Gordon Douglas (monk)
Encyclopedia
Gordon Douglas has traditionally been seen as the first European to become ordained as a Bhikkhu
in Southeast Asia although Laurence Carroll (U Dhammaloka
) and others are now understood to have been earlier. He was ordained in Siam in 1899 or 1900 and assumed the name Bhikkhu Asoka or Ashoka. There are conflicting accounts of what happened after his ordination. One account is that he died six months later, the cause being cholera
. The other account is that he relocated to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka
) and lived there until his death in 1905. The latter is most likely because Dr. Cassius Pereira, later Bhikkhu Kassapa Thera, gives an account of him in Ceylon and interacting with his family.
Bhikkhu
A Bhikkhu or Bhikṣu is an ordained male Buddhist monastic. A female monastic is called a Bhikkhuni Nepali: ). The life of Bhikkhus and Bhikkhunis is governed by a set of rules called the patimokkha within the vinaya's framework of monastic discipline...
in Southeast Asia although Laurence Carroll (U Dhammaloka
U Dhammaloka
U Dhammaloka was an Irish-born hobo turned Buddhist monk, atheist critic of Christian missionaries, and temperance campaigner who took an active role in the Asian Buddhist revival around the turn of the twentieth century....
) and others are now understood to have been earlier. He was ordained in Siam in 1899 or 1900 and assumed the name Bhikkhu Asoka or Ashoka. There are conflicting accounts of what happened after his ordination. One account is that he died six months later, the cause being cholera
Cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces...
. The other account is that he relocated to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
) and lived there until his death in 1905. The latter is most likely because Dr. Cassius Pereira, later Bhikkhu Kassapa Thera, gives an account of him in Ceylon and interacting with his family.