What does “tudong” mean? What is a “tudong monk”?
The term “tudong” is derived from the Pāli term “dhutanga” and refers to thirteen practices allowed to the Sangha by the Buddha that “go against the grain”. This list of ascetic practices includes eating one meal a day, eating all food from the almsbowl and living at the root of a tree, and concludes with the most demanding: abstaining from the posture of lying down. The tudong practices play a prominent role in the forest monasteries of northeast Thailand, and many are embedded in the daily life of the monastic communities. Monks take on particular tudong practices for limited periods in order to help them break out of their “comfort zone”, and to energize their minds when caught in a rut.
Outside monastic communities, the word “tudong” is most often used in reference to a practice in which monks walk through the countryside, spending the nights under their mosquito-netted umbrellas (glots). Tudong monks will sometimes determine to walk from one monastery to another; at other times they will choose a route that enables them to visit well-known teachers in order to request advice and encouragement. Many seek out remote areas in order to test themselves in unfamiliar and uncomfortable environments, facing up to their fears of spirits and wild animals, meditating in solitude on mountains and in caves.
from without and within by Ajahn Jayasaro