Latest news with #Buddhist monk
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
2025 British Open: There's a Buddhist monk at the top of the leaderboard
For some, golf is a path to spiritual enlightenment. For Sadom Kaewkanjana, spiritual enlightenment is a path to golf. Kaewkanjana, of Thailand, isn't just an accomplished professional golfer; he's an ordained Buddhist monk. And after one round of the 2025 British Open at Royal Portrush, he's one stroke off the clubhouse lead at -3. "Honestly, I play in my country, have no like links course before," he said after his round. "So when I play links course, it's a new experience for me. I really enjoy to play a links course. It's fun to play with a windy course and tough conditions. So very enjoy to play on a links course." A three-time winner on the Asian Tour, Kaewkanjana missed the cut in the two PGA Championships he's played, and finished at T11 in the 2022 British. After that major, he stepped away from the game "I was ordained because I wanted to return the greatest merit and repay my parents," he said at the time. "I was cut off from the rest of the world when I was ordained,' he added. 'That made me feel more calm. I was able to concentrate more, which will help me improve my game of golf." He qualified for this year's Open by winning the Kolon Korea Open on the Asian Tour, and after his round, he discussed how his new calling has helped him prepare for these tournaments. "It's a new experience being a monk," he said. "They help like more concentrate on the golf course or outside the golf course. It's made me a lot of focus. Forget everything outside, just live in the present. So I really enjoy being a monk." "Forget everything outside, just live in the present" is pretty much the most perfect advice possible for playing golf, but especially in a tournament of rain and wind like the Open. Kaewkanjana's round included two birdies and an eagle against just one bogey. While the calm and serenity that comes from his ordination has helped him get to this point, Kaewkanjana has some higher ambitions. "My goal is like I want to play in the Masters my whole life," he said. "I want to play one time. So to get in the world ranking into the top 50, that's my goal." Calm, serenity ... and a tee time at Augusta National. That's the secret to a full life right there.
Telegraph
2 days ago
- Sport
- Telegraph
Meet the Buddhist monk in contention at the Open
In one of the ultimate individual pressure championships in sport, golf's famous Open is a battle of nerves where only the unflappable can thrive. Who, then, could be better equipped for such tests of mental fortitude than an official master of Zen? Meet Sadom Kaewkanjana, an ordained monk who has got off to a flyer at Royal Portrush, the spectacular Northern Ireland course. While rivals live, breathe and sleep golf to compete at the top of the ruthless sport, Kaewkanjana's entirely different approach appears to be paying off. He scored 68 in his opening round, to leave him three-under and in contention with the leading pack. Questioned by Telegraph Sport afterwards, he recognised his role as a monk was helping him 'forget everything outside' and 'just live in the present' at Portrush. 'It's a new experience being a monk', he explained, that helps him 'concentrate more on the golf course or outside the golf course'. 'It's made me a lot of focus [sic],' he added. 'Forget everything outside, just live in the present. I really enjoy being a monk.' The 27-year-old Thai first took a hiatus from golf in 2023 to live for several weeks as an entirely dedicated Buddhist monk spending endless hours meditating. 'I was ordained because I wanted to return the greatest merit and repay my parents,' he said at the time. 'I was cut off from the rest of the world when I was ordained,' he added. 'That made me feel more calm. I was able to concentrate more, which will help me improve my game of golf.' Kaewkanjana had previously qualified for the Open at St Andrews in 2022, where he finished impressively tied for 11th. But having qualified for Royal Portrush via his victory in the Kolon Korea Open, a qualifying event on the Asian Tour, nobody predicted he would leave rivals trailing again. The monk was in miracle form as he made the turn in three-under 33, one off the clubhouse lead. A birdie on the par-five second and an eagle-two at the par-four fifth will linger long in the memory. On the latter, he hit his tee shot on the 361-yard hole to 23 feet before making the putt. He said on Thursday night that his ordination as a monk does not put a limit on his golf ambitions. His state of mind will have helped even before the golf, however, as his luggage went missing when he landed in the UK earlier this week. 'Stay in the present, just stay in my mind,' he said when asked whether a Zen approach to the game was helping. 'My goal is I want to play in the Masters,' he added. 'I want to play one time. So to get in the world ranking into the top 50, that's my goal.' Becoming an ordained monk is a rite of passage that is not uncommon for Thai men in their 20s. Kaewkanjana initially took a two-week hiatus from the sport to take vows to formally be recognised as a member of the monastic community. Duties for the in-form player include meditation, study of Buddhist teachings, upholding ethical precepts and adopting a role as a 'spiritual leader' within the community. He returned to the sport at the 2023 PGA Championship at Oak Hill but his outing at Portrush has been his biggest stage since becoming a monk. One man who may have benefitted from Kaewkanjana's Buddhist state of mind on Thursday was the two-time major winner Jon Rahm, who lambasted a fan midway through his first Open round for whistling. The Spaniard had just carded his first bogey of the day, having reached the turn at two under par, so was not in the best of moods when someone in the crowd whistled as he was teeing it up on the 11th. 'Whistling? Great timing… in the backswing,' said an angry Rahm as his drive sailed into the right deep rough on one of Royal Portrush's toughest holes, from where he had to hack out for another dropped shot. He recovered his composure to birdie the 14th and finish one under, three shots off the lead.
South China Morning Post
6 days ago
- General
- South China Morning Post
Public outrage as China monk berates elderly couple for ‘too small' rice donation
A monk at a sacred temple who rejected an offering of rice from an elderly couple because it was too small has sparked widespread public outrage. On June 26, an elderly couple respectfully placed a bag of rice on the offering table inside a temple on Mount Wutai, one of the most sacred Buddhist sites in China. The religious venue is located at the headwaters of the Qingshui River in Shanxi province, northern China. However, the couple were harshly condemned by a monk in a yellow robe, who accused them of 'causing trouble' and even claimed that their rice 'smelled bad'. The monk holds up the couple's bag of rice as he accuses them of not being 'sincere'. Photo: Douyin The monk scolded them: 'How dare you make a wish with just a bag of rice? If your heart is not sincere, what Buddha are you worshipping?'
