We settle in a circle after lunch - a vegetarian meal of blanched asparagus, baked cauliflower dusted with harissa spices, beehoon and lotus root soup - and the Buddhist monk begins chanting a mantra of thanksgiving.
I have come to meet him at the invitation of my literature tutor from university. Bhante (the Pali word that translates as "venerable sir") Ayasma Aggacitta is her younger brother.
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