by Barney Zwartz
The ''monk for a month'' program began in 2008, a year after Ben and his Dutch wife, Jildou, became volunteers in northern Thailand and befriended the abbot of a local monastery. He realised many Westerners might be interested in what is a rite of passage for most Thai men.
''It is very authentic, it's not in Bangkok or Phuket, it's not run by a big travel company,'' Mr Bowler says. Instead it is in remote northern Thailand, near the Burmese border. ''Men take in the 10 precepts, shave their heads, don the robes. They become temple novices, taking the vows and living the life of a monk. Some women shave their heads - it's up to them.''
Mr Bowler - son of Jim Bowler, discoverer of Mungo Man, which pushed human life in Australia back by some 30,000 years - started ''Muslim for a Month'' to break down stereotypes ''where fear, ignorance and superstition feed each other''.
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