn
• PhrarajaRutanamongkorn
  
  

  Last of the cana groupings of Jhaokhuns is:

  PhraRajaCanaChunSamun

  Level of ordinary JhaoKhun. Quite a number of positions here (not sure whether i've got all the levels of seniority correct but nevermind; you get the picture
  
  
• PhraMahaNayok
• PhraSeereeWisutaporn
• PhraGaweeWarayarn
• PhraOmaramolie
• PhraBowornSuteewong
• PhraBragahtBudhhagit

After the JhaoKhuns comes the PhraKru level divided up into low, medium and high level - there are many monks who have the title of PhraKru.
Below the level of PhraKru are the Maha monks - these are those who have reached and passed the third of nine pali exams. Again, in this temple there are many
Below the level of Maha is everyone else who is ranked according to how many Rains they have, meaning how many years they've been in the service.

Back to the tale.
Last year a monk of between fifteen and twenty Rains from this temple who had been an attendant of the SomdetSangharaja since being a novice managed to get the Somdet to sign a piece of paper whereby he became PhraMahaNayok which you will notice is at the top of the list of ordinary JhaoKhuns. This action upset a great deal of people but no one can go against the decision of the Somdet so that was that - at the same time, somehow he also became the president of the Council of JhaoKhuns - perhaps it came automatically with the position, i don't know.
This year he again was able to get the Somdet to sign something which bumped him up a level this time to PhraCanaChunRaja . Apparently between the level of ordinary Jhaokhun and the Raja level, a monk would usually have to wait about ten years. This has now become the talk of the town. To celebrate his promotion he has sent out invitations to 300 monks within the temple and to others elsewhere to have lunch at the exhibition hall on the 19th in a few days time. So we are waiting to see who will show up.